Divine Play

Separate from the need to uplift the world, the Lord appears for another reason. When Krishna descends to the world there is a unique playfulness in His activities. Such divinely playful acts are known as pastimes (lila). Along with the serious purpose of saving humanity, the Lord also descends to have a good time! Thus, as Matsya (the fish incarnation), He frolics in the waves of the deluge, and as Varaha (the boar incarnation) He enjoys a good fight. As Krishna, He churns the hearts of His devotees, and as Nrsinghadeva He lets His transcendental anger run loose!

The Srimad-Bhagavatam is an anthology of these playful acts of God, displayed in multitudes of descents, as He embarks on a series of astounding adventures and incredible incidents. One of Srimad-Bhagavatam’s ten topics is isanukatha, or ‘narrations of the Supreme.’ Different Cantos are dedicated to descriptions of those incarnations, and the climax is the Tenth Canto, which is exclusively reserved for the supremely exquisite pastimes of Lord Krishna.

The Bhagavad-gita explains that the material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual reality, just like a tree which is reflected within water and appears upside-down. Whatever exists here, is imperfectly cloned from that original and perfect spirit world. There we find the substance, and here merely a shadow. Everything around us has its pure and perfect counterpart in the spiritual reality. Thus, if people in this world are endowed with the disposition to fight, we can understand that the disposition originally exists in God. If people in the material world are enamoured by the power of sexual attraction, we must conclude that this is part of the spiritual reality, but in a pure and uncorrupted form. For God is complete, and, far from being less a person than we are, is vastly more personal.