Pure devotional service through a genuine guru transcends material bondage and reveals Krishna's infinite mercy in all creation.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.26 — October 1, 1972, Los Angeles 721001SB-LOS ANGELES [41:31 Minutes] SB-01.03.26_721001SB-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: [sings along Govindam] Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.
Prabhupāda: [leads singing of Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much.
Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [devotees offer obeisances] [break]
Prabhupāda: Recite. Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter 3, verse 26.
[leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] avatārā hy asaṅkhyeyā hareḥ sattva-nidher dvijāḥ yathāvidāsinaḥ kulyāḥ sarasaḥ syuḥ sahasraśaḥ [SB 1.3.26] Prabhupāda: Ladies. [ladies chant] That's all. So, word meaning? Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] avatārāḥ—incarnations; hi—certainly; asaṅkhyeyāḥ—innumerable; hareḥ—of Hari, the Lord; sattva-nidheḥ—of the ocean of goodness; dvijāḥ—the brāhmaṇas; yathā—as it is; avidāsinaḥ—inexhaustible; kulyāḥ—rivulets; sarasaḥ—of vast lakes; syuḥ—are; sahasraśaḥ—thousands of. [12:30] Translation: "O brāhmaṇas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable rivulets, flowing from inexhaustible sources of water." Prabhupāda: So incarnation of God, there is no limit.
The example is given, just like there is no limit of waves in the ocean, similarly, there is no limit of incarnation. Sattva-nidheḥ. Nidhi means ocean, and sattva means existentional. And sattva means also goodness.
Sattva-nidheḥ. So goodness, here in this material world there is the modes of nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. But real goodness is in the spiritual world. Here in the material world the goodness is, of course, taken as the highest quality, but such goodness is liable to be infected by the other two qualities, passion and ignorance. It is exposed.