The Kali Yuga Avatāra
By Śrīla Bhakti-rakṣaka Śrīdhara Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāja, from The Golden Volcano of
Divine Love.
In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.5.31-32, Karabhājan Rṣi mentions the Kali-yuga-avatāra. He says:
iti dvāpara urv-īśa stuvanti jagad-īśvaram
nānā-tantra-vidhānena kalāv api tathā śṛṇu
O King, up to Dvāpara-yuga, I have finished describing the incarnations for different ages who come to remind the people of the most appropriate duty for Their age. They come and tell us, ‘If you do this, you will get the greatest benefit.’ O King, after the Dvāpara Age is finished, the Age of Kali comes. The incarnation for the Age of Kali has been mentioned in many places in the scriptures, and now I am just going to explain that information to you.
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ
In a suppressed way, this verse explains the advent of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. The ordinary meaning of kṛṣṇa-varṇam is “of a black color”. But tviṣākṛṣṇam means “His luster is not black.” “Accompanied by His associates, He is worshipped by the process of saṅkīrtan, the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and those of sharp intellect will perform this kind of worship.”
Jīva Goswāmī explains the meaning of this verse in his own parallel verse (Ṣaṭ-sandarbha 81):
antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ darśitāṅgādi-vaibhavam
kalau saṅkīrtanādyaiḥ sma kṛṣṇa-chaitanyam āśritāḥ
I take shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is outwardly of a golden complexion, but is inwardly Kṛṣṇa Himself. In this Age of Kali, He displays His expansions while performing congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. That He is blackish within means that internally He is Kṛṣṇa; that He is golden without means that He has accepted the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. In the Age of Kali, that golden Lord is seen accompanied by His expansions, associates, and intimate devotees performing saṅkīrtan.
Once Vasudeva sent the astrologer-priest Garga Ṛṣi to Vṛndāvana to perform the name-giving ceremony for Kṛṣṇa. At that time, Garga Ṛṣi came to the house of Nanda Mahārāja and explained that Vasudeva had sent him. He said, “Your child is now a little grown up and the name-giving ceremony must be performed.” At that time, he spoke the following verse (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.8.13):
āsan varṇās trayo hy asya gṛhṇato ’nuyugaṁ tanūḥ
śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ
In past incarnations, this boy has appeared with different complexions: white, red, and gold, according to the particular age in which He appeared. Now He has assumed this blackish color.
He said, “Kṛṣṇa comes in a white color in Satya-yuga, red in Tretā-yuga, and He also comes with a golden complexion. Now in this Dvāpara-yuga He has come in a black color.” So the reference to the golden color (pīta) is found here, because only that color has been left for this present age of Kali. There is another reference to this golden color in Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.3: “yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇam: Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Brahma, appears in a golden form.” Rukma-varṇam means golden. And here also, non-black means golden.
Kṛṣṇa wanted to come as the incarnation for this Age of Kali, as well as to fulfil His promise in Vṛndāvana: “I shall chant the glory of the gopīs, especially of Rādhārāṇī. I shall chant Her Name, Her glory, and roll in the dust of the earth!” But Rādhārāṇī said, “I won’t allow Your body to roll in the dust of this earth. I shall cover You with My luster.” Both the mood as well as the luster of Rādhārāṇī capture Kṛṣṇa when He comes here in Kali-yuga. And this does not occur in all Kali-yugas, but only in a special Kali-yuga.
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