The Career and Teachings of the
Supreme Lord Sree Krishna-Chaitanya
by Sri Narayan Das Bhakti
Sadhukar
IX.
HISTORY OF DIVINE DESCENTS (AVATARAS)
This term ‘Avatara, means ‘coming down’ of the Divinity, Whose Nature is
purely spiritual, into this material world, retaining fully. His own
transcendental Nature. Therefore, the English word ‘Incarnation,’ which means
putting on of the material coil, is wholly inapplicable to the process. When
Godhead actually chooses to come down into this world He appears to the view of
bound jivas as an animate being
possessed of a physical body not essentially different from that of other bound
jivas. But Godhead although He
appears to them to belong to this world, does not really belong to this world
at all. The deluding Energy of Godhead, who is instrumental in the creation of
this world of limitations as the dwelling-place of individual souls that are
averse to Godhead and who stunts their vision, has no power over Godhead
Himself. Godhead is the Lord of the deluding Energy who is different from His
spiritual Power. The deluding Energy herself is subordinate to God’s own
spiritual Power. The Form and everything pertaining to the personality of
Godhead, belong eternally to the category of the spirit and are located above
and beyond the jurisdiction of His illusory power. But in spite of the
existence of eternal demarcation between Him and the realm of His deluding
power, Godhead chooses to come down occasionally into the realm of physical
Nature in the plenitude of His spiritual Power with all His eternal
Paraphernalia and becomes actually visible to bound jivas in whose sight He seems to appear not as spirit, because the
spiritual essence transcends their power of vision, but in the likeness of a
mundane phenomenon. The eternal servitors of Godhead who also appear in this
world in His company, may alone have the sight of Him and His Activities as
They really are. These manifestations of the Absolute, as Absolute, in the
domain of this relative existence, are designated by the term Avatara,.
In the Geeta Sree Krishna says to Arjuna
that He comes down repeatedly into this world and in this respect resembles the
bound jiva who is caught in the cycle
of physical birth and rebirth. But there is a very great difference between the
two processes. Sree Krishna is the Lord of all, has no physical birth and as
regards His proper Nature He is absolutely unchangeable. He appears in this
world through the medium of His spiritual Power. But the jivas are born in this world being endowed with physical bodies for
the purpose by the power of the deluding
Energy (maya sakti) as the result of
their active aversion to Godhead. The Appearance of Godhead in this world in
various forms, such as those of gods, reptiles, etc., is brought about by His
Own Will. When He chooses to come down into this world His pure spiritual Body
does not become enveloped in a double encasement of matter in the gross and
subtle forms as in the case of the bound jiva.
Godhead is simply pleased to make manifest in this world His own eternal
spiritual Body that exists eternally in the Absolute Realm of Vaikuntha. If this
appears incomprehensible to the limited reason of the bound jiva it is so for the reason that the
Power of the Divinity is inconceivable and above all controversy. Therefore,
the real nature of the Activities of Godhead are not at all ascertainable by the
reason of the jiva. What the jiva can understand, if he chooses not
to be perversely inclined, is that Godhead, Who is possessed of inconceivable
Power, never becomes subject to the laws of physical Nature. The deluding power
by which the bound jiva is controlled
is also Divine. But the Divine power that belongs to Godhead is nevertheless
always spiritual and is categorically different from material Energy. The Power
of Godhead is one. As spiritual Power alone She is eligible to directly serve
Godhead. As material Energy She has no access to the presence of Her Lord. The
material Energy is subordinate to the spiritual Power, as shadow is subordinate
to substance or as darkness to light. It is the function of the non-substantial
deluding material energy to provide souls that are averse to Godhead with a
shadowy world for their deluded existence.
The only law that governs the Descent (Avatara) of Godhead into this world is
the Divine Will. Godhead appears in this world when He wills. He chooses to
appear in this world whenever there is any unbearable decline of religion
leading to the prevalence of irreligion. The laws that govern the course of
this material world, as they proceed from the Will of Godhead, are
irresistible. But in course of time when for some undefinable reason those laws
suffer a change for the worse, due to defects bred by time, irreligion waxes
strong. No one except Godhead Himself is able to set right those defects.
Therefore, appearing in this world with His spiritual paraphernalia, the Supreme
Lord puts down all such abnormal deterioration in religion.
