Page 19 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

cherished female devotees, the formost of all is Srimati Radharani.

Each rasa has a particular fl avor of love for the Lord that can be experienced
with the different expansions of the Lord. The Lord expands Himself in the
spiritual world and also the material world to exchange loving pastimes with
His devotees.

The Mayavadi impersonlists reject the existence of eternally liberated
individual souls in the spiritural world. The lliberated souls have spiritual bodies
and transdental senses that interact in fi ve kinds of blissfull relationships with
Lord Krishna. They deny the existence of infnite Vaikunta planets, innumerable
expansions of Narayanas who are worshiped by innumerable devotees with
awe reverance. They also deny the existence of Golok Vrindavan where Lord
Krishna is present with eternally liberated devotees engaged in intimate loving
relationships.
Avatars of the Lord in the material world
In the material world, there are six types of incarnations (avatars) of the
Lord. An avatar means a particular descent of the Lord into the material world
for loving pastimes with His devotees. The six types of avartars are: purusa,
manvantara, lila, guna, yuga and saktavesa. Balaji is in the category of purusa
avatars which is comprised of the three types of Vishnu avatars. It is said in the
Satvata Tantra scripture,
For material creation, Lord Krishna’s plenary expansion assumes three Vishnus. The
fi rst one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The
second, GarbhodakaSayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each
of them. The third, KsirodakaSayi Vishnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in
all the universes and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the atoms. Anyone
who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated from material entanglement. To realize
that Lord Krishna is present as Paramatma in the heart of every living entity is the goal
of all yoga practice. First the yogi sees Paramatma in his own heart and then he is also
able to see Paramatma in the heart of every living entity. This inconceivable potency of the
Lord is affi rmed in the Gopala-tapani Upanisad, Although the Lord is one, He is present in
inummerable hearts as many.(GTU 1.21)
All the activities of the material world are directed by the three Vishnu
expansions of Lord Krishna. One can say that the purusa avatars of Lord Krishna
are the causes, controllers and enjoyers of the material energy. Persons , who
are not conversant with Vedic knowledge, assume wrongly that this material
world is meant for the enjoyment of the living entities. With this wrong idea,
they engage in all sorts of activities for selfi sh sense gratifi cation. They become
hopelessly entangled by the good and bad reactions to their work according to
the laws of karma (action and reaction). This atheistic conclusion about man’s
purpose in creation is false and the real cause of suffering. If one mistakes a
poisonous snake for a rope and grabs it, he will suffer a snake bite and possibly
die.
Balaji is the third Vishnu avatar who resides on the island of Svetadvipa
19