DESCENSION : AVTAR
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
Omnipresent 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 such is the case of Jesus----- John1/10,14,Jesus says he existed
before Abraham who was thousand and more years before Jesus.. John 8/58,He
tells about His oneness with God ...John 10/30, through Him God has created the
universe ...Hebrews 1/2, forgave sins that only God can do... Mark2/3 -12,.He
rose after death ie.did not leave His body behind like avtars ...Mark
16/1-20,Act 1/3, God sent his son(part “svaansh’’ as upnishads say).. Romans
8/3,Galatians 4/4 ).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...( TO BE CONTINUED )
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