Tri-yuga includes Mahāprabhu. How Prabhupada sees further than we do in his translations

In the past, I wrote a few articles about living in holy places. Today, I wanted to focus a little on the negative aspects. As in other choices, there are some positives and also some negatives.

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Dictionary translations of scriptures have little value, usually resulting in superficial translations that don’t touch the spirit of the text. To make sense, the words need to be interpreted. Some disagree with some interpretations of Prabhupada in his translations, arguing that he sometimes adds meanings that are not in the text. This is, however, a mistaken idea. Prabhupada gives the correct meaning of the text; it is just that he often sees a little further than others can.

One example is SB 5.18.35, which is part of the prayers of Bhūmi to Lord Varāha in Uttarakuru-varṣa, one of the tracts of land that compose Jambūdvīpa.

The verse reads:

oṁ namo bhagavate mantra-tattva-liṅgāya yajña-kratave mahā-dhvarāvayavāya mahā-puruṣāya namaḥ karma-śuklāya tri-yugāya namas te.

Prabhupada’s translation is:

“O Lord, we offer our respectful obeisances unto You as the gigantic person. Simply by chanting mantras, we shall be able to understand You fully. You are yajña [sacrifice], and You are the kratu [ritual]. Therefore all the ritualistic ceremonies of sacrifice are part of Your transcendental body, and You are the only enjoyer of all sacrifices. Your form is composed of transcendental goodness. You are known as tri-yuga because in Kali-yuga You appeared as a concealed incarnation and because You always fully possess the three pairs of opulences.” (SB 5.18.35)

This is one of the verses of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam that predicts the advent of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Just like all other incarnations, His advent is predicted in the sastras, but because He is channāvatāra, a concealed incarnation, his advent is described in a hidden way.

Bhūmi-devī refers to the Lord as tri-yugāya (one who appears in three of the four yugas), which Prabhupāda translates as “You are known as Triyuga because in Kali-yuga You appeared as a concealed incarnation”.

One could argue that this is interpretative, but it is not when the whole Bhāgavatam is taken in context. Isolated verses out of context have little value. To understand, we need to take the verses in the context of the whole scripture.

The term “tri-yugā” is clarified later in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the prayers of Prahlāda Maharaja to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva (SB 7.9.38), where he states:

dharmaṁ mahā-puruṣa pāsi yugānuvṛttaṁ
channaḥ kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo ’tha sa tvam.

The Lord is dharma pāsi, the protector of the principles of religion, appearing in every age (as indicated by the word yuga-anuvṛttam). He, however, is called Triyuga (tri-yugaḥ) because, channaḥ kalau: In the age of Kali, He appears in a concealed form.

Prabhupāda translates this passage as:

“According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the Age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.”

This statement is further expanded on SB 11.5.32, where the advent of the Golden Avatara is directly described:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ, sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair, yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

“In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.”

The saṅkīrtana movement is then described in texts 11.5.36 to 40:

“Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this Age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of saṅkīrtana. Indeed, there is no higher possible gain for embodied souls forced to wander throughout the material world than the Supreme Lord’s saṅkīrtana movement, by which one can attain the supreme peace and free oneself from the cycle of repeated birth and death.
My dear King, the inhabitants of Satya-yuga and other ages eagerly desire to take birth in this Age of Kali, since in this age there will be many devotees of the Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa. These devotees will appear in various places but will be especially numerous in South India. O master of men, in the Age of Kali those persons who drink the waters of the holy rivers of Draviḍa-deśa, such as the Tāmraparṇī, Krtamālā, Payasvinī, the extremely pious Kāverī and the Pratīcī Mahānadī, will almost all be purehearted devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva.”

Therefore, when the Four Kumāras describe the Lord as tri-yuga on SB 3.16.22, and when Bhūmi describes Him similarly in SB 5.18.35, it appears that they are stating that the Lord appears only in the first three yugas, and not in the age of Kali, but when the verses are taken in context, the true meaning is revealed. Because the Lord does not assert Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the age of Kali, He is known as Triyuga, the Lord who appears in three yugas. Prabhupāda gives references from other scriptures further supporting this point on CC Ādi 2.22.

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