seeing through the eyes of scriptures
The Most Important Forms of the Lord
The Most Important Forms of the Lord
(Paravastha-avatara)
) — This is from Srila Rupa Goswami's Laghu Bhagavatamrta, Chapter 5:
Now the most important forms of the Lord (paravastha-avatara) will be described. Padma Purana explains:
"In Lord Nrsimha, Ramacandra, and Krishna the six transcendental opulences are perfect and complete. They are the paravasthas (most important forms of the Lord). From Him (Krishna) they are manifested as lamps are lighted from an (original) lamp.
17 Lord Nrsimha is described in Shridhara Svami's commentary on Shrimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1., and 10.87.1):
"Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Nrsimdeva, who is always enlightening Prahlada Maharaja within his heart and who always kills the nescience that attacks the devotees. His mercy is distributed like moonshine, and His face is like that of a lion. Let me offer my obeisances unto Him again and again."*
18 "Lord Nrsimhadeva is always assisted by Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and He is always embracing to His chest the goddess of fortune. The Lord is always complete in knowledge within Himself. Let us offer obeisances unto Nrsimhadeva."*
19 "(Narada) Muni described to King (Yudhisthira) the anger of the pillar's son (Lord Nrsimha), which with its deep roar stunned lotus-born Brahma."
20 In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (7.8.32-33)
"The hair on Nrsimhadeva's head shook the clouds and scattered them here and there, His glaring eyes stole the effulgence of the luminaries in the sky, and His breathing agitated the seas and oceans. Because of His roaring all the elephants in the world began to cry in fear.*
21 "Airplanes were thrown into outer space and the upper planetary system by the hair on Nrsimhadeva's head. Because of the pressure of the Lord's lotus feet, the earth appeared to slip from its position, and all the hills and mountains sprang up due to His intolerable force. Because of the Lord's bodily effulgence, both the sky and all directions diminished in their natural illumination."*
22 (Shridhara Svami also explains in His commentary on Shrimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.1):
"Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrsimhadeva is very, very soft and kind to devotees like Prahlada Maharaja."*
23-4 The blissful glories of Lord Nrsimha are described in the Nrsimha-tapani Upanisad. It is said that Lord Nrsimha resides both in Janaloka and in the world of Vishnuloka, which is above all.
25 Shri Ramacandra
Greater even than the one (Lord Nrsimha) before, exalted with the six transcendental qualities and a nectar moon of all sweetness, Lord Ramacandra, the best of the Raghus, shines with great splendour.
26 In Padma Purana: "Let us offer our respectful obeisances to Lord Ramacandra, the Personality of Godhead, who is the delight of King Raghu, who broke Siva's bow, and who is the sandal paste that delights Sita-devi's heart.
27 The Shri Ramacana-dipika describes Lord Ramacandra's birth-festival:
28 "During the ninth tithi, when five planets were exalted, when Jupiter was conjoined with the moon in the constellation Punarvasu in Cancer on the ascendant and when the sun was in Aries, from the arani-wood of Ayodhya was kindled a sacrificial fire of unprecedented power manifested to burn to ashes the palasa-wood fuel (of a great host of demons)."
29 In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.34):
"O Maha-purusa, I worship Your lotus feet. You gave up great regal opulence, which is most difficult to renounce and is hankered after by even the great demigods. Being the most faithful follower of the path of religion, You thus left for the forest in obedience to Your father's words. You chased after the mystic deer Marica, which Your dear Sita desired to get."
