Bhagavan and the avataras
Srila Prabhupada:
So the same Absolute Truth as He is revealed
before the student of different capacities is called Brahman, Paramatma
and Bhagwan as well.
Srila Jiva Goswami has explained the word 'Bhagwan' in the Bhagwad Sandarva (3rd Part).
The Personality of Godhead being full with all
conceivable and inconceivable potencies, He is the Absolute Supreme
Whole. And in the essence of such complete potencies in Brahman,
impersonal Brahman is partial manifestation of the Absolute Truth. The
first letter of the word 'Bhagawan' is 'Bha' which means sustainer and
protector. The next letter 'Ga' means leader, pusher and creator. And
'Ba' [van] means dwelling. All living being dwells in the Supreme Lord
and the Supreme Lord resides in every living being's heart. Combining
all these three the word 'Bhagawan' carries an import of inconceivable
potencies in knowledge, strength, energy, opulence, power and influence
devoid of all varieties of inferior complex.
Nobody can be sustainer and protector in full without such
inconceivable potencies without deficiency. The Russian satellite is
sustained by so many scientific arrangement completed by so many
scientific brains. Can we imagine what gigantic brain and power is
required to sustain in gravity unlimited planets and satellite in the
unlimited space? After the Russian satellite, we can not bluff away
people in general that there is no gigantic brain behind all these
arrangement of planetary system. There is no reason to believe that all
these gigantic planets are floating without such arrangement. In the
same [way] the potency of the Supreme Lord can be explained in terms of
the letters 'Ga' and 'Ba' mentioned above. So far protection is
concerned everything is protected as much as sustained by the different
potential agents of the Lord but He Himself in Person sustains and
protects His devotees as much as a King takes personal attention of his
children while the state affairs are generally managed by deputed
agents. He is the leader of the devotees as we have known it from the
Bhagwat Geeta. He personally instructs His devotees to make progress in
the path of attaining the Kingdom of God.* And on the other hand He is
Himself the recipient of all adorations offered by His devotees. He is
Himself the objective and goal. And so far the creatorship is
concerned, He creates a favourable condition for developing the
transcendental love of Godhead. Sometimes He creates a favourable
condition of the devotee by snatching away all material things of
attraction so that a devotee may seek His shelter only baffled in all
other direction. He is therefore the leader of the devotees. Although
He is unattached to the business of creation, maintenance and
destruction of the material world and He is Himself eternally busy in
enjoyment of transcendental bliss amongst His internal parapharnalia,
yet as the initiator of His material Energy or the material Nature as
well as of the living beings He expands Himself as the Purusha Avataras
infested[?] with similar potencies. The
Purusha Avatars are also Bhagwan identical with the original Bhagwan
like the original lamp is identical with subsequent lamps.
The living entities are His minute particles and qualitatively equal.
They are sent into this material world for material enjoyment in order
to fulfill such independant desire and to manage such affairs of such
material enjoyment He deputes Himself in state of companion Super Soul
to witness and manage such affairs. The example of temporary mela is
quite appropriate in this connection. The citizens of a state assembles
in a fair for enjoyment and to manage their affairs a special officer
is deputed by the government, such officer is empowered with all
governmental power and He is identical with the government. The
Paramatma feature is exactly like that of an mela officer. When the
mela is finished there is no need of the officer and he returns to his
original abode.
Therefore the living beings are not all in all.
They are undoubtedly the parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord and they
are undoubtedly qualitatively equal with the Supreme Lord but yet they
are subject to be controlled and are never one and equal with the Lord.
The Lord associates with the living being and therefore He is known as
Paramatma or the Supreme Being. Nobody should therefore put in equal
position the living being and the Sureme being. And the truth which is
all pervading and exists eternally either in creation, maintenance or
destruction of the material world and in which the living entities rest
in trance that truth is called impersonal Brahman.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.11)
the above distinction and oneness of the Absolute Truth was explained
by Suta Goswami the disciple of Sukhdeva Goswami before the assembly of
sages like Sounak and others. He said that transcendentalists who know
perfectly well about the Absolute Truth does not make any difference
between Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagawan because all of them are one but
differently realized by the respective students.
