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The philosophy of the descension (avatar) of
God, and Bhagwan Ram and Krishn.
To establish and to protect the
Sanatan Dharm and human civilization, and sometimes to help the
celestial gods, the supreme God descends on the earth planet.
Sometimes He also descends in the celestial space of this
brahmand. The Sanskrit word is avatar (अवतार ),
which means the descension of God in the material (mayic)
realm.
There cannot be parts or fractions
of God, He is always absolute and eternal and so are His
descensions. A common verse telling the same thing is, “सर्वे
पूर्णा: शाश्वताश्च देहास्तस्य परात्मन: ॥”
So, all the descensions of God are
complete, but most of the descensions don’t reveal the full Divine
glory of God. They reveal only a part or a fraction of it, whatever
is needed according to the situation. It is like a college professor
who uses only a part of his intellect when teaching his six year old
boy and he uses a little more of his intellect when he is giving
lessons to his twelve year old boy, but when he is lecturing in the
college he uses his full intellect.
Out of twenty-four descensions,
only in two descensions (Bhagwan Ram and Bhagwan Krishn) the full
glory of the Divine was revealed. As regards the glory of Divine
love, it was partially revealed in the descension of Bhagwan Ram and
fully revealed in the descension of Bhagwan Krishn; that’s why the
Sages of Dandak forest again took birth in Braj to receive the Bliss
of Krishn love. But in the other twenty-two descensions only a
fraction of the Divine glory was revealed. These descensions were
called ansh or kala (avatar) which means the
revelation of only a fraction of the Divinity. (एते
चांशकलापुंस: कृष्णस्तु भगवान् स्वयम् । भा.)
They were only for a particular purpose which was needed at that
time.
For example: The
Kachchap avatar (the Divine tortoise) was only to help
the celestial gods to hold the Sumeru mountain during the ocean
churning event; Vaman avatar was also to help the
celestial gods recover their lokas (abodes) from the
possession of King Bali; Nrasingh avatar was to help
Bhakt Prahlad and to eliminate demon Hiranyakashyap; Parashuram
avatar was to eliminate the vainful and corrupted
chatriyas from the society; Kapil
avatar was to reveal the Sankhya Darshan; Ved Vyas
avatar was to reveal all of the scriptures; and Buddh
avatar was only to introduce compassion for all the beings and
to teach that worldly desires are the cause of pains. So, Buddh
did not teach the path to God, he limited the approach of his
formulated meditations only up to the “absolute nothingness,” which
is a state of maya. (Mahavir Swami, the promulgator of Jain
religion, was a contemporary of Buddh and his religion also vaguely
embraces the soul energy and not the supreme God.)
For the devotional purpose and for
the realization of God’s love for all the souls of the world, there
are only two descensions (Ram and Krishn) in which the supreme God
has descended in His full Divine dignity and in His same name
and form as He
is
seen in His Divine abode.
Bharatvarsh was glorified with the
descension of Bhagwan Ram which happened in the tretayug
about 18.144 million years ago. The Bhagwatam (9/11/18) tells that
Bhagwan Ram lived for thirteen thousand years. But, in fact, He is
always with His humble devotees as He is eternally omnipresent. In
His eternal Divine abode, Saket, along with His consort Goddess
Sita, and His brothers Lakchman, Bharat and Shatrughn He
always rejoices His Devotees.
To reveal the same Bliss of Saket
abode for the souls of the world, Bhagwan Ram descended and appeared
in the palace of King Dashrath in front of His mother Kaushalya.
When He appeared He was in His full youthful form and in His
absolute Divine glory (भये
प्रगट कृपाला दीनदयाल कौशल्या हितकारी ॥ रामायण) .
Then, on the request of His mother, He became like a day-old child
and, in His leelafulness, He began to cry like a normal baby. (कीजै शिशु कीला अति
प्रियशीला यह सुख परम अनूपा । सुनि बचन सुजाना रोदन ठाना होइ बालक
सुरभूपा ॥).
Tulsidas describes the childhood
leelas of Ram in detail. Then he tells about the wedding of Ram
and His other three brothers. But, all through the Ramayan, the
image of Bhagwan Ram, whatever he portrays, is exceedingly marvelous
and befitting to His Divine dignity.
