“Avatar Rahasya” (Prem Ras Siddhant)
The descensions of God.

English Excerpts from Prem Ras Siddhant
(click here for Hindi excerpts)

There are uncountable reasons for the descension of God.

Thus, it is pointless to say that the purpose of God’s descension is limited to a specific reason. People have given various reasons based on what appeals to them. But, I would say that the most important reason for the descension of God is only His causeless Grace. God, Who is fully satisfied within Himself, and Who is atmaram-poornkam, has nothing to gain from anyone. He cannot have any kind of desire. Thus His each and every action is only for the benefit of others. God’s nature of causelessly showering His Grace upon the souls is also well-known in the world. It is this nature which causes His descension.

It is very simple to explain how He showered His causeless Grace upon the souls in His descension as Krishn. There are rigid qualifications to enter the path of gyan or non-dualistic devotion to the impersonal aspect of God (nirakar brahm). Such a person who fulfills these qualifications is so rare that he may be only one in millions. Shankaracharya describes in his writings that without devotion to the supreme personality of God, Shree Krishn, heart can never be purified. Without purifying the heart, how could a person become qualified to enter the path of gyan? Even if a person does become qualified, only a mere handful of such souls could actually attain liberation. Therefore, because of His nature of being causelessly Gracious, God descended in this world and, during that time, He revealed His innumerable names, virtues, and His leelas. Thus, by taking their help, uncountable sinful, mayic souls cross the ocean of maya and receive Divine love. There are examples of souls like Valmiki. He could not even repeat the name of Bhagwan Ram. So, he repeated the name backwards. Even then, through the strength of the Divine name, he became a great brahmrishi. In this context Ved Vyasji says in the Bhagwatam (1/8/35),

That because of our interaction from uncountable lifetimes with the material world, the natural inclination of the mind is towards the material world. God therefore descends in this world, and reveals the Divine environment and His Divine pastimes, which become the means of Divine attainment for uncountable souls.

Another reason for the descension of God that is even more dear to me is,

“Although the paramhansas were already absorbed in the Bliss of the impersonal aspect of Divinity, God appeared in this world in His eternal Divine form to immerse them in the Bliss of Divine love.”

There are examples of great paramhansas like Sanakadi, Janak, Shukdev and others, who abandoned their impersonal Bliss and became absorbed in the Bliss of the personal form of God. Just think, even after knowing this fact, some ignorant people still question about the eternity of the personal form of God. Had there been no descension (avatar), the followers of the path of impersonal Divinity would have loudly declared that the personal form of God does not exist.

Actually, the impersonal absolute and the personal form of God are not two separate existences. So, to give them the sweet experience of Divine love is also a reason of His descension. Along with this, it was also established that His impersonal and personal forms are one. This is the reason that the great paramhansas became zealously attracted to the Bliss of the personal form of God. It means detachment from the impersonal form and attachment to the personal form of the same God.

Apart from this, some other well known reasons for God’s descension include the establishment of dharm, destruction of the demons, protection of the Devotees and, in addition to these, there could be innumerable other reasons. In the world, when we go somewhere normally we have several aims to fulfill. But, to count God’s actions and aims during His descension is absolutely impossible. By descending Himself among souls, God reveals His Gracious Divine qualities. Hearing about these, a soul becomes resolute and with his positive faith, he quickly proceeds towards God.

Another point that is necessary to know is that all descensions of God are Divine. “” According to the Gita, God’s birth (janm) and all His actions are Divine. But for the material souls, God’s body and actions appear to be material. The main and most important point is that all the Divine bodies of all the descensions of God are Divine and therefore they are eternal.

Another point worth reflecting upon is that all the descensions are ‘perfect and complete.’ There are no greater or lesser descensions of God; nor does a particular descension represent half or a quarter of God’s complete Divinity. God cannot be divided into fractions. He remains complete and unchanged always, everywhere, and in all the circumstances. So, Ved Vyas says,

Generally, people have the habit of thinking that the particular descension of God they worship is better than the other forms of God. This constitutes the greatest spiritual transgression, called namaparadh. One should, on no account, commit this mistake, even unconsciously. God is always God in all situations; if He could be divided or made into smaller fractions then He would not be God.