As far as the devotees of the Personality of
Godhead (Bhagavan) is concerned they know Shri Krishna the son of the
King of Braja, as the Absolute Truth! Such pure devotees, do not make
any difference between Shri Krishna's Name, Form, Quality and Pastimes.
If somebody makes any difference between His Absolute Name, Form, etc.
then it must be understood that such differentiating person is lacking
in the Absolute Knowledge. When a pure devotee chants the
transcendental Name Krishna, he knows well that Shri Krishna is present as sound and receives the same with equal veneration.
When he sees the Forms of Shri Krishna He does not see in that Form any
thing different from Him. And if any one sees otherwise, he is to be
considered as untrained in the knowledge of the Absolute. For want of
this knowledge of the Absolute one is apt to be under duel
consideration of Maya other than Krishna which places duality as
Krishna and non Krishna separately under the influence of Maya
(non-Krishna). In the manifestations of Krishna of all description as
well as expansions of different Forms are all Absolute Knowledge and
all such multiforms of Vishnu are masters of Maya. According to the
mystic yogins the Absolute Knowledge is limited only in the conception
of the soul and the Super Soul being equal in identity. And the empiric
philosophers and monists impersonal existence of knowledge only without
any difference between the self and Brahman—is
called Absolute Knowledge. And with all, the Absolute Conception of
pure devotee is inclusive of all others in their pure state. The
devotee does not see anything other than in relation with Krishna and
therefore such conception of absolutism is the most perfect conception.
The Upanishads confirm that the impersonal
Brahman is the effulgence of rays emanating from the all-spirit Body of
the Supreme Being. The example is given in the comparison of sun rays
and the Sun. The sun in the naked eye looks like impersonal although
there is the Sun God with all his paraphernalia. In the same way
persons, speculating with imperfect senses, become impact[?] with
impersonal knowledge of Brahman.
In the Mundak Upanishads this fact is
corroborated (2nd part 9-11 mantras). Beyond this material nature there
is impersonal glowing effulgence of Brahman. The light of Brahman is
whitish and that is the source of light for all the luminaries. There
in the Brahman there is no need of the Sun or the moon and what to
speak of the light of fire. On the other hand all these luminaries
emanate their respective light on account of the effulgence of Brahman.
There is nothing but that effulgence of Brahman either in the front or
in the back either in north or in the south or in the west or in the
east. It is on head and downwards also therefore there is nothing but
Brahman all round[?].
This description of the effulgence Brahman is
still more clearly explained in the Brahma Samheeta (5.40). It is said
like this by Brahma in his prayers for Govinda the Personality of
Godhead.
"I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord and the
ultimate cause of all causes, whose bodily effulgence has produced
Brahman and crores of universes with crores of planets within them all
representing with respective opulence."
The example of the sun is again applicable here.
The sun-disc is situated far far away from this or that planet and yet
the rays of the sun surface and maintains all these planets. The sun is
diffusing its heat and light all over the universe but the Supreme Sun
Govinda as described in the Mundaka Upanishad above is diffusing His
heat and light in the form of different potencies everywhere. The Sun
and its heat and light are non different from the sun. In the same way
Govinda and His unlimited potencies are non-different from Him.
Therefore every where Brahman means every where Govinda. In the Bhagwat
Geeta it is clearly mentioned that impersonal Brahman is not
independant from Govinda. And that is the real conception of Absolute
Knowledge.
This impersonal Brahman state is the place of
merging into one by the hard labouring sages who live naked in the
forest and does not allow their semen to go out of the body. Pure
sannyasins who have attained a neutral state transcendental to the
modes of nature also merge into that impersonal Brahman. This fact is
corroborated in the Bhagwat (11.6.32).
The author of Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, after
proving de facto by evidences from scriptures about the nature of
impersonal Brahman as being the effulgence of Govinda—now goes to prove it that Paramatma is the plenary portion of Govinda by evidences of Shastras.
He brings in again the example of the Sun in This
connection. The sun resplends on innumerable valuable stones and all
these stones appear to be different miniature suns. In the same way the
Supreme Lord resplends in the heart of every living being and as such
the Paramatma feature of the Lord experienced separately, although He
is one without a second.
