अस्यावतारेषु गणना तु स्वयं भगवानप्यसौ स्वरूपस्थ एव निजपरिजनवृन्दानामानन्दविशेषचमत्काराय किमपि माधुर्यं निजजन्मादिलीलया पुष्णन्, कदाचित्सकललोकदृश्यो भवतीत्यपेक्षयैवेत्यायातम् ।
asyāvatāreṣu gaṇanā tu svayaṁ bhagavān apy asau svarūpa-stha eva nija-parijana-vṛndānām ānanda-viśeṣa-camatkārāya kim api mādhuryaṁ nija-janmādi-līlayā puṣṇan, kadācit sakala-loka-dṛśyo bhavatīty apekṣayaivety āyātam |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 28.3)
“His [i.e., Kṛṣṇa’s] being listed among the avatāras [i.e., the general list of avatāras given in the third chapter of the First Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] even though he is Svayaṁ Bhagavān is because he, ever-situated in his svarūpa (intrinsic nature), sometimes becomes visible to all beings [i.e., the world at large] and exhibits some special mādhurya through the līlā of his own birth, etc. so as to bestow an astonishing form of bliss upon his personal associates.”