The Sanskrit word Avatar (अवतार) means coming down.
Descension of the Almighty from his divine abode on our earth that is material
world mayic (माया का, संसार) is Avatar. His abode is Omni present like
Himself. Therefore God does not have to go anywhere in the sense of moving from
one place to another as we do. He just appears avirbhav (अविर्भाव), is not born like you and I. We come into this
earth through a mother's womb in bondage to our karma (कर्म). The Supreme One, however, is not in shackles or
bonds of nature prakriti (प्रकृति). Rather prakriti is
in his control. He entered Devki’s mind (देवकी का मन) as we find in Brhmvavatapuran (ब्रह्मवैवर्तपुराण). And Bhagvat (भागवत) maintains He went in her mind through
Vasudev ‘s वासुदेव’ mind .----10 / 2 /16 -20.
Using His own potency - Swaroop Shakti (स्वरूप शक्ति)- He descends. His
body during Avatar-period is not made up of the five elements (panchtatva
पंचतत्व: आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, जल व धरती) of nature. On the other hand the body is divine,
eternal (chinmay चिन्मय) and unearthly ie, aloukik (अलौकिक). Such a body is free from disease,
want, hunger and other evils that plague human body. His body appears to go
through the stages of birth, infancy, childhood and teen age (Ram and
Krishna never go beyond adolescence). God's body is not Body plus Soul.
In such a body there are no gross (स्थूल), subtle (सूक्ष्म) or causal (कारण) bodies (शरीर). Body of an Avatar is unique.
His eyes can do the work of ears, nose, skin and tongue; and in the same way
any other sense organ works like all the other sense organs. Lord does
not reveal His real Self to all---- only a devoted few can see His actual
form during Avatar period.
That the supreme one comes down is clear from Bhagvat, Geeta and
Vedas eg.Rigved1/22/18 ,,,Atharvaved7/26/5, Yajurved31/19, samved1670,
Swetashtaver Upanishad 4/3, Geeta4/6-9, Shrimad Bhagvat
9/24/36 and DeviBhagvat 5.15.22,23. (Even from the Bible it appears
that Omnipotence comes to the earth and can become flesh-----
John1/10,14) .From the above cited scriptures it is clear that when
righteousness is on the decline and unrighteousness is on the rise, then to
protect the virtuous, punish the evil ones and to establish dharma ie.good
order Lord comes into manifestation in every age yug (युग). Talking in a light-vein, Jagat gurutam Shree
Kripaluji explains, “these reasons are not convincing; for all this His mere
resolve is sufficient, He Himself is not needed”. Why he comes to this
earth is not known to anybody except Himself. Many reasons for His taking Avatar
are put forward by experts. However, a very convincing answer is given by
Kunti in Bhagwat. “You come to shower bhagvatananda ie. bliss of
God with form (भगवतानंद साकार का) on paramhansas (परमहंस) who are devotees of formless God. (We know that
king Janak was so raptured by Ram-Laxman’s beauty that he forgot his
brhamananda ( ब्रह्मानंद) ie bliss of
formless Omnipotence) and to give solace to the suffering humanity. Thus
humans by Your remembrance (सुमिरन) hearing about You
and Your deeds ( श्रवण) and speaking of
Your form (रूप) and Your past times (कीर्तन) get bliss and soon get sight, that is, Darshan (दर्शन) of your Lotus Feet (चरण कमल )’’---1/8/ 20,
32-3. The people who have a devotional set of mind are of the view
that Lord is a Being full of grace. His coming is a blessing for those
who are His devotees. They can see Him, feel Him, hear His voice, can touch Him
and can even participate in His divine activities -lila(लीला). The Lord gives an object of remembrance so the
devotees can liberate themselves. Hence it is also said that avatar is to
liberate devotees. Since He is infinite His purpose cannot be finite.
Omnipotent can come into this world for any reason He thinks fit-- the reasons
of His coming cannot be put down into words. It should be
remembered that when He is on earth in a particular form, all are not able to
know him, or recognise him as God. Only the fortunate few who treat him as and
think of him as God are able to “see’’. From others He hides behind the veil of
His is Maya. To them He looks like an ordinary human being and not omnipotent.