This fact is corroborated in the Bhagwat Geeta as
well as in the Srimad Bhagbatam. The Personality of Godhead, by his
transcendental nature, is eternally engaged in joyful pastimes and as
such it is not His business to look after the management of Devidharma
or the material world. He expands His self as Purushavatara or the
Principal incarnation for controlling the activities of His separated
parts namely the Jivas living being. The man is busy in studying the 24
elements in the constituents elements of this material world without
knowing the controlling brain behind them known as three Purusha
Avataras. One of the Purusha called by the name Kshirodak Shaee Vishnu
is represented in the heart of every living being as the Super Soul
Paramatma. Another Purusha called by the name Garvodaka Shaee Vishnu is
the Super Soul of the collective living being and behind Him is the
Karanodaka Shaee Vishnu who is the Super Soul of all the numberless
universes and the Principle Head of the mistress of material creation
called by the name Durga Devi. She is the superintending mistress of
this fortress of material universes working under the direction of the
Principle Purusha. The system of yoga is the process of transcending
the influence of the material elements by establishing a connection
with the Purusha known as Paramatma. And one who has thoroughly studied
these intricacies of creation can know very easily that this Paramatma
is the plenary portion of the Supreme Being Shri Krishna.
In the Upanishad it is said that the Jivatma
(living being) and Paramatma (Supersoul) are like two birds sitting in
the same tree. The Super soul engages the living being in executing the
fruitive work result of his deeds in the past but He (Paramatma) has
nothing to do with such engagements of the working Soul.
As soon as the living being ceases to act in
terms of fruitive work and takes to the service of the Lord (Paramatma)
and comes to know the supremacy of Him, immediately such living being
becomes freed from all colors of designations and in that pure state he
enters in to the Kingdom God known as Vaikuntha!
The Personality of Godhead Shri Krishna in His
teachings of the Bhagwat Geeta, described about His non potencies
before (Arjuna) and said that He (Arjuna) need not understand all these
different potencies separately but he could simply understand that the
Personality of Godhead in His partial representation as Paramatma is
living in this mortal world to enliven the activities of the living
beings.
A similar expression was made by Bhisma, the old
grandfather of the Kurus, when he was lying on the bed of thorny arrows
at his last stage of life. He prayed Shri Krishna who was present at
his bedside along with other numberless friends, admirers, relatives
and sages. He said like this "My dear Krishna! I have understood you
like this that the Super Soul Paramatma Who lives along with every
living being in the same body, is your partial representation only
seemingly different but actually it is not. The sun is one but never
under illusion only think about it as separately situated in different
places and on different heads. Similarly you are one without second but
you appear to be differently situated in different hearts. But such men
when they purified by devotional service and do not have this illusion
of separate existence. They can then understand that the transcendental
Name, Form, Quality, Pastimes of the Personality of Godhead together
with His innumerable plenary portions as well as different potencies,
are all transcendental varieties in one unit of your Personality.
So far the description of Govinda in His Brahman
and Paramatma features concerned is[in] an understandable measure the
above mentioned explanations are precisely complete now the author of
Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita advances his argument to prove that Lord
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is identical Personality with Lord Shri
Krishna. The same Lord Shri Krishna in the garb of a devotee of Shri
Krishna has descended upon this mortal world to reclaim the fallen
human beings who misunderstand the Personality of Godhead even after
the explanations of the Bhagwat Geeta. In the Bhagawat Geeta the direct
instructions of the Personality of Godhead Shri Krishna is that the
Supreme Lord is Person. Impersonal Brahman is His glowing effulgence.
Paramatma is His partial representation and all men are advised
therefore to follow the path of Shri Krishna leaving aside all
different types of mundane isms. This instruction was mistaken by the
offenders on account of their poor fund of knowledge and as such out of
His causeless unlimited mercy Shri Krishna has come again as Shri
Chaitanya Goswami.
The Paramatma Supersoul is the guide of the
living being individual soul. The Super soul does not take part in the
matter of fulfilling the terms of the living being but He arranges for
its fulfilment in the material nature. As soon as the individual soul
becomes conscious of his eternal relation with the Supersoul and looks
onward for Him only he (the individual soul) at once becomes freed from
such terms of material enjoyment.