30 In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (9.11.20-21)
"Lord Ramacandra's reputation for having killed Ravana with showers of arrows at the request of the demigods and for having built a bridge over the ocean does not constitute the factual glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Ramacandra, whose spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes. Lord Ramacandra has no equal or superior, and therefore He had no need to take help from the monkeys to gain victory over Ravana.*
31 "Lord Ramacandra's spotless name and fame, which vanquishes all sinful reactions, are celebrated in all directions, like the ornamental cloth of the victorious elephant that conquers all directions. Great saintly persons like Markandeya Rsi still glorify His characteristics in the assemblies of great emperors like Maharaja Yudhisthira. Similarly, all the saintly kings and all the demigods, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, worship the Lord by bowing down with their helmets. Let me offer my obeisances unto His lotus feet."*
32-3 In the verse from Shrimad-Bhagavatam quoted in Text 30, the word "atta" means "manifested", and the word "lila-tanu" means "whose spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes". The compound word "adhika-samya-vimukta-dhama" means "He who has no equal or superior". The word "samya" means "equality" and it is grammatically analysed as a svarthesyah-pratyaya. "Vimukta" means "without", and "adhika" and "sama" mean "superior" and "equal". In the verse quoted in Text 31, the word "naka-palah" means "the heavenly demigods, headed by Maharaja Indra, and the word "vasu-palah" means "the earthly kings."
34-6 In the Vishnu-dharmottara Purana it is said that Lord Ramacandra, Laksmana, and the others are incarnations of the forms of the Lord that begin with Lord Vasudeva. In the Padma Purana, however, it is said that Lord Ramacandra is Lord Narayana and Laksmana and the others are Ananta Sesa, and the Lord's cakra and conch respectively. In the smrti-sastra it is said that Lord Ramacandra resides in Madhya-desa in the city of Ayodhya-pura. It is also said that He resides in Maha-Vaikunthaloka.
37 Lord Krishna is described by Bilvamangala Thakura:
"There may be many all-auspicious incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, but who other than Lord Shri Krishna can bestow love of God upon the surrendered souls?"*
38-9 Devaki's son Krishna, who is an unprecedented ocean of the nectar of sweetness and opulence, has been served and worshipped from time immemorial. In the Puranas and other scriptures it is said that He resides in four abodes: Vraja, Mathura, Dvaraka, and Gokula.
40 Here someone may object: "But it is clearly said that Lord Nrsimha and Lord Ramacandra are equal to Lord Krishna." The answer to this objection is seen in the Vishnu Purana:
41-2 Maitreya's question in the Fourth Canto of Vishnu Purana:
"As Hiranyakasipu and Ravana (this demon) enjoyed sensual pleasures unavailable for even the great demigods, and then was personally killed by Lord Vishnu Himself. Why did (this demon) not attain sayujya-mukti then? Only as Sisupala did he attain sayujya-mukti, the liberation of merging into eternal Lord Hari?"
43 "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains, creates, and destroys the entire cosmic manifestation, manifested the unprecedented form of Lord Nrsimha in order to kill Hiranyakasipu, the king of the demons. The thought that Lord Nrsimha was actually the Supreme Lord Vishnu was not manifest in Hiranyakasipu's mind. Because Hiranyakasipu was overwhelmed by the mode of passion, at the time of his death he was not able to meditate on the transcendental Personality who was killing him. For these reasons Hiranyakasipu did not attain liberation, but instead took birth as the demon Ravana, whose sense gratification was greater than all the pleasures in the three worlds.
44-5 "For these reasons Hiranyakasipu was not able to fix his mind in meditation on the supremely opulent and independent Personality of Godhead, who has neither beginning nor end."
"When Hiranyakasipu was born again as the demon Ravana, he became a slave to lust. His mind was completely attached to Sita-devi, and he was therefore not able to fix his mind in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form as Ramacandra, the son of Dasaratha. As Ravana was being killed by Ramacandra, the demon thought Rama to be an ordinary human being, and for this reason Ravana did not attain liberation because of being killed by the Lord, but in his next birth as Sisupala, merely attained seemingly imperishable opulence and power, which was celebrated throughout the entire earth.