In Kans’s akhara (अखाड़ा) where bow
competition ,dhanush yagya(धनुष यज्ञ) was being performed people saw krishna in
different forms according to their own feelings; to some He appeared as a young
boy, to some others as a strong man and still to others as their very
death (काल, मृत्यु). This is because God
has a rule which is revealed by Brahma in Bhagwat (ब्रह्मा ने भागवत में भगवान की स्तुति करते हुए बताया है). “You take that very form which Your devotees think of You’’.---3/9/11
In an Avatar God can be male, female, animal, bird, human
(मनुष्य), gandharv (गंधर्व), nag (नाग), dev( देवता) or anything
He wants to .This the Lord Himself reveals to Uttank (उतंक मुनि) in Mahabharata when
returning to Dwarka after the war---maha bharat ashvamedh
----54/10-19,20. The very same knowledge is given to us by Bhagwat12/7/14.
The fountain-head of all avatars is Krishna. In the very beginning, He
appears as Purush avatar. First one (purush) is Karnodakshayi Vishnu (कारणोदकशायी विष्णु) from whose pores
manifest uncountable universes. As Garbodhakshayi Vishnu (गर्भोदकशायी विष्णु), he enters every
universe; from His navel emnates Brhama.Third one is Kshrodakshay Vishnu (क्षीरोदकशायी) Lord of all physical matter---living
or nonliving.
When God Himself appears, such appearance is vimbavatar (विंब अवतार). This is of two
types--the major one is shakshaat avatar (साक्षात अवतार), the minor one is aveshavatar (आवेश अवतार). Aveshavatar(आवेश अवतार) is also of two
kinds. First one is Shakti Avesh (शक्ति आवेश), second is roopavesh (रूपा वेश). In the first one
it is only power -Shakti(शक्ति) which is manifested
in a person, while in the second one the divine body enters a living entity,
the one in whose body God goes in becomes divine. When Lord comes on this earth
in a body the maximum potencies, Kala(कला) are 16. This should
not lead one to believe that the almighty has only 16 powers. No! He has
infinite. On earth maximum potencies needed are 16. These have been named kala(कला) by the learned. When these kalas are in
manifestations, it is called Kalavatar (कला अवतार). When the power is 1 upon 16th part of the
kala then we have Ansha avatar (अंश अवतार). One manifesting even lesser than this is
Vibhuti avatar (विभूति अवतार). Not for a minute,
get the erroneous idea that one avatar has less powers and the other more. This
is just not the divine law. The divine cannot be broken into
fractions. Where ever He is He is whole and in all His fullness. From this we
can safely conclude that each avatar has infinite power, only those potencies
which are necessary for the purpose of the avatar are revealed, the others
remain dormant. By way of explanation: A is a PHD, very learned having a great
deal of knowledge. When he is teaching a child alphabets, he is using only a
little bit of his knowledge. This should not lead us to believe that he posses
only that knowledge which he is using for the purpose of coaching the child.
The same applies to Avatars. Only a portion of divine Majesty and Glory is
manifested in accordance with the demand of the circumstances. Of twenty four Avatars
mentioned in Bhagvat full Glory is shown forth by only two. Ram And Krishn
bring to surface all Glory, all Majesty and all the Power. For instance
in Narsingh(नरसिंह) avatar, the only task was to bring an
end to Hiranyakashyap(हिरण्यकश्यप). Dispensing wisdom (ज्ञानोपदेश) was not done by this particular avatar. Kapil Bhagwan imparted
knowledge only, He did not kill demons. Likewise Mohini avatar brought
out only feminine beauty in order to distract the asurs(असुर), the war- like powers of Chamunda चामुण्डा remained concealed.
Now about full manifestation of Omnipotence, Purana avatar(पूर्ण अवतार).
Such avatar is Krishna. When He appears, Chatturviu (चतरव्यूह, four potencies) also come with Him. Look at
the word Aum (ॐ). The ‘a’(अ)` of ‘om’ is Sankarshan or Balram (संकर्षण या बलराम) representing
the waking state(जागृतावस्था); “u” (उ) of om is Praduman (प्रद्युमन) of the Sleeping state(सुप्तावस्था); ‘M’(म) of Om is Anirudh(अनिरुद्ध) of sushupti state(सुषुप्ति अवस्था); while the half
Matra(अर्ध -मात्रा)means Krishna who
represents the whole Om (ॐ) and the toriya
state(तुरीयावस्था). All the four personalities are
co-equal. (compare this with the trinity of christian thought where the
Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are all God, distinct persons but one).