King Janak, who was always
absorbed in the Bliss of the nirakar brahm, when the first
time he saw Ram, became overwhelmed with the Blissfulness of His
Divine beauty. He said, “इनहिं
बिलोकत अति अनुरागा । बरबस ब्रह्म सुखहिं मन त्यागा ॥ My mind has ceased
relishing on the formal Bliss of formless brahm and my heart
is thrilled seeing the all-exceeding loving beauty of Ram’s Divine
personality.”
When Bhagwan Ram went around to
see the town of King Janak, the people overjoyedly rushed to have
the vision of Ram. One maiden says, “सखि
हमरे अति आरत ताते । कबहुँक ए आवहिं ए े ॥ My
dear friend! I am dying to see that Ram weds Sita, so that, at least
with this relationship, He would again come to this town and I would
be able to see the love of my heart once more.”
Several descended Saints have
written the leelas of Bhagwan Ram, and the descriptions of
all of them are mostly on the same lines. The dedication of
Lakchman, the devotion of Bharat, the adoration of Hanuman and the
affection of all the people of Ayodhya for Bhagwan Ram are such
facts that naturally represent His loving kindness and His causeless
Graciousness upon all the souls. Sage Valmiki, in the last section
of his Ramayan, tells that when Bhagwan Ram was leaving Ayodhya and
was going to ascend to His Divine abode, all the people of Ayodhya
including the birds and the animals also followed Him and ascended
to His Divine abode along with Him. This Divine historical event
proves that during the descension period of Ram all the people of
Ayodhya were the descended Divine personalities who had come from
Saket abode to associate with and to become a part of the leelas
of Bhagwan Ram.
Tulsidas says in the Ramayan that
once Bhagwan Ram called for the people of Ayodhya and gave a
discourse telling about the greatness of bhakti and the
remembrance of the Divine name which easily eliminates the bondage
of maya, reveals the Divine Grace,
and
makes the soul Blissful forever.
A Divine breeze permeated the
entire brahmand with the descension of supreme God Krishn.
His mother Deoki saw Him in His absolute Divine glory, lovingly
smiling and standing in front of her in His full youthful form. In
the meantime celestial gods and goddesses along with Brahma and Shiv
came, sang homage to Krishn and returned to their abodes. Krishn
then became like a day-old baby.
Deoki and Vasudeo were imprisoned
by the demon Kans, the King of Mathura, because a celestial warning
had informed him that the eighth son of Deoki would be his
destroyer. But when Krishn appeared, a tiny touch of His Divine
power shattered the defense system of the jail: locks broke,
watchmen went into deep sleep, gates opened and all the restrictions
were eliminated. The flooding Yamuna river gave way to Vasudeo so
that he could safely transport baby Krishn to his relative Nand
Baba’s house which was in Gokul and on the other side of river
Yamuna. Thus, Krishn first descended in Mathura and on the same
night He came to Gokul. He appeared on the eighth waning moon night
of bhadon (August) in Rohini Nakchatra (asterism) in
3228 BC.
The next day, at the house of Nand
Baba and Yashoda all the Brajwasis came together to join the
most joyous celebration of Krishn’s birthday. God Shiv also came
rushing to Gokul to see the innocent loving smile of baby Krishn,
and, in this way, from the very first morning of His descension on
the earth planet, His playful Divine loving leelas started.
From that day on, every day in Braj was a joyous celebration and
every moment in Braj was an experience of Krishn’s ever-new and
ever-increasing love that encharmed the heart of every Brajwasi.
As Krishn grew, the field of His
playful activities expanded and reached almost all over Braj. That’s
how everywhere in Braj there are leela places which are the
inspirations for the devotees that remind them of the presence of
Krishn in Braj. In those places a temple or a pond, or both, have
been made to represent the liveliness of the leela which
Krishn did over there. There are hundreds of such leela
places in Braj. The devotees of Radha Krishn adore these places and,
trying to feel the Divine presence of Radha Krishn, they enhance
their feelings of love and longing when they visit those places.
