Devanagari
भावयत्येष सत्त्वेन लोकान् वै लोकभावन: ।
लीलावतारानुरतो देवतिर्यङ्नरादिषु ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
bhāvayaty eṣa sattvena
lokān vai loka-bhāvanaḥ
līlāvatārānurato
deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu
Synonyms
bhāvayati
—
maintains
;
eṣaḥ
—
all these
;
sattvena
—
in the mode of goodness
;
lokān
—
all over the universe
;
vai
—
generally
;
loka
—
bhāvanaḥ — the master of all the universes
;
līlā
—
pastimes
;
avatāra
—
incarnation
;
anurataḥ
—
assuming the role
;
deva
—
the demigods
;
tiryak
—
lower animals
;
nara
—
ādiṣu — in the midst of human beings .
Translation
Thus the Lord of the universes maintains all planets inhabited by demigods, men and lower animals. Assuming the roles of incarnations, He performs pastimes to reclaim those in the mode of pure goodness.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord, creator of the universe, absorbing himself in the forms of various līlāvatāras as devatās, animals and humans, protects the worlds through his role as the controller of sattva-guṇa.
Purport
There are innumerable material universes, and in each and every universe there are innumerable planets inhabited by different grades of living entities in different modes of nature. The Lord (Viṣṇu) incarnates Himself in each and every one of them and in each and every type of living society. He manifests His transcendental pastimes amongst them just to create the desire to go back to Godhead. The Lord does not change His original transcendental position, but He appears to be differently manifested according to the particular time, circumstances and society.
Sometimes He incarnates Himself or empowers a suitable living being to act for Him, but in either case the purpose is the same: the Lord wants the suffering living beings to go back home, back to Godhead. The happiness which the living beings are hankering for is not to be found within any corner of the innumerable universes and material planets. The eternal happiness which the living being wants is obtainable in the kingdom of God, but the forgetful living beings under the influence of the material modes have no information of the kingdom of God. The Lord, therefore, comes to propagate the message of the kingdom of God, either personally as an incarnation or through His bona fide representative as the good son of God. Such incarnations or sons of God are not making propaganda for going back to Godhead only within the human society. Their work is also going on in all types of societies, amongst demigods and those other than human beings.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the First Canto, Second Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “Divinity and Divine Service.”
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
It has been described that the Lord appears as many forms when he enters all the living beings. However the lord is without limitation or material contamination in all his forms. He appears in many forms with his svarūpa in his eternal pastimes. Bhāvayati means “he protects.” Or it means “he bestows them with prema (bhāva).” This verse describes the normal goal of all avatāras. [Note: Śrīdhara Ṣvāmī says this verse answers the question about the purpose of the avatāras. ] Loka-bhāvanaḥ here means “creator of the universe” instead of “protector of the worlds,” to avoid redundant meaning, since bhāvayati lokan already means “he protects the worlds.”
Chapter Three
List of the Avatāras