Ram and Krishna are same have the same powers; however of the four
feelings and dispositions, that is, bhav (भाव), Krishna has
all four while Lord Ram has only three ----- servant, that is
Dasya(दास्यभाव), friendship, that is Sakhya (साख्य भाव), parental love,
that is, Vatsalya (वात्सल्य भाव), love for the
beloved, that is, Madhurya( माधुर्य भाव) is dormant in Ram avatar except towards Sita. Madhur Ras(मधुर रस) is not manifested. This is the august view of HH Prakashanand in
‘Divine Vision of Radha Krishna’. (From the sexual point of view Ram
has love for his wife only and that too only one wife for the whole life time).
Avatar of Krishna 5000 years ago was of God Him- Self. It is not out of
place to mention that Maha Vishnu is the plenary portion of Krishna responsible
for all material creation; he is called carnoduck Sai(कारणों दकशायी). From Him emanate
other vishnus known as Garbodhakshayi (गर्भोदक शायी) and Kshrodaksayi (क्षीरोधकशायी); from the last one appear avatars. When Krishna appears, Vishnu also
appears, who does the work of eliminating demons, while Krishna distributes
love in Vrindavan. In the 28th Dwaper Yug (द्वापर युग) of the seventh
manvanter (सातवां मन्वंतर) in the present
kalpa( श्वेतवराह कल्प) God Himself that is Bhagwan Swayamam(भगवान स्वयं) came as Krishna. Ram had
appeared in Treta (त्रेता युग) before Krishna. The gap between Ram
and Krishna is 1 crore 81 lacs and 44000 years as per Markandeya
Purana chapter 47. This avatar of Krishn can be called vimba avatar(विंब अवतार). This happens
once in every kalpa which is but a day of Bramha. For us it is
4,32,00000000yrs.(4 अरब और 32 करोड़ वर्ष). These avatars
of Ram and Krishn are lila avatars, lots of pass-times in these two
descensions.
Gun avatar(गुणवतार) :
Vishnu is the permanent avatar of the positive force satgun(सतगुण), the negative force or tamogun(तमोगुण) is manifested as Shiv the destroyer, while Brahma
the creator represents rajogun(रजोगुण). About Brahma, Sri Prakashanand writes in ‘Divine Vision of Radha
Krishna’ - “Most of the time a divine personality becomes Brahma, but
sometimes God may occupy that seat….’’
Archavatar (अर्चावतार) depends on the faith and belief of
the worshipper. God takes the form of the idol or the photo that the devotee
worships. It is a sacred and secret relation between the Lord and his devotee
bhakt (भगवान और भक्त के बीच का संबंध). Then the antaryami (अंतर्यामी) lives within each one of us, He is the Indwelling
Lord. He can give darshan that is show himself to devotees in the
form of “ishtamoorthy’’(इष्टमूर्ति). And we all live in the same body with Him. Both of us are
like two birds on a tree. However, He is different from us . He is only an
observer while we are doing our acts that is karm(कर्म ) with attachment. This truth is repeated in our
scriptures----rig ved 1/164/20, kath up.3/1 mundak.up.3/1/1, svetashvar
up.4/6 ,bhagvat 11/11/6 .. Besides this we have kalpavatar( कल्प अवतार ), yugavatar( युगावतार ) , appearing in every kalp and every yug
respectively. Four yugs are sat (सत), treta (त्रेता) , dwaper (द्वापर) and
kaliyug (कलियुग) . Kalp is one day of Brahmah
as already explained above . Satyug has1728000 years, Treta
1296000,Dwaper 864000 ,and Kali 432000 -------all together the four have
43,20,000 years . This figure x 1000 is one day of Brahma.And the
full lifetime of Brahma is 100 years.His life is, therefore, 311040000000000
years. Broadly speaking,wherever,we see glory,power brilliance,any
extra-ordinariness,know this to be manifestation of Krishna,the omnipotent,---gita
10/41 and bhag11/16/40.
Not only God but his jwellery, arms and weapons(जेवर और आयुद्ध ) can also take Avatar---- Sudarshan
Chakra,(सुदर्शन चक्र), that is, the
disc, Shank( शंख), that is ,the counch ,Gada( ग दा) . Then the liberated souls also
descend on this earth by the orders of The Almighty. It is possible for
the inhabitants of the Causal world,Karan Jagat( कारण जगत ) to come on earth as Avatar. It is
prudent to conclude that Avatars are infinite. Each minute infinite Avatars
are taking place in infinite universes. On our earth there are Avatars
of Shiv, Shakti, Ganesh and Vishnu. Vaishnavs (वैष्णव) believe in ten and twenty-four Avatars mentioned in bhagvat--- 1.3.