The Christian philosophers do not believe in the
law of Karma. They put forward an argument that it is absurd to accept
the result of our past deeds while we have no consciousness about it. A
criminal is reminded of his misdeeds first in the law court by all
evidences and thus he is punished . If death is complete forgetfulness
then why a person should be punished for his past misdeeds? And to
answer all these fallacious arguments the Paramatma conception is
invincible. A man may not remember what he has done in his childhood
but the father who has seen his son in all the different stages of
development of a man's body certainly remembers all of them. Similarly
the living being may undergo many changes of body in this or in the
previous life but the Super Soul is always with him and as such he
understands all instances in the (?) living being (?) gradual
differentiation of the evolution of body.
This entertainment of the Paramatma feature is described in the Bhagwat Geeta as follows (BG 10.42)
"My dear Arjuna, what shall I tell you more, I
am within everything in my Paramatma feature as my localized
presentation." The Paramatma feature not only lives along with the
individual soul but He lives within the atoms and electrons also. He is
the inner power of everything.
This fact is more vividly in the Shrimad Bhagwatam (1.9.42).
When Bhisma was lying on the bed of arrows after
the battle of Kurushetra, Maharaj Judhisthir went to him for inquiring
from him some truths of religiosity. Along with Judhisthir Lord Shri
Krishna also went there. At that time many prominent Rishis of
different planes came there to pay respect to Bhisma. When he had
finished answering the enquiries of Judhisthir, Bhisma Deva at the
junction of his passing away worshipped the lotus feet of Shri Krishna
by a number of prayer songs out of which the following statement is
author[another?].
Bhisma said "Oh My Lord Krishna! One of your
features known as Paramatma dwells in the heart of every individual
soul seemingly or differently situated exactly like the Sun, although
one but yet appears like different suns on every individual person's
head. But as soon as such individual soul becomes reinstated in his
eternal relation with you, such different conceptions are liquidated. I
also take this opportunity of knowing your eternal Form as you are,
without being bewildered knowing well that Paramatma is your localized
aspect only..."
The Supreme Truth is the Absolute Person who
resides in the transcendental Nature. He is full of all energies and
dwells as Narayana there, the Lord of the goddess of good luck.
'All the vedas, puranas and upanishads as well as the Bhagwat which are all revealed scriptures—declare in one voice that the Absolute Truth is one without one second Personality.
That Personality of Godhead is realized in the
light of devotional service only as the demigods in the heaven can meet
the Sun in person.
The sputnics are being thrown by the Russians on
an attempt to reach the sphere of the moon. Every planet has its own
particular climate and (?) under the influence of different
materialistic arrangement. It is therefore necessary to have particular
bodily construction to reach a particular planet. The inhabitants of
the earth may be able to reach the planet moon but the inhabitants of
the planet known as heaven can reach even the Sun globe which is a
fiery sphere. What is impossible for men on earth is an easy job for
the gods in the heaven. It all depends in the change of bodily
encagement.
Therefore the Personality of Godhead is
unapproachable by those who are habituated in speculating about the
Absolute Truth by experimental scientific thought without any reference
to the transcendental creation. Such ascending process of approaching
the Absolute Truth ends in the realization of impersonal Brahman and
localized Paramatma without any realization of the transcendental
Personality.
There are however many authorized statements in
the Vedas regarding the Personal feature of the Absolute Truth. They
are as follows:
(1) In the Ric Samheeta (1.22.20) "The Aryans
only can always aspire after the Supreme Person Vishnu. The Supreme
Person is like the Sun God who has spread himself all round by his
energy of different rays. He is imperson to the imperfect naked eyes.
(2) Narayanatharbasir Upanishad:—It
is from Narayana only that everything is generated, by Him only
everything is maintained and in Him only everything is annihilated.
Therefore Narayan is eternally existent. Whatever is there it is
nothing but Narayana—everything
that is now in existent and everything that will be created in future
also. Narayana is the unadulterated Deity and there is only Narayana
and nothing else.
(3) Narayana Upanishad:—"From whom everything is emanated. The whole universe is emanated.
(4) Haya Shira Pancharatra:—"Hari is the Supreme Lord."
(5) Bhagwat (11.3.34-35):—Brahman
and Paramatma are synonyms of Narayana. Oh you who are conversant in
the transcendental knowledge be unto Him. He is the cause of all causes
in the matter of creation, maintenance and destruction. He is present
in all stages of manifestation, non-manifestation and potential. All
functions of the body and senses including the pulsating heart
everything conducted by Him only and everything is kept in action and
for this reason He is the King of all living creatures.