46 "In this birth as Sisupala he was able to completely hate the Supreme Lord Krishna. He constantly criticised Lord Krishna with words, and in this way constantly called out the Lord's holy names. With great animosity he constantly meditated on Krishna's form, decorated with splendid yellow garments, golden bracelets, and a glittering crown adorned with a peacock feather. He meditated on Krishna's eyes handsome as blossoming lotus petals, and Krishna's four broad arms, holding the conch, cakra, club and lotus. While walking, eating, bathing, sitting, sleeping, and performing all other activities, Sisupala remembered Krishna with hatred. His mind never deviated from Krishna for even a moment.
47 "Determined to die at Krishna's hand, Sisupala repeatedly insulted the Lord, and when Lord Krishna finally dispatched the Sudarsana cakra to kill him, Sisupala could understand that the glittering effulgence of the cakra was actually the imperishable Supreme Brahman.
48-9 "In this way, when Sisupala was killed by the Lord's Sudarsana cakra, all his sins were burned away, and he attained sayujya-mukti, entering the Lord's own transcendental form.
"O Maitreya, I have thus explained the entire situation to you. He is certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (If) when He is spoken of and remembered in a spirit of hatred, He gives a result difficult for the demigods, demons and all others to attain, then what kind of result does He give to they who love Him and serve Him with devotion?"
50-1 In this passage Parasara did not mention the Lord's two associates that took birth three times in the world. These two associates are not thought to take birth in every kalpa for then they would fall down in every kalpa. That is not an acceptable idea.
52-55 Parasara Muni's prose answer to Maitreya is now summarised in verse:
Hiranyakasipu could not understand that the wonderful form of Lord Nrsimha displayed by Lord Hari was actually Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakasipu was pious. He was sure that Lord Nrsimha was very extraordinary, but because he was overcome with passion he could not fix his mind on Him. Because he was personally killed by the Lord, Hiranyakasipu attained extraordinary and rarely achieved sense-gratification and opulence in his next birth as Ravana.
56-7 Because he could not recognise Lord Nrsimha as Lord Vishnu, and because he was not filled with hatred for Him, Hiranyakasipu was not fixed in meditation on the Lord. If without meditation on the Lord he had hated Him, he would have gone to hell as King Vena had gone. Because he was killed by the Lord's own hand, he attained great good fortune. Thinking them, (Parasara) refers to the Lord's transcendental virtues here by speaking the word "eva" (certainly).
58-9 Because he was not absorbed in meditation on the Lord and because his sins were not yet destroyed, he could not see the Lord's pure nature. Even though the Lord was manifest before him, he could not merge into the form of His Supreme Brahma. In his birth as Ravana, he became a slave to lust. At the time of his death He thought Lord Rama a mere human being.
60-2 Then he took birth as Sisupala, and again he attained great opulence. Because in that birth he chanted all the names of the goddess of fortune's husband, Lord Narayana, he could understand that Lord Vishnu had killed him twice. For this reason, out of great hatred he always chanted the Lord's names and criticised Him in many ways.
63-4 Gazing at the Lord's form, he became convinced that this was Lord Vishnu. Always and everywhere he remembered the Lord as he always chanted His names. In this way the great flood of sins born from his hatred of the Lord became burned up. When the Lord threw His cakra at the end, its splendour destroyed his demonic nature and purified his vision. Then he saw that the splendid Supreme Brahman had a humanlike form. Then the cakra destroyed his demon's body and he merged into the Supreme Brahman.
65 Considering his explanation that (this demon) attained liberation from the pastimes of child (Krishna), but when he was in the form of Kalanemi or other forms did not attain liberation from the Lord's activities in other circumstances, (Parasara) said (Text 49), "ayam hi bhagavan" (Krishna is certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead).
66-7 In this way it is established that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He at once attracts the hearts of both they who love Him and they who hate Him. Therefore the glorification of Him in Text 49 is not surprising. Considering this prose explanation, (it is said) how much greater (than the destination of they who hate the Lord is than the destination attained by they who) serve Him with love?