These include pig, pygmy, horse, swan; the latest one is buddha and last one of
kali yug will be kalki Avatar(कल्कि अवतार). It is again mentioned at the cost of repetition that all the Avatars
have equal powers, only the power necessary for the particular purpose
is used; other powers which are infinite are kept in quiescence or
abeyance eg. Narsingh Avatar (नरसिंह अवतार) Parshoram Avatar( परशुराम अवतार ) Mohini Avatar( मोहिनी अवतार), all had equal
powers .
After the work of an avatar is completed, avatar goes back to
divine abode which is called avirbhav (अविर्भाव) disappearance. The
gross body is not left Behind-- Bhagwat11/36/6,7. Some others who
are not exactly avatar have also ascended like Tukaram, Mera, Jesus, his
mother Mary. Jesus ‘died’ on the cross, resurrected after 3 days, appeared to
his disciples who could touch him hear him, and eat with him. Then he rose to
the heavens just like his mother Mary---- acts1/9 -11.
The term avatar should not be confused with incarnation. the
latter means God living in human body; whereas the body of an avatar as
discussed above is divine not material , mayic( माया का).
Jews and Muslims alike reject the factum of avatar. Sufis have
“halool’’, meaning two are so absorbed that they are same eg. juice in orange
or incomplete “halool’’ like water in a glass . Christians do not have a
precise word for avatar. For them Jesus was ‘Word Made flesh’.... John
1/14. Again from John1/32-33, it can be interpreted that the divine
came to live in human body that is Jesus”.I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove and he remained upon him….’’. I did not know him but He(god)
who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “upon whom you see the spirit
descending and remaining on him this is he who Baptizes with Holy Spirit’’.
From what we have learnt about Avatars ie. Hindu scripture, the likely
interpretation is that Jesus might have been an aveshavatar (आवेशावतार).
Arguments against Avatars(अवतारवाद).
How can a personality that is Omnipresent be confined in a small place that is a body? God is not begotten He does not beget. Why would the divine dance with millions of girls?
All the above thoughts are refutable. The one who has created
innumerable forms and bodies, why can't He Himself come to live in a
body. Even in the creation of the world, first subtle matter appears and then
the movement is towards gross. Aakash (आकाश) space gives rise to vayu(air, वायु) from air comes fire (अग्नि); it
materializes water (जल); and from water is
born earth (धरती).
God is not born like humans, other mammals birds or reptiles as a result
of union of a male and a female. He is not begotten. He just appears
avirbhav (आविर्भाव) and when the work is completed just
disappears pradurbhav(प्रादुर्भाव). With material intellect matters of God cannot be comprehended by
human beings. “My ways are higher than yours ….. wisdom of man is
foolishness with God.Natural man cannot receive the things of the spirit of
God, for they are foolishness to him; how can we know them, for they are
spiritually discerned. Nobody knows the thoughts of God except The Spirit Of
God.’’---- 1st Corn. 2/14,11.
About Krishna's dance, Raasleela (रासलीला) with millions of
girls, let's examine what Sukhdev explains to king Parikshit in Bhagwat.
“He, Krishna, sported with these women as a child would play with his own
reflection (in a mirror)----10/33/17. We are parts of God---gita
15/7,13/3. What is wrong with the Whole playing with His parts ie. Self
playing with Self.
Some interesting facts about Avatar:--
1. More than one avatar can exist at the same time and place eg. Ram- Parushram(राम- परशुराम), Ved Vyas- Krishna(
वेदव्यास- कृष्ण ), Mohini avatar-
Kashyapavtar( मोहिनी अवतार- कश्यप अवतार)
2.When in a particular body, Omnipotent obeys the laws of
that body .When in a human body, lives and acts like an ordinary man.
This is what Krishna explained to Uttank (उतंक) when the former met
the latter while the former was returning to Dwarika after
the Mahabharata war. (we have already discussed this above). This is the reason
why Krishna made humanly efforts to avert the war, and when unsuccessful did
not use divine powers to stop it. Jesus was like this, too. He did not take
recourse to super-natural powers for averting crucification. “Therefore,in all
things He had to be made like his brethren ..’’----heb.2.17. In shukar avatar(शूकर अवतार ), He behaved
like a wild boar; during Matsya Avatar( मत्स्य अवतार ) acted like a fish.
Respect all you meet, who knows he(or it) may be God!
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