Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 19
Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Nārāyaṇa and the Lord’s Empowering Instructions for Creation
तिर्यङ्मनुष्यविबुधादिषु जीवयोनि- ष्वात्मेच्छयात्मकृतसेतुपरीप्सया य: । रेमे निरस्तविषयोऽप्यवरुद्धदेह- स्तस्मै नमो भगवते पुरुषोत्तमाय ॥ १९ ॥
tiryaṅ-manuṣya-vibudhādiṣu jīva-yoniṣv ātmecchayātma-kṛta-setu-parīpsayā yaḥ reme nirasta-viṣayo ’py avaruddha-dehas tasmai namo bhagavate puruṣottamāya
主啊，凭您自身的意愿，您在诸生类的不同胎生中示现——或为禽兽，或为人类，或在天众之中——以展开超越的戏游（līlā）。您不受物质染污；您取身只是为成就您自身所立的法度之桥。故我顶礼至上人格——普鲁绍塔玛。
The Lord’s incarnations in different species of life are all transcendental. He appears as a human being in His incarnations of Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, etc., but He is not a human being. Anyone who mistakes Him for an ordinary human being is certainly not very intelligent, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) : avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam. The same principle is applicable when He appears as the hog or fish incarnations. They are transcendental forms of the Lord and are manifested under certain necessities of His own pleasure and pastimes. Such manifestations of the transcendental forms of the Lord are accepted by Him mostly to enliven His devotees. All His incarnations are manifested whenever there is a need to deliver His devotees and maintain His own principles.
FAQs
This verse says He does so by His own will, to establish and protect the divinely made order of dharma (setu) and to enact His līlā, even while remaining transcendental to matter.
Brahmā addresses Him as Puruṣottama because He is the Supreme Person above all conditioned beings, yet He can appear among them without becoming bound by material qualities.
See divine order (dharma) as purposeful and protective, and practice devotion with the understanding that God can be present in the world without being of the world—encouraging detachment and steady bhakti.