May Srila Rupa Goswami bless us, we may attain pure love for these paravastha avatars.
your humble servant,
Payonidhi das
(Paravastha-avatara)
) — This is from Srila Rupa Goswami's Laghu Bhagavatamrta, Chapter 5:
Now the most important forms of the Lord (paravastha-avatara) will be described. Padma Purana explains:
"In Lord Nrsimha, Ramacandra, and Krishna the six transcendental opulences are perfect and complete. They are the paravasthas (most important forms of the Lord). From Him (Krishna) they are manifested as lamps are lighted from an (original) lamp.
17 Lord Nrsimha is described in Shridhara Svami's commentary on Shrimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1., and 10.87.1):
"Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Nrsimdeva, who is always enlightening Prahlada Maharaja within his heart and who always kills the nescience that attacks the devotees. His mercy is distributed like moonshine, and His face is like that of a lion. Let me offer my obeisances unto Him again and again."*
18 "Lord Nrsimhadeva is always assisted by Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and He is always embracing to His chest the goddess of fortune. The Lord is always complete in knowledge within Himself. Let us offer obeisances unto Nrsimhadeva."*
19 "(Narada) Muni described to King (Yudhisthira) the anger of the pillar's son (Lord Nrsimha), which with its deep roar stunned lotus-born Brahma."
20 In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (7.8.32-33)
"The hair on Nrsimhadeva's head shook the clouds and scattered them here and there, His glaring eyes stole the effulgence of the luminaries in the sky, and His breathing agitated the seas and oceans. Because of His roaring all the elephants in the world began to cry in fear.*
21 "Airplanes were thrown into outer space and the upper planetary system by the hair on Nrsimhadeva's head. Because of the pressure of the Lord's lotus feet, the earth appeared to slip from its position, and all the hills and mountains sprang up due to His intolerable force. Because of the Lord's bodily effulgence, both the sky and all directions diminished in their natural illumination."*
22 (Shridhara Svami also explains in His commentary on Shrimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.1):
"Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrsimhadeva is very, very soft and kind to devotees like Prahlada Maharaja."*
23-4 The blissful glories of Lord Nrsimha are described in the Nrsimha-tapani Upanisad. It is said that Lord Nrsimha resides both in Janaloka and in the world of Vishnuloka, which is above all.
25 Shri Ramacandra
Greater even than the one (Lord Nrsimha) before, exalted with the six transcendental qualities and a nectar moon of all sweetness, Lord Ramacandra, the best of the Raghus, shines with great splendour.
26 In Padma Purana: "Let us offer our respectful obeisances to Lord Ramacandra, the Personality of Godhead, who is the delight of King Raghu, who broke Siva's bow, and who is the sandal paste that delights Sita-devi's heart.
27 The Shri Ramacana-dipika describes Lord Ramacandra's birth-festival:
28 "During the ninth tithi, when five planets were exalted, when Jupiter was conjoined with the moon in the constellation Punarvasu in Cancer on the ascendant and when the sun was in Aries, from the arani-wood of Ayodhya was kindled a sacrificial fire of unprecedented power manifested to burn to ashes the palasa-wood fuel (of a great host of demons)."
29 In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.34):
"O Maha-purusa, I worship Your lotus feet. You gave up great regal opulence, which is most difficult to renounce and is hankered after by even the great demigods. Being the most faithful follower of the path of religion, You thus left for the forest in obedience to Your father's words. You chased after the mystic deer Marica, which Your dear Sita desired to get."