When Krishn was only five years
old He Graced the Brajwasi girls of similar age who were
collectively worshipping Goddess Katyayani with a desire to become
the sweethearts of Krishn. At the age of seven, Krishn did the
Govardhan leela and at the age of eight years He did
maharas.
During the Govardhan leela,
to save the Brajwasis from the severe cloudburst caused by
Indra, Krishn lifted and held the Govardhan hill, and all the
Brajwasis lived together with Krishn for seven days under that
hill. It was so exciting to live with Krishn, day and night, for
seven days, which only those could imagine who were in that group.
Maharas leela happened in
Vrindaban in Braj. It was the descension of the true Vrindaban Bliss
on the earth planet when the Grace of Krishn established Divine
Vrindaban on the soils of Braj; and, in that Divine space, Shree
Raseshwari Radha Rani, Who is the life-essence of Krishn’s
all-greatness, revealed the most intimate Divine Bliss to all the
Gopis on the Sharat Poornima night. On that particular night,
Radha, Krishn and all the Gopis sang, danced and played
together in an extremely elevated Divine state which is only seen in
Divine Vrindaban. That was maharas. It was so great that
Brahma couldn’t imagine the depth of its Blissful superiority, Shiv
experienced it but He was unable to explain it in words, Maha
Lakchmi desired for it but She couldn’t receive it and Maha Vishnu
knew that its description was beyond the Divine language of the
Vedas.
So, in the Samrahasyopnishad, Maha
Vishnu says, “श्रृणु लक्ष्मि
अस्य लोकस्य हन्त माहात्म्यम् । अहं वक्तुमशक्तश्च ॥ ...ब्रह्म्लोके
स्थिता रुद्रलोके स्थिता इमां लीलां न जानन्ति । अन्ये मम भक्ता: बहव:
सन्ति । तेऽपीमां लीलां न जानन्ति ॥ ...तस्मात्तया
श्रीराधिकयानुगृहीतास्तं रसं जानन्ति नान्य ॥ O Lakchmi! Listen! The
greatness of Vrindaban Bliss is so great that I am unable to
describe it… Those Saints who live in the abode of Brahma and Shiv
do not understand this. My bhaktas
also do not understand the greatness of Vrindaban leelas. Only
those who receive the Grace of Shree Radha Rani understand
and experience Vrindaban Bliss, and no one else.”
Radha had descended in Braj a year
earlier than Krishn. She appeared in Her absolute Divine dignity and
glorified the palace of King Vrishbhanu in Barsana. Kirti was Her
mother. All the celestial gods and goddesses and Brahma, Shiv and
Narad came and sang the glory of Radha Rani. Radha always lived in
Barsana. Whereas Nand Baba and others, after a few years of Krishn’s
appearance, had moved from Gokul to Nandgaon because the demons of
Kans were causing a lot of disturbance over there. Nandgaon and
Barsana are only four miles apart. So, most of the leelas of
Radha and Krishn happened around there. Later on Krishn went to
Mathura and then to Dwarika; but, Radha still stayed in Barsana,
and, when Krishn ascended to Golok, at the same time Radha and all
other Brajwasis also ascended to Golok.
Although the whole of Braj is the
leela place of Krishn but three places are most important:
Barsana, Vrindaban and Govardhan. Barsana is important because the
sovereign of Gopis’ hearts, and the soul of Krishn (आत्मा
तु राधिका तस्य ॥ भा. मा. 1/22), Radha, always lived there.
Vrindaban is famous because maharas leela happened over
there, and Govardhan is the place where Krishn did most of His
playful
leelas with His playmates (called Gwalbal) while grazing
the cows.
After eleven years of age Krishn
went to Mathura, eliminated demon Kans and made Ugrasen the King of
Mathura. Later on He went to Dwarika, married Rukmini (Who was the
descension of Maha Lakchmi) and lived there up till His
ascension to Golok. During that time He helped the Pandavas, taught
Gita to Arjun and assisted him in fighting the Mahabharat war.