Generally speaking, the followers of Ram and Krishn are greater in number in the world. The cause for this is not that Their descensions were greater than the others. Rather, there was a greater revelation of the leelas during the descensions of Ram and Krishn, and through the remembrance of these leelas, the devotees’ minds become quickly attached to God. Thus, from the point of view of attachment of the mind, these two descensions have been given a special significance. In reality, there is no deficiency or surplus of Divinity in any descension making it inferior or superior to others. You must have seen sweets made of pure sugar that are prepared on occasions like Divali and other festivals. These are made for children in the shape of toys, just like a sugar-horse, a sugar-elephant, a sugar-man, a sugar-woman, and so on. Out of innocence, the children will fight over them, “I want the man!” Another says, “I will take the horse!” But mother and father know that whether their child takes the horse or the man, the sweetness of both is exactly the same. The only difference is in the shape of that particular sweet. In this way, regardless of which avatar one worships, all of them have unlimited powers, unlimited virtues and Their Divinity is equal.

If someone were to say, “The scriptures mention that God has 10 or 24 main descensions, but I would prefer a 25th descension. What should I do?” Such people should know that uncountable descensions of God are taking place every moment in uncountable brahmandas. Ved Vyas states,

There have been uncountable descensions. One can choose to worship whatever form one desires. If there could be such a form that has never appeared as a descension, you could also accept that form, and God will come to you in that worshipped form. What effort does God have to expend in taking a form? You are completely free to imagine Him in any form, with any kind of complexion, and so on. God is so compassionate that in this regard He has not created any fixed rules or restrictions to which a soul could object. This is why He is described as, “Anant-nam-rupaya.” () He is said to have uncountable names and forms. To restrict that unlimited power to a certain limit is just one’s ignorance. Therefore, with regard to conceiving God’s form, you have been given complete freedom.

No limit has been placed on God’s name either. You may take His name according to your own desire, based on whatever language you speak or country you are from. He has no objection to this. It is not that one name is greater or lesser than another. To think this, is an unforgivable spiritual transgression (akchamya namapradh). Shree Krishn’s childhood friends used to call him, “Kanhaiya.” Mother Yashoda called Krishn and Balram, “Kanua” and “Balua” or just “Lala.” The Gopis would call Him a “stealer of Their hearts” (chor-jar) and Shyamsundar would be most eager to hear these loving taunts from them. In Dwarika, Krishn’s loving name is “ranchor,” which means the one who ran away from the battlefield. He received this title from His bhaktas, because, out of fear of Jarashandh, Shree Krishn left the fight and ran away to Dwarika. All the names that are given to God based on His different leelas are a source of receiving great loving Bliss for both, the devotees and God, provided that there is an intimate loving relationship between them. Without love, all the names and forms are useless. One should not think that a certain name of God is superior to other names, or that only through a particular name he may attain God quickly. Actually, any of His names, forms, or actions which emphasize His almightiness are not loving to the devotees. On seeing Shree Krishn’s awe-inspiring, fear-inducing universal form (virat roop) of almighty God, Arjun folded his hands and prayed Krishn to assume His original two-armed form, which was loving to him. So we know that only those names and forms that relate to His loving leelas and boundless compassion are truly sweet. By remembering these, one has the opportunity to think, “See how compassionate God is and how much love He has for His bhaktas! An illiterate Gopi is reprimanding Shree Krishn by calling Him a stealer of Her heart (chor-jar), and Shree Krishn is absorbed in her love and adores her sweet taunts.” Thus, there should be no confusion regarding any of God’s names.

In the same way, let us think about the topic of the leelas. Whatever leelas of Ram, Krishn and other forms of God are written in the scriptures, are like a drop of water in a boundless ocean. The leelas of Ram and Krishn are happening every moment since eternity, and all of these leelas are ever-new. To regard them as having a limit is ignorance. “” The descensions and leelas of God are unlimited. Whatever leela you could imagine, that has already happened. You should understand that seeing your pure love for Him, He can do everything for you. However, if your imagination is without devotional emotions, then the question does not even arise of His doing a leela or not.

Just like the leelas, the Divine virtues of God are also limitless. Take the help of any virtue which is loving to you for your devotional remembrance. It is not necessary that you should pick only a certain virtue. Due to the influence of the past sanskars, one devotee finds a particular virtue of God to his liking, and another devotee feels attracted to another virtue. One should not make any distinction between them. Whatever virtue a person finds pleasing to him, he should choose that for his remembrance.

All the Divine abodes are also one. Choose the one that appeals to you. God can be found anywhere, because His abode is also omnipresent. Just as His form is Divine, you should also remember that His names, virtues, leelas, and abodes are also Divine. “” The Ramayan says that God remains equally present everywhere. If someone wants to see Him in some special personal form, even that personal form is omnipresent everywhere.

In the same way, whichever abode is to one’s liking, one should remember that abode and not make any differentiation between the abodes.

One should understand that all the descended Saints (acharyas) are one. We may accept a particular acharya, but we should not have any ill-feeling towards other acharyas.