Godhead manifests Himself in a twofold
way. The creation of the spiritual and non-spiritual worlds and the regulation
of them by inviolable laws, is one of these. The Activities of Godhead, as
distinct from His creations, in these created worlds, constitute the second
kind of His manifestations. Individual souls (jivas) are associates of the activities of Godhead. The successive
manifestations of Godhead that appear to the view of the jiva in the material world, correspond respectively to those states
that he happens to be in as the result of his meddling with matter, such
activity itself being due to his falling away from his own proper spiritual
nature by the prevalence of his desire for selfish enjoyment. His Infinite
Kindness towards the fallen soul, is the only cause of the manifestations of
Godhead in this world. These manifestations are called Divine Descents (Avataras). From the stage that is
anterior to the appearance of the spine in organisms to the appearance of the
fully-developed man several great Rishis have recorded their observation of
eight successive Descents of the Divinity, others have noticed eighteen, and a
third group have observed twenty-four, Divine Avataras. The well-known view of the Ten Avataras is the one that is held by most Rishis who were versed in
Divine science. Those Rishis postulate ten particular states through which the
soul passes successively from the beginning to the end of each stage of his
bondage. These are indicated by ( 1 ) absence of the spinal column, ( 2 )
appearance of the circular spine, (3) the elongated spine, (4) the vertical
spine or the man-animal state, (5) the man of dwarfish stature, (6) man in the
savage state, (7) civilized man, (8) intellectual man, (9) ultra-intellectual
state, and ( 10) complete destruction of the unspiritual state. In accordance
with these successively appearing historical states in the evolution of the
bound state of the jiva, the ten Avataras, viz., Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion, Dwarf, Parasu Rama, Rama,
Balarama, Buddha and Kalki are observed as the corresponding Forms of the
Divine Appearance. The narrative of Their Supernatural Activities is recorded
in the Puranas and specially in Sreemad Bhagavatam.
Those specialists of the science of devotion, who have understood the
nature of these Divine manifestations by means of intensive concentrated
investigation, have, by the grace of Sree Krishna Chaitanya, been enabled to
realize the Truth regarding Krishna and specially the unique exquisiteness of
His Braja-pastimes. ‘Of all the pastimes of Krishna His human activities are
the highest and His proper nature and His proper Form is the Human.’
The Descent of Divine Spiritual Power
into the realm of the material energy, or, in other words, the manifestation of
Godhead’s own spiritual Power in the apparent form of the manifestation of
material Energy, is known as Divine Descent (Avatara). By means of such Descent the association of the novice,
on the path of spiritual life in this world, with the realm of the spirit, is
effected and such association is the only way by which the person practicing
spiritual endeavour (sadhaka) is
enabled to attain spiritual realization.
It will be observed that the account of
the ten Avataras that correspond to
the respective stages of the human mind in the course of the development of its
spiritual consciousness, has been explained by means of terms that have
recently been employed in the domain of physical science in connection with the
evolution of the human physique from the first beginning of animal life in the
amoebae. From this apparent analogy the modern reader may scent, in the
explanation recorded in the Scriptures, an unacknowledged and crude
misapplication, to an irrelevant subject, of the truly scientific theory of the
evolution of the physical form of animal life. Or, if he is at all inclined to
recognize the priority of the Scriptures, he may be also led by a foregone
conclusion to suppose that the Myth of the , Avataras might be connected with those periods that correspond to
the respective stages in the evolution of the animal form, and are of value as
a piece of antiquarian curiosity as a vague anticipation of the modern theory,
that might have served its purpose in the past. Or, again, the doctrine of the
tenfold Descent may lead the reader to suppose that it refers in some way to
the progress of material civilization culminating in the elimination of all
unspiritual elements in an ideal future ensured by the progress of physical
scientific knowledge.
In reply to such speculations we refer to
the principles that have already been discussed at some length, viz., that the Descents (Avataras) of
Vishnu are neither physical phenomena nor have They any reference to the progress
of material civilization. But although the spiritual is eternally and
categorically different from the material it can be described to those who are
totally unacquainted with its nature only by analogy with, and by means of
terms that actually- refer exclusively to, the mundane. This analogy is however
not wholly inapplicable only if it be clearly and constantly remembered as an
analogy and not as the spiritual entity itself that is analogically described.
