Verse 1.5.8

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.5.8:

यो ब्रह्म-रुद्रादि-समाधि-दुर्लभो वेदोक्ति-तात्पर्य-विशेष-गोचरः ।
श्रीमान् नृसिंहः किल वामनश् च श्री-राघवेन्द्रोऽपि यद्-अंश-रूपः ॥ ८ ॥

yo brahma-rudrādi-samādhi-durlabho vedokti-tātparya-viśeṣa-gocaraḥ |
śrīmān nṛsiṃhaḥ kila vāmanaś ca śrī-rāghavendro'pi yad-aṃśa-rūpaḥ || 8 ||

The darśana of Śrī Bhagavān is rarely attainable even in the samādhi of such demigods as Brahmā and Rudra. He is the object of all the purports of the Vedas, and such avatāras as Śrī Nṛsiṃhadeva, Śrī Vāmana and Śrī Rāmacandra are His plenary portions also.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

If there is the objection that Śrī Devakī-nandana is too confidential and difficult to attain in spite of being our beloved (priya), worshipable (īṣṭa) and so forth, since He is the parabrahmasvarūpa;therefore, how can He constantly reside in the home of common persons like us? It is evident by this that you are glorifying us ostentatiously, so why are you doing so? Anticipating such a question, Śrī Nārada discloses first the rarely attainable nature of Śrī Devakī-nandana. His darśana is difficult to attain even in the samādhi of such demigods as Brahmā and Rudra. Why? He is the sole object of purport of all the Vedas, yet He is not in His direct form (sākṣātrūpa). By extracting the aim and purport of the Vedas, He is the object of realization for demigods such as Brahmā. Still, He is not in His personal form, or discernable by the Vedas in His original form.

Devakī-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa has a divine sweet nature of sac-cidānanda. He is not simply transcendental existence such as Brahman. Therefore, He is not recognizable by the direct purport of the Vedas. Someone may ask, “Are not Śrī Nṛsiṃha and Śrī Vāmana similar?” Anticipating this doubt and pointing out the specialty of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in contrast to them, Śrī Nārada uses the word śrīmān. Śrī Nṛsiṃha, Śrī Vāmana and Śrī Rāmacandrajī are also His plenary portions, thus all of them are composed of concentrated eternity, knowledge and bliss. However, in contrast to these avatāras of Bhagavān, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is even more special. Śrīmān Nṛsiṃhadeva, despite His terrifying form, is full of variegated beauty, and Śrī Vāmanadeva, despite being a dwarf, is also full of variegated beauty. The meaning is that Śrī Nṛsiṃhadeva, out of parental affection towards His devotee, mercifully appeared from a pillar, and Śrī Vāmanadeva exhibited His mercy upon his devotee by traversing the entire three worlds with His two steps to exhibit His viśva-rūpa, and thus took the divine gigantic form of Trivikrama.

Sākṣāt bhagavān Śrī Rāmacandra is also an aṃśāvatāra of Śrī Devakī-nandana. Although Śrī Rāmacandrajī is sāksāt bhagavān, nevertheless, in this avatāra He did not manifest His unlimited opulences (asīma aiśvārya); therefore, he appeared just like any other avatāra. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the avatārī of all. For example, ete cāṃsa kalāḥ puṃsaḥ kṛṣṇaś tu bhagavān svayam: “All avatāras previously mentioned are plenary portions (amśa), or portions of plenary portions (kalā) of Puruṣottama Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but being the source of all potencies (sarva-śaktimān), Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself is svayaṃ bhagavān.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.28) By this substantial proof one realizes the greater glories of the Pāṇḍavas who are the servants of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa over Śrī Prahlāda Mahārāja, Śrī Bali Mahārāja and Śrī Hanumān, who are all servants of Śrī Nṛsiṃhadeva, Śrī Vāmanadeva and Śrī Rāmacandra respectively.