30 In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (9.11.20-21)
"Lord Ramacandra's reputation for having killed Ravana with showers of arrows at the request of the demigods and for having built a bridge over the ocean does not constitute the factual glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Ramacandra, whose spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes. Lord Ramacandra has no equal or superior, and therefore He had no need to take help from the monkeys to gain victory over Ravana.*
31 "Lord Ramacandra's spotless name and fame, which vanquishes all sinful reactions, are celebrated in all directions, like the ornamental cloth of the victorious elephant that conquers all directions. Great saintly persons like Markandeya Rsi still glorify His characteristics in the assemblies of great emperors like Maharaja Yudhisthira. Similarly, all the saintly kings and all the demigods, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, worship the Lord by bowing down with their helmets. Let me offer my obeisances unto His lotus feet."*
32-3 In the verse from Shrimad-Bhagavatam quoted in Text 30, the word "atta" means "manifested", and the word "lila-tanu" means "whose spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes". The compound word "adhika-samya-vimukta-dhama" means "He who has no equal or superior". The word "samya" means "equality" and it is grammatically analysed as a svarthesyah-pratyaya. "Vimukta" means "without", and "adhika" and "sama" mean "superior" and "equal". In the verse quoted in Text 31, the word "naka-palah" means "the heavenly demigods, headed by Maharaja Indra, and the word "vasu-palah" means "the earthly kings."
34-6 In the Vishnu-dharmottara Purana it is said that Lord Ramacandra, Laksmana, and the others are incarnations of the forms of the Lord that begin with Lord Vasudeva. In the Padma Purana, however, it is said that Lord Ramacandra is Lord Narayana and Laksmana and the others are Ananta Sesa, and the Lord's cakra and conch respectively. In the smrti-sastra it is said that Lord Ramacandra resides in Madhya-desa in the city of Ayodhya-pura. It is also said that He resides in Maha-Vaikunthaloka.
37 Lord Krishna is described by Bilvamangala Thakura:
"There may be many all-auspicious incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, but who other than Lord Shri Krishna can bestow love of God upon the surrendered souls?"*
38-9 Devaki's son Krishna, who is an unprecedented ocean of the nectar of sweetness and opulence, has been served and worshipped from time immemorial. In the Puranas and other scriptures it is said that He resides in four abodes: Vraja, Mathura, Dvaraka, and Gokula.
40 Here someone may object: "But it is clearly said that Lord Nrsimha and Lord Ramacandra are equal to Lord Krishna." The answer to this objection is seen in the Vishnu Purana:
41-2 Maitreya's question in the Fourth Canto of Vishnu Purana:
"As Hiranyakasipu and Ravana (this demon) enjoyed sensual pleasures unavailable for even the great demigods, and then was personally killed by Lord Vishnu Himself. Why did (this demon) not attain sayujya-mukti then? Only as Sisupala did he attain sayujya-mukti, the liberation of merging into eternal Lord Hari?"
43 "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains, creates, and destroys the entire cosmic manifestation, manifested the unprecedented form of Lord Nrsimha in order to kill Hiranyakasipu, the king of the demons. The thought that Lord Nrsimha was actually the Supreme Lord Vishnu was not manifest in Hiranyakasipu's mind. Because Hiranyakasipu was overwhelmed by the mode of passion, at the time of his death he was not able to meditate on the transcendental Personality who was killing him. For these reasons Hiranyakasipu did not attain liberation, but instead took birth as the demon Ravana, whose sense gratification was greater than all the pleasures in the three worlds.
44-5 "For these reasons Hiranyakasipu was not able to fix his mind in meditation on the supremely opulent and independent Personality of Godhead, who has neither beginning nor end."
"When Hiranyakasipu was born again as the demon Ravana, he became a slave to lust. His mind was completely attached to Sita-devi, and he was therefore not able to fix his mind in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form as Ramacandra, the son of Dasaratha. As Ravana was being killed by Ramacandra, the demon thought Rama to be an ordinary human being, and for this reason Ravana did not attain liberation because of being killed by the Lord, but in his next birth as Sisupala, merely attained seemingly imperishable opulence and power, which was celebrated throughout the entire earth.
46 "In this birth as Sisupala he was able to completely hate the Supreme Lord Krishna. He constantly criticised Lord Krishna with words, and in this way constantly called out the Lord's holy names. With great animosity he constantly meditated on Krishna's form, decorated with splendid yellow garments, golden bracelets, and a glittering crown adorned with a peacock feather. He meditated on Krishna's eyes handsome as blossoming lotus petals, and Krishna's four broad arms, holding the conch, cakra, club and lotus. While walking, eating, bathing, sitting, sleeping, and performing all other activities, Sisupala remembered Krishna with hatred. His mind never deviated from Krishna for even a moment.