The individual soul in the bound state has to pass through forms of deluded
existence that correspond analogically to the physical bodies with which he is
successively endowed for the purpose. Those forms themselves are, however,
material, and signify a progressive development of the functions of the
incipient principle of the adventitious life of the false-ego of the bound jiva There is a regular chain of
physical and mental progress (?) on the mundane plane for the bound jiva. This progress, however, derives
what deceptive appearance of reality it seems to possess, from its being really
the perverted reflection of the
Absolute. But in as much as it happens to be a deluding reflection of the Reality it reproduces in an unwholesome
and distorted form the features of its corresponding spiritual condition, which
latter is the subject-matter of the history of the ten .Avataras. Godhead
exists in all the forms in the realm of the Absolute that are reproduced in the
distorted material phenomena of this universe. In the region of the Absolute
there really exist eternally all varieties of jivas; and Godhead Himself is there eternally manifest in all those
Forms. The adventitious physical form of the jiva in this world is
material and limited ; but the corresponding spiritual forms of the
transcendental world, are eternal, unlimited, self-conscious and free from all
defects. The varieties of the forms of this world owe their relative existence,
being related as shadow to substance or as darkness to light, to the real
entities of the transcendental plane. The ordinary fish of the transcendental
plane is not merely superior to the Darwins of this world but His nature is
realizable by a process that is only obscured by those very notions with which
the physical form of the fish has been endowed by the mental speculations of
the Darwinian science, however applicable these speculations may appear to us
to be in respect of the evolution of the principle of life of this world. Man
as fully evolved animal in the Darwinian sense, is too perverted a creature to
be reclaimable by the Form of Vishnu as Fish and hence the necessity of
progressively fuller manifestation of the Divinity for curing the evils of a
progressively retrograding world.
These Descents, or manifestations of the
Divinity in this world, take place in all Ages in accordance with the spiritual
aptitude of the particular forms of material animation to whom They choose to
appear. India has been the chosen land where in all the Ages the Descents (Avataras)
of the Divinity have taken place. Indians have been fitted by the Will of
Godhead, by their spiritual varnasrama institution to deserve this special favour.
Sree Krishna is the Own Self of the
Absolute Reality, Godhead Himself. If Godhead simultaneously manifests Himself
in many places and if those manifested Forms happen to be equal to their source
in respect of their Qualities, Activities, etc., those Forms are designated as prakasha (manifest) murtis (Forms) of Godhead. There is usually no qualitative
difference as between these manifest Forms and the Form That is their Source.
As for example, on the occasion of His marriage Sree Krishna at one and the
same time married, in qualitatively same but numerically different manifest
forms, sixteen thousand consorts ; and, on the occasion of the Rasa-pastime, He appeared simultaneously
in the company of every one of the gopees
as His partner in the dance. On the Rasa
Site of Braja the manifest Forms of the fullest Source-Form made their
appearance and in the city of Dwaraka, on the occasion of His marriage with His
Consorts, the Forms that manifested themselves were Those identical with the
full Source-Form. No difference was observed to exist between those manifest
Forms and the Source-Form. But we also hear of particular Forms of direct
manifestation for special purposes and in those manifestations there are also
observed differences as regards the Form. As for instance, in the Son of Devaki
we find the four-armed Form. In this instance in spite of this difference in
the Form the principle of direct manifestation is admitted. This also holds
true in other similar instances. All these are Prakasa-Murtis of Sree Krishna or Godhead Himself.
Next to the above are Tadekatmarupas. These are Divine Forms
that are essentially identical with that of Godhead Himself. These may
accordingly be called Forms that are included in the nucleus of the Divine Form but are slightly different as regards
Their figures from Godhead’s Own Form. These constituent Forms are of two kinds
according as They happen to be either (l) Forms for expanded Activity (bilasa), or (2) constituent fractional
Forms (svangsa). Of These He Who
possesses powers that are nearly equal to those of Godhead Himself, is called
Form for extended Activity (bilasa),
e.g., Sree Baladeva and Sree Vaikuntha-Narayana. He Whose powers are
less than those of the form for extended Activity, is called the constituent
fractional Form of the Divinity, e.g.,
the Forms of Fish, Tortoise, etc.
Next comes the manifestation of Divine
Descent in the form of inspiration.
He is called Divinely inspired into whom any one of the powers of the Divinity
is transfused. Such inspiration occurs only in the case of the highest
individual souls (jivas) . Divine
inspiration is of two kinds according as the inspiration proceeds from Godhead
Himself or from the Power of Godhead. The individual soul (jiva) who is inspired by Godhead regards himself as the Divinity.
He who is inspired by Divine Power considers himself as the servant of Godhead.
Vyasadeva and Rishabhadeva, etc., are inspired Avataras.