Before His ascension Uddhao came
to Him. Krishn gave Uddhao all the philosophical and devotional
teachings. They are fully described in the eleventh canto of the
Bhagwatam. Krishn called for Arjun and advised him to take the
people of Dwarika to a safer place because immediately after His
ascension a sea deluge was going to destroy Dwarika.
Dwaparyug had ended, Krishn
ascended to His Divine abode in 3102 BC, and kaliyug started.
There is a reference in the Garg Sanhita (Ashvamedh Khand,
chapter 60/21-25) that first Krishn disappeared from Dwarika and
came to Braj, then, at the time of actual ascension of Krishn, a
Divine figure, Who was Vishnu of this brahmand, came out of
Krishn’s body and went to His own abode. Then Maha Vishnu and
Maha Lakchmi emerged from Krishn and They went to Vaikunth abode;
and then, Krishn and Radha along with Brajwasis, went to
Golok abode. This statement further clarifies this situation
that Vishnu and Maha Vishnu, as a subordinate Divine power, reside
within the personality of Krishn.
The leelas of Krishn are
described in the tenth canto of the Bhagwatam which has ninety
chapters. They could be categorized as: (1) Braj leela, (2)
nikunj leela, and (3) Dwarika leela. Braj
leela is where all the Brajwasis join; nikunj leela
is where there are only Radha, Krishn and the Gopis; and
Dwarika leela refers to all the activities of Krishn when He
went to Dwarika and lived there. Dwarika leela has a touch of
almightiness along with the lovingness of Krishn and that makes it
totally separate from the braj and the nikunj leelas;
whereas the braj and the nikunj leelas are the
absolute experiences of Krishn’s intimate loving Bliss that He gave
to His playmates, mother Yashoda and the Gopis, and where the
Divine almightiness can never enter. Krishn has three Divine abodes:
Dwarika, Golok and Divine Vrindaban. Rukmini Krishn are in Dwarika,
and Radha Krishn are in Golok and Divine Vrindaban. Dwarika
leelas are related to Dwarika abode, and braj and
nikunj leelas are related to Golok and Divine Vrindaban.
It is beyond imagination how much
Radha Krishn have Graced us. They descended only 5,227 years ago.
They revealed such loving leelas that fascinated even God
Shiv and Goddess Parvati and Maha Lakchmi. All of this They
did only for us so that the eternally miserable souls could also
receive the same Bliss of maharas which is beyond the reach
of Brahma and which is earnestly desired by God Shiv. But see the
people of this world whose kaliyug-affected minds still
criticize and allegorize the leelas of Krishn. You must know
that such doings are extreme transgressions, and as such, a lover
of Sanatan Dharm should discard such diabolical publications, which,
even in the least, criticize, allegorize and degrade the absolute
Divinity of Bhagwan Ram and Sita or Radha and Krishn and Their
Divine leelas, or dispute the Divine eternity of the
Vedas, Upnishads and the Puranas, and the eternal Sages and Saints.
You should remember that the Divine dignity of Bhagwan Ram
and Krishn and Their loving leelas are the soul of Sanatan
Dharm.
The first tribal migration in the
world.
After the ascension of Krishn,
kaliyug started and a fierce sea deluge destroyed Dwarika. Much
before that the chatriyas of Bharatvarsh (India) had
been going out to settle in other countries and to have their own
domain. However, there is a big question in the minds of certain
intellectuals that how did the migration of the tribes start in the
world? When they try to probe into the migration problem, the scanty
historical information prior to 3500 BC, and then a dead stop caused
by the latest ice age, obscures the situation. However, the
scriptures give a reference to this situation and explain that the
existing human civilization was re-established by Vaivaswat Manu
120.533 million years ago on the plains of the Ganges. We had the
same Puranas, Gita and the Bhagwatam all the time. When the
population increased and stretched towards the Indus Valley and the
eastern side of India, the prideful youths, desirous of conquering
new lands and territories, spread out all over Asia, Middle East and
also Europe. This could have happened before the last ice age and
would have kept on happening even prior to the Mahabharat war.