47 "Determined to die at Krishna's hand, Sisupala repeatedly insulted the Lord, and when Lord Krishna finally dispatched the Sudarsana cakra to kill him, Sisupala could understand that the glittering effulgence of the cakra was actually the imperishable Supreme Brahman.
48-9 "In this way, when Sisupala was killed by the Lord's Sudarsana cakra, all his sins were burned away, and he attained sayujya-mukti, entering the Lord's own transcendental form.
"O Maitreya, I have thus explained the entire situation to you. He is certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (If) when He is spoken of and remembered in a spirit of hatred, He gives a result difficult for the demigods, demons and all others to attain, then what kind of result does He give to they who love Him and serve Him with devotion?"
50-1 In this passage Parasara did not mention the Lord's two associates that took birth three times in the world. These two associates are not thought to take birth in every kalpa for then they would fall down in every kalpa. That is not an acceptable idea.
52-55 Parasara Muni's prose answer to Maitreya is now summarised in verse:
Hiranyakasipu could not understand that the wonderful form of Lord Nrsimha displayed by Lord Hari was actually Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakasipu was pious. He was sure that Lord Nrsimha was very extraordinary, but because he was overcome with passion he could not fix his mind on Him. Because he was personally killed by the Lord, Hiranyakasipu attained extraordinary and rarely achieved sense-gratification and opulence in his next birth as Ravana.
56-7 Because he could not recognise Lord Nrsimha as Lord Vishnu, and because he was not filled with hatred for Him, Hiranyakasipu was not fixed in meditation on the Lord. If without meditation on the Lord he had hated Him, he would have gone to hell as King Vena had gone. Because he was killed by the Lord's own hand, he attained great good fortune. Thinking them, (Parasara) refers to the Lord's transcendental virtues here by speaking the word "eva" (certainly).
58-9 Because he was not absorbed in meditation on the Lord and because his sins were not yet destroyed, he could not see the Lord's pure nature. Even though the Lord was manifest before him, he could not merge into the form of His Supreme Brahma. In his birth as Ravana, he became a slave to lust. At the time of his death He thought Lord Rama a mere human being.
60-2 Then he took birth as Sisupala, and again he attained great opulence. Because in that birth he chanted all the names of the goddess of fortune's husband, Lord Narayana, he could understand that Lord Vishnu had killed him twice. For this reason, out of great hatred he always chanted the Lord's names and criticised Him in many ways.
63-4 Gazing at the Lord's form, he became convinced that this was Lord Vishnu. Always and everywhere he remembered the Lord as he always chanted His names. In this way the great flood of sins born from his hatred of the Lord became burned up. When the Lord threw His cakra at the end, its splendour destroyed his demonic nature and purified his vision. Then he saw that the splendid Supreme Brahman had a humanlike form. Then the cakra destroyed his demon's body and he merged into the Supreme Brahman.
65 Considering his explanation that (this demon) attained liberation from the pastimes of child (Krishna), but when he was in the form of Kalanemi or other forms did not attain liberation from the Lord's activities in other circumstances, (Parasara) said (Text 49), "ayam hi bhagavan" (Krishna is certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead).
66-7 In this way it is established that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He at once attracts the hearts of both they who love Him and they who hate Him. Therefore the glorification of Him in Text 49 is not surprising. Considering this prose explanation, (it is said) how much greater (than the destination of they who hate the Lord is than the destination attained by they who) serve Him with love?
May Srila Rupa Goswami bless us, we may attain pure love for these paravastha avatars.
your humble servant,
Payonidhi das
Views: 185
Comment
About
Welcome to
Sastra Caksusa
© 2024 Created by Paramananda das.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Sastra Caksusa to add comments!
Join Sastra Caksusa