Next come those Avataras who are mainly
of three kinds, viz., (l) Purushavatara, i.e., Descent of Godhead
as Master, (2) Gunavatara, i.e., Descent
of Godhead as the Manifestation of any Divine Quality, and (3) Leelavatara, i.e., Descent for the
manifestation of Transcendental Activities. Of these the Avatara of Godhead in
exercise of His Supremacy is of three kinds, viz., (l) the Person who watches and guides the inmost purpose of
primordial physical Nature, creates the material principle itself and reposes
in the liquid of the Causal Ocean without directly interfering in any
phenomenal occurrences. Samkarsana and Maha-Vishnu are other Names of this first of the Purushavataras. He is a constituent Plenary Subjective Portion of Samkarsana
Who is the second of the constituent enveloping Forms of Sree Narayana, Lord of
Vaikuntha. ( 2 ) The second Purushavatara
controls from within the aggregate universe in its subtle stage, is the
Creator of Brahma and reposes in the spiritual liquid in the womb of physical
Nature. He is subjective plenary Portion of Pradyumna, the third constituent
enveloping Form of the Lord of Vaikuntha. (3) The third Purusha guides the material universe in its constituent
parts, that is to say, is the Controller from inside of individual jivas, as the Supreme Soul and reposes
in the Ocean of Milk. He is the Plenary Subjective Portion of Aniruddha, the
fourth of the constituent enveloping Forms of Sree Narayana.
There are three Gunavataras, viz., Vishnu, Brahma and Siva. The third of the purushas mentioned above is the same as
Vishnu Who is the Maintainer of this world by exercise of the quality of
cognitive manifestation (sattva).
Brahma, sprung from the navel-lotus of Vishnu, is the creator by means of the
active (rajas) quality and is only
another aspect of Vishnu. In certain Kalpas
(i.e., regime of Brahma) jivas, as
the result of their previous performance of pious deeds that make them fit for
such distinction, may hold the high office of Brahma, the creator. Brahma of
this type, by reason of the fact that the Divine Power is infused into a jiva, is also called inspired Descent (Avatara). Such a Brahma should not be regarded as the equal of
Vishnu. In those Kelps in which, due
to the absence of jivas of requisite
fitness, Vishnu Himself plays the role of Brahma, it is only then that Brahma
should be viewed as the equal of Vishnu. This principle holds in the case of
all the gods who exercise any authority over Nature, such as Indra, etc. They
are sometimes jivas, possessed of
special fitness, invested with the Divine power, and sometimes they are Vishnu
Himself. From the lowest to the highest region of the universe the aggregate of
all material objects forms the gross body of Brahma. This also is called Brahma.
The second Purusha who guides the inner workings of this aggregate is their
Lord or Isvara. Siva is the destroyer
by means of the tamas (stupefying)
quality. Brahma, who is sprung from the navel-lotus Vishnu, effects the
destruction of the world by assuming the form of Siva. In certain Kalpas pious jivas also hold the office of Siva, the destroyer. In certain KaIpas again Vishnu Himself performs the
act of destruction in the Form of Siva. These destroyers are all called Gunavataras.
But He Who exists in the realm of Siva (SivaIoka)
inside Vaikuntha as Sadasiva, is not Gunavatara. He is devoid of worldly
qualities and, like Narayana, is a Manifestation, constituent Form, or Plenary
Subjective Portion of Sree Krishna Himself. Sadasiva stands to Siva in the
relation of the whole to the derivative portion, is higher than Brahma and is
equal to Vishnu. He is differentiated from jiva
by the fact that the latter is engrossed in worldly qualities.
Next in order are the LeeIavataras. These are twenty-five, viz., Chatuhsana, Narada, Varaha,
Matsya, Yajna, Nara-Narayana, Kapila, Datta, Hayasirsha, Hamsa, Prisni-garbha,
Rishabha, Prithu, Nrisingha, Kurma, Dhanwantari, Mohini, Vamana, Parasurama,
Raghunatha, Vyasa, Balabhadra, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. These appear in every
successive Kalpa.
The Manvantaravataras
are all of them also LeeIavataras but
are so called as they rule over their respective manvantaras, i.e.,
intervals between the appearance of one Manu and his next successor. There are
fourteen such Avataras, e.g., Yajna, Bibhu, Satyasena, Habi,
Vaikuntha, Ajita, Vamana, Sarbabhauma, Rishabha, Bisvaksena, Dharmasetu, Sudama,
Yogeswara, and Brihadbhanu.
The Manvantaravatara becomes the Yugavatara in a particular Yuga
(constituent Age) of his .Manvantara for the promulgation of particular forms
of worship. There are four Yugavataras corresponding
to the four Yugas. The Avatara of Satya Yuga is white, of Treta red, of Dvapara green, and of Kali usually,
dark colour. In the KaIi Yuga there
is also mentioned, rarely, a yeIIow Yugavatara.