As such the Personality of Godhead Vishnu Tatwa
is originally a Person but He is realized impersonally as Brahman or
Paramatman in terms of the capacity of the seer. The best example for
this is therefore the glowing Sun and his Personal existence within the
disc.
That Narayana is identical with Shri Krishna.
They are in fact one Person manifested only differently; it is just
like a High Court judge situated in different status in his office and
at his home. As Narayana He is manifested
with four hands but as Krishna He is manifested with two hands. When
Brahma realized the truth about Shri Krishna at the end of his mystic
action on the cows and playmates of Shri Krishna, he said:—
"Oh My Lord! You are the witness of all the
worlds. If you are the Super Soul of every living being are you not
then my directive father? You are Narayana because you are the
sustainer of all living beings. Narayana is your plenary portion. All
the Purusha avatars are your Plenary Portions and all of them are
transcendental to the influence of material nature."
Brahma was bewildered in the pastimes of Shri
Krishna at Vrindaban. When came to his senses, he was ashamed before
the Lord and apologized for his offensive reactions in the matter of
stealing the cows and playmates of Shri Krishna. He said, "My Lord I am
born out of the lotus grown out of and manifested by your
naval-spring(?). As such I am your son and you are my father. Father or
mother never takes seriously any offence by the children. So will you
kindly pardon me and give me your blessings.
Shri Krishna replied sarcastically, "Brahma your
father is Narayana. I am simply a cow-boy. How you can become a son of
me." Brahma said "My dear Lord! Are you not Narayan? I may say the
reason of your becoming the original Narayan. You are the Super Soul
and the cause of all living beings residing both in the mundane as well
as transcendental creation."
You are as much the sustainer and creator of all
the living beings as earth is the cause and sustainer of earthen pots.
The word 'Nara' means collective living beings and 'Ayana' means the
sustainer. Therefore originally you are the 'Narayana.' " The purport
is like this. Anything that is created in the material world is caused
by the (in action ?) of the three modes of material nature and
therefore they are called material products. But there are other
creations which are not affected by such material modes. Such creations
are called transcendental. In the transcendental creative energy the
living being has no other duty to render loving service to the Supreme
Lord. In contrast to this loving service, mundane people are engaged in
the service of the different modes of material nature in obedience to
the mundane time and space. In other words living entities, in the
transcendental nature, are cent per cent engaged in the service of the
Lord but the living entities in the mundane world are engaged in the
acts of time service producing a sense of mundane happiness or distress
In the transcendental duty there is no such feeling of duality and
mundane happiness or distress.
And for all these different varieties of living
beings Sankarshan is the original cause as He manifests all these Jivas
by display of His marginal potency. Some of them are conditioned by
material nature and others are under the protection of spiritual
nature. The material nature is a conditional manifestation of spiritual
nature as much as smoke is a conditional stage of fire. Smoke is
dependant on fire but in the blazing fire there is no place of smoke.
Smoke is disturbing but fire is serving. Such serving spirit, in the
transcendental creation, of the residents of transcendental creation,
is displayed in five varieties of relations with the Supreme Lord. The
Supreme Lord is the central enjoyer in the transcendental world. And
the material world everyone is self centered enjoyer of mundane
happiness and distresses. But with all (?) of these different varieties
of living being without the control of the Supreme Lord. He is called
therefore Narayana.
Shri Brahma Ji advanced some other reasons also
in support of his conclusion that Shri Krishna is the original
Narayana. He said therefore that the controlling Deities, of the living
beings in the mundane worlds, are the three Purusha Avatars. But
potential energy displayed by Shri Krishna is far wide and extensive
than that of the Purushas. Shri Krishna is therefore the original father and Lord who protects all creative manifestations by different plenary portions.
He sustains even the restoring needs of the collective living beings
and as such there is no doubt about it that Shri Krishna is the
original Narayana.
The third reason of Shri Krishna being the
original Narayana is that Shri Krishna in His Paramatma feature lives
in the heart of all living being both in the transcendental as well as
mundane creations. As Paramatma He witnesses all actions of the living
being in all stages of time factors namely past, present and future.