The Manu Smriti gives a brief
account of such a tribal movement when these prideful people went
out of India and settled in the other parts of the continent long
ago. It says,
“शनकै
स्तु क्रियालोपादिमा: क्षत्रियजातय: ।
वृषलत्वं गता ोके ब्राह्मणादर्शने च ॥
पौण्ड्रकाश्चौड्रद्रविडा: काम्बोजा यवना: शका: ।
पारदापह्लवाश्चीना: किराता दरदा: खशा: ॥ ”
(मनु. 10/43,44)
“Because of the non-association of
the Vedic teachings of India, the people of Dravid, Kamboj, Shak
(central Asia), China, Yavan and Parad (Gulf countries) etc., became
worldly and lost their original Indian culture.”
When they left India they had our
locally spoken Sanskrit language with them and the stories of the
Puranas and our religious customs were also in their minds. But the
prolonged lapse of time and no social and spiritual relations with
India made them forget India and they all started their new culture
and religion and also a new style of language. In this way
a number of
cultures started in the world whose remote prime origin was India
(Bharatvarsh).
The bhakti aspect of the
Puranas and the Divine authenticity of the scriptures.
The stories of the Puranas play a
very important role in the life of a Bhartiya (Indian), when, from
the very childhood, he learns how the child Bhakt Dhruv received the
Divine vision of God, and how was Bhakt Prahlad saved by God from
all the calamities. Such historical stories induce a faith in the
greatness and the Graciousness of God and also His accessibility for
every human being.
A common man in the world is
always desiring for something. Stories of the Puranas mostly tell
such events when God gave His vision and fulfilled the desire of His
devotee, and in the end, the devotee went to God’s abode. Such
things induce a desire in a person’s mind to become a devotee of
God, even if he is fully attached to his worldly possessions. But
the aim of the Puranas is to introduce wholehearted devotion (bhakti)
to God, because once a person has become a true devotee of God, he
would start experiencing the blissful effects of his devotions and a
feeling of closeness with his beloved God. Such experiences will
naturally make him a selfless devotee of God, truly desiring for His
vision and love. In this way the Puranas introduce wholehearted
and single-minded devotion to a personal form of God, where,
upon God realization, the devotee may receive anything he desires:
the mayic luxury like the sovereignty of the world or the
seat of Indra or Brahma; or the liberation; or the Divine vision of
any of the almighty forms of God; or the Divine love of Bhagwan Ram
or Bhagwan Krishn.
The Puranas reveal both, apar
and par dharm. They reveal the greatness of Radha and
Krishn and also reveal the Divine and the devotional philosophies,
but in their own style. They are the major source of the Divine
history. They relate the events since the very first day of the
birth of Brahma who created our brahmand (sun, moon, earth
planet, the planetary system and all the celestial abodes) 155.52
trillion years ago, and up to the end of the Gupt dynasty (83 BC),
and even more. Puranas were first revealed by Brahma to the Sages of
Bharatvarsh even before the very beginning of human civilization
which started from Swayambhuva Manu and Shatroopa. It means that the
prime origin of Bhartiya civilization or Sanatan Dharm goes back up
to 155.52 trillion years ago. Since then thousands of times the
earth planet went through the partial dissolution (called kalp
pralaya). The latest revival of the earth planet was 1,972
million years ago, and since that time we have an uninterrupted
continuation of Bhartiya civilization up till today.
All of the scriptures, Vedas,
Upnishads, their affiliates and the Puranas (along with the Sanskrit
language) are eternal. It means that they are Divine powers,
eternally staying in God, and, with the will of God, they are
revealed into the Divine conscience of Brahma who then introduces
them to the Sages of Bharatvarsh who are eternal Divine
personalities. Vedas and Upnishads themselves relate this fact in
their writings (ऋ.
10/90/9,
बृ.
2/4/10, छां.
7/1/2, and त्रि.महा.उ.).
Out of all of the scriptures, the
Upnishads, Gita and the Bhagwatam are most important. Gita is the
direct speech of Krishn Himself and the Bhagwatam is the last
revelation of Bhagwan Ved Vyas in which he has kept the entire
Divine truth. Thus, the teachings of
all
of our Sages, Saints and the acharyas follow the guidelines
of these scriptures.
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