Of these Yugavataras some are inspired, some are prabhava (master), some baibhava
(expansion) and some parabastha. Among
these He Who possesses the full power of the Divinity is parabastha. In baibhava the
power is less than in parabastha and
in prabhava the power is less than in
baibhava. In abesha or inspired ,Avatara there is manifestation of only a single
potency. Chatuhsana, Narada and Prithu, etc., are inspired Avataras. Matsya
(Fish), Kurma (Tortoise), Narayana, Varaha (Boar), Hayasirsha (Horse-headed),
Prisnigarbha, Balabhadra, Yajna, etc., are baibhava,
and Nrisingha (Man-Lion), Ramachandra
and Sree Krishna are parabastha, in
the inverse order of superiority. Of These again Sree Krishna is Godhead
Himself. There is no one greater than He. Sree Krishna has four Abodes, viz., Braja, Madhupur, Dwaraka and
Goloka, each superior to the next in the order of enumeration. Sree Krishna is
Fullest, sporting in Braja with His own and with Baladeva. The same Krishna is
Fuller in Mathura and Full in Dwaraka with His family and with Pradyumna and
Aniruddha. In Goloka although Sree Krishna is conceived as Full, His Goloka
Activities being the same as those of Brindabana, belong to the same category
as the Fullest. In these Abodes (dhamas),
on account of the difference of the degree of predominance of the mellow
quality there is corresponding difference in the extent of the abeyance of the
intensity of Divine Power as controlling Force. That is to say in proportion to
the prevalence of mellowness there is corresponding obscuration of Power as
compelling Force. In the nether worlds, due to lesser degree of mellowness, the
aspect of Authority becomes more and more manifest.
Prithivi
is the first envelope of
the universe constituted of the
fourteen worlds beginning with Patala at
one end and extending to Satyaloka on
the other. This Prithivi as cause is the ingredient and
support of the phenomenal universe as effect. The phenomenal universe is
successively encased by the six outer envelopes of water, heat, air, sky, the
ego and mahat. Outside these seven
the eighth case is Nature ( prakriti). This
last is full of profound darkness and is the support of the whole universe.
Time in the form of the power of activity of the Divinity is, in turn, the
support of Nature. Time is upheld by the Will of Godhead. Beyond this is the
stream of the Biraja so named from the fact that its water washes off all mundane
qualities. This stream is situated between the chit (spiritual) and the achit
(material) worlds. The Ocean of Cause (karanarnava)
is the alternative name of Biraja. In the liquid causal current of the
Biraja billions of worlds adorn the cavities of hair of Maha-Vishnu. Biraja is
like the moat of Maha-Vaikuntha and the boundary of the luminous region of
Brahman which forms the outer limit of Sree Vaikuntha. Sree Golokadhama is in
the upper region of Sree Vaikuntha. The holy realm of Goloka is located in the
centre of all mundane and spiritual manifestations of the Divine Power. In
Goloka Sree Krishna abides with all His Family as Lord of Goloka, acting as a
god. Dwaraka, Mathura and Braja are the successive inner tracts of Goloka. In
the Abodes of Krishna bearing the names of Dwaraka, Mathura and Brindabana
there is progressive increase in the proportion of mellowness due to the
increasing preponderance of human activity. This 1ee1a is of two kinds
according as it happens to be, ( l ) manifest, or (2) non-manifest. The
non-manifest leela is the name of
that eternal pastime in which Krishna engages simultaneously as Boy, Adolescent
and approaching Youth, in the company of His own mother, father, servants,
friends, sweethearts, etc., in the infinite manifestation unperceivable by this
world. The successive leelas as Boy,
Adolescent and dawning Youth that He performs in the company of His kin and
entourage in this world, in course of one and the same manifestation, are
called His manifest leela. The
manifest leela visible to this world
has as its sole object the free bestowal of His mercy on the jivas. It is eternal. No sooner does it
end in one universe than it rises in another like the rays of the sun lighting
up the successive points of the zodiac in its progress; so that the manifest leela
is always enacted
simultaneously in different worlds but in its due order of successive
appearance. All the manifest leelas
of Sree Krishna in their perennial flow, are eternal and are all existence, all-consciousness
and all-bliss, with the exception of the mausala
1ee1a and the 1ee1a of the
abduction of His consorts, which are illusory and intended to mask the eternal
nature of the series of His transcendental pastimes.
The devotees appear next in the order of
Descent. The Vaishnavas, as Markandeya, Ambarish, Vasu, Vyasa, Bivishana,
Pundarik, Bali, Sambhu, Prahlada, Bidur, Uddhaba, Daliya Parasara, Bhishma, Narada,
etc., are the devotees of Godhead. It is our duty to serve all these devotees
in the same way as we serve Sree Hari. Otherwise offense is committed. Among
the devotees the order of superiority is as follows: Prahlada; the Pandavas who
are superior to Prahlada; the Yadavas of whom Uddhava is superior to the rest;
the Braja-devis superior to Uddhava; Sree Radhika is the highest among the
damsels of Braja.