It is important to remember that God’s uncountable names, uncountable forms, uncountable virtues, uncountable leelas, uncountable abodes and uncountable Saints are all one. They all reside within each other, and one can attain God by dedicating to any one of them. To criticize them in any way is a spiritual transgression. A person should devote himself according to where his interest lies, and beyond this he shouldn’t use his intellect.

Normally we see in the world that worshippers of a particular form, name or virtue of God criticize and condemn the worshippers of other names, forms or virtues of God. This is a great mistake. If a person were to say that even in the Puranas this kind of contradiction is seen, one should carefully note that such statements are only simulations. They are written with a specific intention of enhancing devotion to one’s worshipped form of God; it is not criticism. The scriptures say,

The intent of such comments is only to praise one’s own side. Once Surdas humorously asked Tulsidas, “When Shree Krishn is the descension of all the sixteen aspects of Divinity (solah kala), then why do you worship Shree Ram, Who has manifested only twelve Divine aspects?” Tulsidas could have given a proper answer, but he also amusingly said: “Until now I only knew that Ram was my beloved prince; upon learning today that He is an avatar who is the manifestation of twelve Divine aspects, my devotion to Him has increased twelve times more!” It is the language of the rasik Saints who being internally one, sometimes joked with each other, just as you do with others in the world.

One may say that the scriptures speak of partial descension (anshavatar), complete descension (purnavatar), descension with specific purpose or descension manifesting specific qualities (aveshavatar, kalavatar), and so on. This seems to be making distinctions between the different kinds of descensions. The fact is that a particular descension of God only manifests that  much power which is needed at a particular time. Thus, according to the limit of the manifestation of the Divine power, a particular descension is categorized accordingly.

This can be clarified by a simple example. A university professor teaches his young child, ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D.’ This doesn’t mean that his intellectual ability is limited to this. According to the need that arises in different situations, his abilities are manifested. He may speak to his little child in the broken language of young children, he may speak to his wife in her mother tongue, he may speak to his servant in the servant’s native dialect, but when he gives a lecture in the university, he reveals his full intellectual abilities. Similar is the situation of the Divine powers that are revealed by a descension of God.

We should understand that all the descensions of God are indivisible, Divine and complete. Then what is worth reflecting upon is which avatar’s form is most pleasing for a devotee to meditate upon. It is the experience of all of you that the mind does not desire merely a form. It wants a form that is beautiful and attractive. Taking this into consideration, meditation on the forms of Ram and Krishn is the easiest. If a person wanted to meditate upon another descension like Varah, when God descended as a Divine boar, he would conceive in his meditation a material boar, which the mind would not find very pleasing.

Now think of the descensions of Bhagwan Ram and Krishn. We can easily understand that Krishn’s avatar was the sweetest and that the leelas manifested during this descension were numerous. Initially, a devotee will not be able to continuously meditate on God’s form. For establishing his mind in Divine subjects, he will have to take the help of the leelas, and the leelas of Shree Krishn are so sweet that the devotees’ mind will be naturally attracted to them. Thus, meditating on the leelas is very easy. During Shree Krishn’s avatar, the leelas of all the five kinds of loving emotions (bhao) were revealed. They are: shant bhao (the feelings a subject has for a king), dasya bhao (the love a servant has for his master), sakhya bhao (the love a friend has for his friend), vatsalya bhao (the love a mother has for her child), and madhurya bhao (the love that Gopis have for Krishn). According to his personal liking, a devotee can think about any kind of leela. In this way, sadhana becomes easy.

Another point is that, even though Ram and Krishn are one, the sweetest leela Bliss that was revealed during Shree Krishn’s descension was not revealed in Shree Ram’s descension. This is the reason why the Saints who became God realized during Ram’s descension, chose to come as Gopis during Shree Krishn’s descension so that they could experience the sweetest Bliss of Divine love.

Therefore, from the point of view of experiencing the highest Bliss of Divine love and the ease of practice, devotion to Krishn Who is all-loving and all-beautiful, Who is the stealer of the hearts of the Gopis and Who is the crown-jewel of all the rasik Saints, is most appropriate.

You must understand that same absolute supreme Personality of God (poornatam purushottam brahm) is in two forms, Radha and Krishn. The Upnishad says, “ ” Radha and Krishn are one, but, for the sake of leela, They are in two forms. Leelas are eternal, thus the forms of Radha and Krishn are also eternal. According to Ved Vyas, “” Radha is the Soul of Krishn. The Upnishads also describe Radha as “,” “.” It means that Radha is the Swamini of Shree Krishn; She is the life and soul of Shree Krishn.

Now the devotee can meditate upon both, Vrishbhanu-nandini Radhikaji and Nandnandan Shyam Sundar who did maharas in Vrindaban, together or individually, according to his personal choice.

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