Shri Krishna knows what a living being had done in his hundreds and
thousands of births before. He sees what we are doing now and therefore
He knows the result of our present actions how to be fructified in the
prospective future. As stated in the Bhagwat Geeta the whole cosmic
situation is created as soon as He puts His glance over the material
energy. Nothing can exist without His superintendence. As He sees even
the resting abode of the collective living beings, so He becomes the
original Narayan. The purport of Brahma Ji's argument was that Purusha
who sits within the heart of every living being as well as the Purusha
rests as Garbhodaka Shayee Vishnu all of them are plenary portions of
Shri Krishna. Thus Shri Krishna is conclusively the original Narayana.
The three Purushas mentioned above namely
(Karanabedhi Sahyee Vishnu, Garbhodaka Shayee Vishnu, and Khirodaka
Shayee Vishnu all have some sort of relation with the material energy
called Maya, because the material cosmos is created by them through the
Maya. These three Purushas are living in the water (Karana, Garbha and
Khira and are the Super Soul of everything that be. (Karanarnava Shayee
Vishnu is the Super Soul of the collective universes. Garbhodaka Shayee
Vishnu is the Super Soul of the collective living beings and the
Kshirodaka Shayee Vishnu is the Super Soul of all individual entities.
And because all of them are somehow or other attached to the affairs of
the material energy they can be said to have some affection of Maya;
but Shri Krishna Himself is concerned(?) there is not even the
slightest tinge of Maya in His pure transcendental position. Such
transcendental state is called Turiya or the fourth dimensional stage.
It is confirmed in the Bhagwat (11.15.16).
The phenomenal manifestation of the Supreme Whole
as well as nouminal soul of everything as well as the cause or the
causal nature, all of them are but designations of the Purushas
responsible for material creations. The transcendental position is
surpassing this designations and therefore it is called the position of
the 4th dimention.
But the beauty is that all these Purushas are
never to be called mundane on account of their being in transcendental
position in spite of their being in touch with mundane affair.
And that is the prerogative of the Lord. In the Bhagwat (1.11.38)
it is said there that the Supreme Lordship is established only because
the Lord is never affected by any material condition. Even a
conditioned soul who is in the devotional service of the Lord does not
also become affected by material nature on account of his being
transcendentally situated.
The three Purushas above mentioned are subordinate expansions of Shri Krishna. Karnarnava
Maha Vishnu is the principle Purusha Who expands Himself as Garbhoda
Shayee Vishnu and Kshiroda Shayee Vishnu. This Karnarva Shayee Vishnu
is an expansion of Sankarshan. The second Purusha is from Pradumna and
the third Purusha is from Aniruddha. And the four principle expansions
like Shamkarshan, Aniruddha, Praddhumna and Vasudeva all are expansions
of Narayana in Vaikuntha. And Narayan is manifestation of Shri Krishna.
But none of them are lesser potential than one another.
From all the above mentioned different
statements, the statement of Brahma that Sri Krishna is the original
Narayana is confirmed without any doubt. This statement of identity of
the Vishnu Tatwa is the substance of Absolute Truth as it is stated in
the Srimad Bhagwatam. In different places this can be applied to
understand the nature of in Absolute Truth! Brahman, Paramatma and
Bhagwan all of them are manifestation of Krishna but for want
sufficient knowledge, foolish scholars derive its import in varied
ways.
Scholars who argue that Narayana (according to
Mayavada school) is the original Personality of Godhead from Whom
Krishna is an incarnation. This conclusion is derived on account of
Shri Krishna possessing only two hands while Narayana has four hands.
Such less intelligent scholars do think two hands are lesser than four
hands without knowing the Absolute feature. For these scholars with
poor fund of knowledge Shrimad Bhagwat gives a befitting reply.
According to Srimad Bhagwatam (1.2.11)
the word 'Bhagwan' is the principle word and impersonal Brahman or
Paramatma are two different corollaries deducted from the Absolute
Personality as the government and the ministers are deductions from the
Supreme executive head. In other words the purpose of this sloka of
Srimad Bhagwat (1.2.11) is that the principal is exhibited in three different phases. The Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead (Bhagwan) Sri Krishna is known as Brahman and Paramatma but all of them are identical.
This sloka is alone able to defeat the fallacious arguments of less
intelligent men. But there are other slokas also in the Srimad
Bhagwatam which confirm the above statement still more convincingly.