The four Yugas, viz., Satya, Treta,
Dvapara and Kali are called divya-yugas. A thousand four-yugas form one kalpa. There are fourteen manvantaras
in each kalpa. One day of Brahma
is equivalent to one kalpa. The pralaya or complete absorption that
takes place at the end of every kalpa is
known as the night of Brahma. This is the daily praIaya. Thirty kalpas make
one month of Brahma, twelve months of Brahma make one year; and fifty years of
Brahma make one parardha. The
duration of the life of Brahma is that of two parardhas. At the end of the period of two parardhas there is dissolution of phenomenal Nature and the
attainment of the highest state by Brahma. Thereupon the phenomenal world is
re-absorbed into the primordial principle (prakriti).
The first of the series of the thirty Kalpas
bears the name of Sveta Varaha or
Brahma Kalpa and the last of the series
as Pitri or Padma Kalpa. Thousands of the series of Kalpas from Brahma to Padma have passed away thousands of
times.
Theism has a long history which may be summed up in one word as
the Descent of Godhead into this mundane world. Such Descent accomplishes two
Divine Purposes, viz., (l) it is
intended to gladden those devotees who may happen to be at the time in this
world, and (2) to destroy Godhead’s opponents who oppress His devotees and
obstruct their devotional activities. These opponents of Godhead are also
deputed by Godhead Himself to serve Him by the method of opposition. There is
and can be no real independent rival of Godhead, such as a so-called Satan, to
be the captain-general of the sinners. The asuras,
who disturb the devotees and are in consequence destroyed by Vishnu, appear
to sinful jivas to undergo
chastisement that they deserve by reason of their un-godliness. But those who
are privileged to be chastised by Godhead are no sinners. Such chastisement is
the appropriate reward of their real service of Godhead, although of an
indirect nature. They are servitors of Godhead who appear in the world being
deputed by Him for serving Him, in that way. By their opposition they serve to
bring out most brilliantly the glory of Godhead. Ordinary jivas are not to follow their example; and, if they do so, they are
not so easily delivered by direct Divine intervention. The fallen jivas are only delivered when their
aversion to Godhead is eliminated. Their aversion to Godhead is due to
ignorance of their own proper nature as eternal servants of Godhead. The
Descent of Godhead into this world serves also to destroy the root of this
ignorance of fallen jivas. This is
His causeless mercy towards willful offenders. But all this is still only His
secondary purpose. The main purpose of Divine Descent is to make the devotees
happy. The secondary purposes are accomplished . periodically by the various
secondary Avataras who are endowed
with the requisite measure of the Divine Power for that purpose. But the main purpose,
viz., that of making His devotees
happy, is effected only by the Descent of Godhead Himself. Sree Baladeva is the
ultimate Source of all the secondary Avataras.
He may be regarded as occupying the position of Viceroy for the performance of
all official work of the Sovereign.
Sree Baladeva destroys the asuras and
protects the devotees and re-establishes the rule of righteousness.
Krishna Himself comes into this world in
the Sveta Varaha Kalpa (the cycle of
the White Boar) of the Vaivasvata
manvantara of the twenty-eighth
aggregate of four-Yugas, appearing as
Son of Yasoda, in His own eternal human Form in His fullest charm and power.
The Son of Yasoda, is Godhead Himself, in His private, domestic, informal role,
enjoying Himself unreservedly in the company of His own most beloved ones.
The process of the Advent of Sree Krishna
is thus described in the Scriptures. As the different gods prepare to descend
into this world through the medium of the series of their respective subjective
portions (amsas), the heavenly
plenary portions of Vasudeva, etc., such as Kasyapa, etc., merging with their
original sources (amsis), viz., Vasudeva, etc., who belong to the
eternal Divine Leela, appear in
Mathura as Sura, etc. The Highest Personality of the Divine Leela, viz., Sree Krishna, Whose
manifest Form is Sree Narayana, Lord of Maha-Lakshmi, desiring to appear in
Mathura, causes, first of all, the manifestation of His constituent Form,
Samkarsana. Thereupon the Lord, having decided to make visible two other Forms
that are Plenary Facsimiles of Himself and Who bear the Names of Pradyumna and
Aniruddha, manifests Himself in the heart of Anakadundubhi. After this, in
response to the prayer of the gods for the purpose of relieving the
hard-pressed mundane world, towards the close of the Dvapara Age of the
twenty-eighth aggregate of four-Yugas
of the Vaivasvata manvantara, Aniruddha, the Same Who lies
in Kshiroda, merging with the Form of Sree Krishna in the heart of Vasudeva,
becomes manifest in the heart of Devaki moving thither from the heart of Anakadundubhi.
