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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 2: Chapter 7: Verses 34-42
The stories of the Lord's sportful descents
The words 'Swaha' and 'Vasat' are uttered when an offering is made to the gods; while every oblation that is offered to the Pars is accompanied with the utterance of the word 'Swadha' Nay, (demons like) Pralamba, Dhenuka (who lived in the form of a donkey), Vaka, Kesi and Arista, champion wrestlers (such as Canura), the elephant (Kuvalayapida), Kamsa, the Yavana hero (Kalayavana), the demon Naraka (born of Earth), Paundraka (who had assumed the false appearance of Sri Krsna and posed as the real Sri Krsna) and so on; even so other champions like Salva, Dwivida (the monkey chief), Balwala, Dantavaktra, the seven bulls (of king Nagnajit), the demon Sambara, king Viduratha (Dantavaktra's brother) and Rukmi (brother of Rukmini); the kings of the Kambojas, the Matsyas, the Kurus, the Kekayas, the Srnjayas, and other bragging warriors who will appear on the field of battle, armed with a bow, will be slain by Sri Hari Himself under the assumed names of Balarama, Arjuna, Bhima and so on, and attain to His divine Abode. By flux of time the intellectual calibre of men gets dwarfed and their life too becomes short. When, therefore, the Lord realizes that the import of the entire Veda-which embodies His teachings-can no longer be grasped by them, He manifests Himself in every cycle through the womb of Satyavati (as Vedavyasa) and splits up the tree of Veda into many branches. When the demons (the enemies of the gods), though devoted to the path of the Vedas, will destroy the people with their (aerial) citadels of invisible velocity, built by Maya (their architect), the Lord will assume a garb that will delude their mind and prove most alluring to them, and teach them many a heresy. At the close of the Kali age, when there will be no discourses on Sri Hari even in the residences of pious souls, when the twice-born (the Brahmanas, the Ksatriyas and the Vaisyas) will turn heretics and the Sudras will become the rulers of men, nay, when the uttering of "Swaha", "Swadha" and "Vasat"[1]will be heard no more (when there will be no talk of sacrifices to gods of offering oblations to the manes), the Lord will appear as Kalki (the Punisher of Kali). It is the same Lord of infinite powers who manifests the glories of His Maya (marvellous creative faculty) in the form of austere penance, myself (Brahma) and the nine seers who are the lords of created beings, at the time of creation, in the form of Dharma (the god of virtue),
Lord Visnu (the Deity presiding over sacrifices), the fourteen Manus (the progenitors and
protectors of mankind), the immortals and the rulers of the earth, at the time of preservation
and in the form of Adharma (the spirit of unrighteousness), Nara (the god of destruction), the
class of serpents (residing in the nethermost regions) known by the name of Manyuvasas
and demons etc., at the time of dissolution of the universe. What man, gifted with insight,
in this world could catalogue the powers of Lord Visnu, even though he might have counted
all the particles of dust on the earth ? (As the Lord proceeded to measure the three worlds
with His strides), He raised His legs with such irresistible force that the whole universe from
the outermost sheath of Prakrti (primordial matter) to the highest heaven (Satyaloka) began
to shake violently, when He supported it by His own might. (O Narada I) neither myself
nor those elder brothers of yours (Sanaka and others) know the whole truth about the Lord,
who is a storehouse of innumerable potencies, Maya (who brings forth and withdraws into
herself the entire creation) being one of them. How, then, could others know it ? Even the Primal Deity, Lord Sesa (the serpent-god); who is possessed of a thousand mouths, cannot reach His end even to this day, though he has been singing His praises (from eternity). They alone are able to cross the Lord's Maya (deluding potency), so difficult to get over, and know it in reality, to whom that infinite Lord extends His grace, which is possible only when they take refuge in His feet with their whole being and in a guileless manner. And it is these alone who cease to look upon their body, which is the food of dogs and jackals, as their self or as their own.
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