The statement made in the Bhagwat (1.3.28) definitely negativise the conception of Shri Krishna's becoming an Avatara of Vishnu or Narayan. He is the original Personality of Godhead the Supreme Cause of all Causes.
In this sloka it is clearly said that the Personalities of Godhead as
Sri Rama, Nrsingha, Varaha etc all of them undoubtedly belong to the
Vishnu group but all of them are either plenary portion of the original
Personality of Godhead or part of such plenary portions in different
features. But as far as Shri Krishna is concerned He is the original
Personality of Godhead. This statement was made [by] Srila Suta Goswami
at Namisaranya when he was explaining about the different plenary
expansions of the Supreme Lord. As a matter of fact he (Srila Suta
Goswami) explained every one of such different expansions and lastly he
established the originality of Shri Krishna.
Persons who are biased to accept Shri Krishna as
Avatara of Narayana can be well replied by this statement in pursuance
of rhetorical arrangements. In the science of rhetoric the known
subject in a sentence is called 'Subject' and the unknown qualification
of the subject is called 'predicate'. For example if it is said that
this Brahmin is a learned man then the the Brahmin becomes subject or
known man and therefore the subject of the sentence is put forward
first and his qualification of being a learned man is followed. The
following qualification is called predicate. But nobody puts first the
qualifications without stating the subject. Such unweary(?) statements
of placing the qualification first without any knowledge of the
qualified man carries no meaning.
In the statement of Bhagwat (1.3.28)
"Eteh Chamsha Kala Pumsha" etc 'Eteh' means all these i.e. all the
incarnations mentioned herein before are all well known and therefore
the word "Eteh" is the subject. And the announcement of their becoming
the incarnations of the Personality of Godhead was not known before and
as such it is the predicate of the sentence. In
the first instance Krishna is also taken as one of the incarnations but
to distinguish Him specifically He is said to be Personality of Godhead
Himself. This fact being disclosed
afterwards, it is taken to be in the predicational order. That is the
rehtorical system which definitely indicates that Shri Krishna is the
original Personality of Godhead. There cannot be any other import of
the "Krishnas tu Bhagawan Sayam" or 'Sri Krishna is the original
Personality of Godhead'. If it would have been fact that Narayana was
the original Personality of Godhead Then the statement Sri Suta Goswami
would have been differently stated. Sri Krishna becomes definitely the
original Personality of Godhead without any doubt.
The statements of Srimad Bhagwat are all transcendental sounds recorded in Sanskrit alphabets. They
are revealed statements after perfect realization by Srila Vyasdeva and
as such there cannot be any frailties like mistake, illusion, cheating
or imperfectness of perception. The
difference between a conditioned soul and that of a liberated soul is
this that a conditioned soul is sure to commit mistake, bewildered in
illusion, possessing a sense of cheating others and impelled by
imperfect sense-perception. There cannot be any tinge of all these
deficiencies on the part of Sri Vyasadeva. The fallacy of dislocation
of rhetorical arrangement can never be committed by persons like
Vyasdeva. Unless we accepts this fact there is no use to help from the
revealed scriptures.
"Swayam" means the original Personality. And this
word "Swayam" has been purposely used here. The original Personality of
Godhead Sri Krishna expands Himself in plenary forms and as a matter of
course all such plenary portions become the Personality of Godhead.
The Personality of Godhead or His Plenary portion
or His self realized devotees all of them are transcendentally
situated. As such none of them can be mislead by any false knowledge.
Neither they can be illusioned to accept one thing for another or to
say or to hear one thing in place of another. Such liberated persons or
personalities cannot be induced to cheat others by anything in action.
Neither they can be imperfectly imbibed with sense perception. None of
their senses are imperfect by inability in proper action such
imperfectness of visionary organs in the matter of seeing the minutest
particles or to see everything yellow in the jaundiced eye. Neither
unable to hear far away messages even without the help a radioset.
The arrangement of incarnations of the original
Personality of Godhead is like that of burning a lamp from another.
From one burning lamp you can lit up innumerable other lamps which are
not inferior to the original lamp. But still you have to take account
of the original lamp. That is the position of the original Personality
of Godhead with His unlimited number incarnations in different forms
and categories.