Being nourished in the heart of Devaki by the nectar of loving bliss in the
form of motherly affection, Sree Krishna, like the waxing Moon, manifests the
gradual development of His Form in the heart of Devaki. Thereafter in the great
night of the eighth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhadra Sree
Krishna, disappearing from the heart of Devaki, appears in her couch in the
lying-in chamber in the prison of Kamsa. The mother and the other people think
that the Baby is born by the ordinary worldly process with the greatest ease.
Thereupon Vasudeva entering the apartment of Yasoda in the Great Forest and leaving there his own Son
Sree Krishna and taking away the daughter of Yasoda, hurries back to his
prison. Some ancient Bhagavatas also hold that the first of Sree Krishna’s own
Facsimiles, Who bears the Name of Vasudeva, appears in the apartment of
Vasudeva and that in Gokula Sree Krishna, the Highest Personality of the Divine Leela,
makes His Appearance in company of Yoga-maya. But Vasudeva
sees only a daughter in the lying-in chamber of Yasoda. On Vasudeva’s return to
Mathura with Yasoda’s baby-daughter Vasudeva merges into Sree Krishna. This is
corroborated by such statements as the following, “Krishna born in the Yadava
family is different.” “He Who is full Divinity is higher than He, that is to
say, is His original Source.” “Divinity in His Plenitude, or Godhead Himself,
never leaves Brindabana, nor goes elsewhere.” “He is always two-armed and is
never four-armed.” “He always sports in Brindabana in the company of only one
of the Gopees.” In the Padma Purana it is stated that the
cowherds of Brindabana, such as Nanda, etc., with all families and birds,
beasts, deer, etc., all of them, by the grace of Vasudeva assuming the heavenly
form and mounted in chariots, attained the region of the highest Vaikuntha. This is explained as follows.
Those constituent parts of the Lord of Braja, etc., viz., Drona, etc., who had come down into this world, were sent by
Sree Krishna to Vaikuntha. But Sree
Krishna is always sporting in Brindabana in the company of His most beloved
devotees, viz., the denizens of
Braja.
The subject of the .Avataras of Vishnu is
vast and intricate and we have attempted merely to touch its outermost fringe
in the above short account. But before we leave the subject it will be useful
to deal briefly with a few of the controversial issues that are ordinarily
associated with this subject.
A distinction has been made between
different ,Avataras of Vishnu on the basis of partial and complete
manifestation, and the partial manifestations have also been graded one under another
in different groups, so that we have also part of a part, and so on. These distinctions do not mean that
Godhead is a divisible entity. In fact in all these manifestations it is the
indivisible and undivided Divinity Who appears. The difference is due either to
the degree of manifestation or the greater or lesser presentation or
reservation of any particular face or faces of the Divinity. Godhead is One but
His powers are many and various and He can exercise all those powers in the way
that He likes. This distinction between the Will of Godhead and the Power of
Godhead, should be clearly grasped. The Will of Godhead constitutes His
distinctive and specific personality. It is not delegated. But the Power Who is
subordinate to the Will, is capable of delegation by the Will of Godhead.
Godhead alone possesses an absolutely independent Will to Whom everything is
subordinate. The wills with which other beings are endowed, are more or less
limited in their effectiveness; that is to say, they are controlled, as regards
their effective exercise in the shape of exerting power, by the Will of
Godhead. The freedom of will of the jiva
does not mean that the jiva can
actually act as he likes, but that he is free to like or not like to act. The jiva has freedom to choose his course of
action but such choice can result in effective action only by the Will of
Godhead. The tendency is free but its issue is strictly controlled. There is no
such gap between the Will and the Power to act, in Godhead. In Him alone the
two are identical but yet not the same. The Power of Godhead is capable of
delegation but the Will is not. Therefore it is the Will that constitutes the
specific character of Divinity.
The Divine Power is manifold although she
is one in essence being the expression of the one and indivisible Divine Will.
The gradation, that is noticed in
the case of the different ,Avataras, is in respect of distinction of power.
Godhead chooses to manifest His powers partially or fully, directly or
indirectly. This is what is meant by the gradation
of the Avataras of Vishnu. The
partial manifestation is regarded as the plenary subjective portion, or amsa, of His proximate whole to Whom He
is immediately integrated.
The relation between will and power is
this that the latter always acts under the direction of the former. Power does
not regulate herself. Will is the active principle of Whom power is the
actively obedient associate. Power has no initiative of her own. But Will is
not effective unless He is associated with power. Such dissociation is never
possible in the Absolute in Whom the two are eternally associated and in this
sense they may be regarded as being only complementary aspects of one and the
same entity. Godhead’s Power is, therefore, not external or separable from Godhead
Himself although she is always subordinate to His will.