By analysis of transcendental manifestations of
Krishna and Narayana it has been definitely established in the Srimad
Bhagawatam that Sri Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead. It is said in the Bhagwat (2.10.1-2)
that there are, in the text of the Bhagwat, ten subject matters dealt
in it. Out of the ten subject matters the tenth one is the Substance
and the rest nine are categories derived from the Substance. The
Substance is Shri Krishna Himself or the transcendance while the rest
nine as described below are different categories. They are as follows:—
(1) Sarga:—Five
elements, Five sense perceptions, ten sense-organs, Mind,
Consciousness, ego. A combination of this is the Cosmic manifestation
including their original form in transcendance.
(2) Visarga:—Direct creation from Brahma, lord of the universe called Brahmanda.
(3) Sthiti:—Maintenance
by the Personality of Godhead. Brahma is the Constructor of the
universe, Shiva is the destructor but Vishnu is the maintainer.
(4) Poshana:—Special
care for the devotees. The king maintains his kingdom and looks after
the maintenance of his subjects but yet he has his special attention
upon his family members. In the same way the Personality of Godhead has
His special care for His devotees who are completely surrendered souls
unto Him. This is called Poshana (family maintenance).
(5) Uti:—Urge
for creation or the initiative power which is the cause of all
inventions according to the necessities of time, space and object.
(6) Manvantara:—Regulative
principles for the living being who desires to make a perfection of
human life. The rules of Manu as described in the Manu Samhita are the
guidance to such way of perfection.
(7) Ishakatha:—Scriptural
information in the matter of the Personality of Godhead, His descent on
the earth, the activities of His devotees, His agents, etc. Any
scripture which deals in these subjects is essential for human life in
progress.
(8) Nirodhe:—Winding
up of all potential energies employed in the matter of creation. Such
potencies are imanations from the Personality of Godhead Who eternally
sleeps in the Karana Ocean. Along with his breath the cosmic creation
is manifested and wound up in due course.
(9) Mukti:—Liberation
of the conditioned souls who have been encaged in the gross and subtle
coverings of body and mind. Mukti is the stage of living being when he
is free from all material affections.
(10) Ashraya:—The
transcendence or Summum Bonum from Whom everything emanates, in Whom
everything rests and in everything merges into, is the Absolute Whole
Supersoul.
In the tenth Canto of Srimad Bhagwat the Absolute
Personality of Godhead Who is the 10th subject matter, to be dealt
with, out of the above 10 subjects, is the Supreme repose of the fully
surrendered souls as He is transcendence. In the Bhagwat (2.10.2) that Summum Bonum, known by the name of Shri Krishna is worshipped in obeisances.
In order to distinguish the 10th transcendence,
the great souls who are experts in the matter describing Srimad
Bhagwatam, have very diligently delineated the other nine categories
above mentioned by direct narration in some places and in some other
place by indirect narration of stories etc. The real purpose of doing
all these is to know perfectly well the Absolute Transcendence Shri
Krishna. In other words the whole creation both material and spiritual
all rest on the Body of Shri Krishna.
That Supreme Transcendance or the Summum
Bonum, in His natural sequence and by His potencies, which are beyond
the scope of the speculative mind of a human being, do eternally exists
simultaneously in four transcendental features namely His Personality,
His impersonal effulgence, His potential parts and parcels the living
being and as the chief cause of all causes. The whole thing is compared with the Sun which exists in four features
namely the Personality of the Sun-God, that glow of his glaring sphere,
the sun-rays outside the disc and his reflection in so many objects.
The very idea that we want to corroborate the existence of the
Transcendence Absolute Truth by limited cognitive endeavour is
untainable. He is beyond the scope of our limited speculative mind. But
in honest search of truth we must admit that His power is inconceivable
by our tiny brain. The Russian Sputnik required much of the great
scientist of the world and yet there are many many confronting problems
before the scientists which makes them bewildered even in the A.B.C.
knowledge
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter 2.
English version and explanations of Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita by
Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, Second Part, Edited by Goswami Abhay
Charan Das Bhaktivedanta Editor "Back To Godhead" "Bhagavad-Darshan"
etc., 1957. The League of Devotees (Reg)1/8/59, Keshi Ghat, Vrindaban
(U.P.), Essays on Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita Page 30, (Second Part)
| HOME | TOP |
|