Godhead is the Possessor of infinite
powers. Of these, according to the Scriptures, three only are realizable by the
jiva viz., (l) the chit (cognitive energy), (2) jiva (differentiated souls), and (3) maya (limiting energy) There are also
three functions that belong to each one of these three powers, viz., (1) sandhini (uniting), (2) sambit
(enlightening), and (3) hladini
(harmonising). These three functions are eternally operative in their pure and unmodifiable
fullness in chit power. In differentiated souls they are also
manifest but in an infinitesimally small measure. In maya the presence of only
their dim reflection in a perverted form, is noticeable. To the individual soul
the functions of the limiting energy are unwholesome. The functions of the
individual soul himself, due to littleness of power, are inadequate although
salutary. The jiva cannot attain
perfect happiness except in conjunction with the Hladini Function of the Power of Enlightenment. This conjunction is
possible only through the mercy of Krishna and His devotees.
The coming down of the Absolute into this
limited world, effects the deliverance of fallen jivas by bringing about this conjunction between the bound-jiva and the higher world. The
difference of degree in the manifestation of the Divine Power represented by
the different Avataras, is in accordance with the spiritual condition of the jiva at the time of such manifestation.
The manifestation by way of Descent attains its perfection in Krishna. The
other ,Avataras dispel the ignorance of the fallen jiva and arouse in him, in varying degrees, the desire to worship
Godhead with awe and reverence. Krishna, Who is the Source of all the Avataras,
reserves to Himself the right of bestowing love for Godhead. This constitutes
the supreme excellence of the Activities of Krishna when They appear in this
world. In no Avatara, except in a small measure in those of Nrisingha and Ramachandra,
is to be found the extreme deliciousness of the relationship of jiva with Godhead characterized by
confidence and intimacy, that attains to freedom from all restraint in the case
of the Braja-gopees, that is to be
found in the Krishna Leela. Therefore, the mercy of Godhead reaches its climax
in Krishna Who appears before the bound-jiva
in the most intimate relationship, free from all reservation. The mercy of
Krishna, in as much as He happens to be Godhead Himself, is thus superior to
that of all other avataras. This fact is at the root of the broad differences
that constitute the dividing line between the various religions. Such
difference is due to the degree of intimacy of relationship that it offers
between the jiva and Godhead.
But the mercy of Godhead, which is so
continuously, copiously and causelessly manifested, cannot be realized by the
bound jiva due to his ignorance of
its real nature. Sree Chaitanya came into this world to supply the knowledge of
our natural relationship with Godhead which alone can enable us to realize the
greatness of Divine mercy. Sree Chaitanya taught us that the highest service of
Godhead, viz., that of unreserved
loving devotion embodied in the Braja-devis,
is spontaneously attainable to all of us as soon as we fully realize our true
relationship with Godhead. That relationship may be briefly described as that
of serving Sree Krishna under the lead of the Hladini Function of the Divine
Power. This is not an abstraction of the human brain. On the highest spiritual
plane such service is realized as a part and parcel of the amorous pastimes of
the damsels of Braja under the lead of Sree Radhika with the youthful son of
the Lord of Braja. This is the highest significance of Krishna Leela
and is exemplified in the Career and Teaching of Sree Chaitanya.
With these insufficient preliminary
observations of a general character towards the elucidation of a number of
current misconceptions on the subject of Religion, I shall venture to proceed
to narrate the Transcendental Career of the Supreme Lord Sree Krishna-Chaitanya
in course of the following chapters.
The Narrative seeks to present the
Absolute as He is in His Supreme Magnaminity. The Career of Sree
Krishna-Chaitanya is identical with
the Divine Personality in the Form of His Own Loving Service. It is not possible
for individual souls, who are detached infinitesimal particles of the Marginal
Potency of the Divinity, to realize the Nature of the Loving Service of the Divinity by His Own Integrated Power
and his own proper function within the same, except by the Eternal Support of
Divine Love Himself. The Magnanimous Activity of Sree Krishna-Chaitanya is identical with His Co-ordinate Absolute
Activity as the Amorous Lover of Sree Radhika in Sree Brindavana. The
individual soul has, therefore, no access to the Realm of the Amorous Pastimes
of Sree Sree Radha-Govinda except by the realization of this identity of
relationship between the Two distinct Leelas.
![[Bhaktivedanta Memorial
Library Logo]](../../grfx/bml_logo.gif){kind=logo}