DEIVATHIN KURAL # 66 (Vol # 5) Dated 13 Oct 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 66 (Vol # 5) Dated 13 Oct 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page No 394 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
169. All told, what I have been talking to you for so long (in the past 20 issues of Deivathin Kural since 30 Aug 2011), in short is that, in this country of its origin, the Vedic Religion had been badly mauled, duped, misused, abused and gone by default! Many religions some in the name of being Vedic, claiming themselves to be the true Vedic religion, were usurping the rightful place of the Sanaatana Dharma, while some were thriving, having set aside any reference to the Vedas or Easwara or God! There were 72 such religions actively vociferous those days. The state of affairs of this religion was so bad that no human being could have saved it from total annihilation and erasure! Only God could have saved it and that is what happened! Here is where Krishna Paramaatma arrives on the scene! I took his name only in the beginning isn’t it? As a reason for it, we are now coming to the link between the Avatara of Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL and Krishna Avatara!
170. Krishna said that, the Sanaatana Dharma that he had conveyed as instructions to the Sun once upon a time, that had been passed on from father to son and practised for eons of time had become weakened and ignored and that it is the same Upadesa that he is once again giving to Arjuna now! We saw the slokas in Gita about this. In the elation and euphoria of his picture painting Arjuna had completely forgotten or unaware of the fact that this man Krishna standing in front of him in human form as a relative of his was none other than God Himself in human form! So in reaction to Krishna’s statement Arjuna responds with wonder as to how, Krishna born now could have instructed the Sun, who in turn could have tutored Iktshvaaku, the foremost of the Surya Vamsa (Sun Dynasty), some million years back! “aparam bhavato janma, param janma vivasvata: I katam etat vijaaneeyaam tvam aadow proktavaan iti II” (Gita IV – 4.)
171. For this question, Bhagawan says, “Before this I have had many Janmas and so have you been born a number of times. I know about all of them, but you do not know!” “baheeni me vyateetaani janmaani tava cha Arjuna I taanyaham veda sarvaaNi, na tvam vetta Parantapa II” (Gita IV – 5.) Krishna did not stop with that statement. Had he stopped, Arjuna could have taken him for another human being and would not have questioned him further keeping his doubt to himself as to how could this man be able to remember all the past lives! Even if he had asked a question, it would not have been, “How could you have had so many births?” It would have been, “How do you remember all that?” For us it is no problem since he cannot fool us as though he is just a simple human being and we will not doubt as to how the all knowing God can remember all the past. But, we will have another big question coming up. It is alright for Arjuna to have had many lives and accumulated a bag of Karma and is now born as Arjuna. But this Krishna is God’s Avatara. How are we to accept that he has had many lives? Why should he do so? He knew that there will be such questions. He also knew while saying it that whatever he says is not only meant for Arjuna at that time but are being recorded by Vyasa for posterity. So, without any questions from Arjuna he clarifies thus in the next stanza.
172. “I am not stuck in the jaws of the Law of Karma, having to take repeated lives because of it. I am the stuff of no birth and no death. I am not like the mortal human being undergoing many changes by (prakruti’s) natures’ variations and mind’s vascillations! I am the eternally constant and changeless ‘Avyayaatma’. For all the elements I am the ‘Easwara’. Despite being so (‘api san’), I come into being keeping the Nature which is the cause of all creation under my control, that is ‘situate myself as and when and where required’, ‘prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya sambhavaami aatma maayayaa’.” (Gita IV – 6.) Let us look at the whole stanza, “ajo api san – navyayaatma bhootaanaam easwaro api san I prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya sambhavaami aatma maayaya II”.
173. As the whole universe is seen to appear by Maya, he does not have to subject himself to the rules of nature, to be born. Both the animate and inanimate world is all his appearances only. There is nothing other than God. So this Prakruti, world, universe, nature, Maya, so many life forms are all that one reality only. But these forms do not know themselves. All the forms with life and without life are under the control of nature while the nature is under his control. So for him to be seemingly being born is what is known as Avatara. Continuing the same logic, for the question that is likely to arise as a corollary, as to why does he have to take an Avatara the answer comes in the next two stanzas of Gita IV – 7 & 8. He says, “yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanir bhavati bhaaratha I abhyuththaanam adharmasya tad aatmaanam srujaami aham II paritraaNaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrutaam dharma samstaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge II”
174. He started saying that he knew all the past lives and that Arjuna does not. Then he spoke about his past lives. Then he tells us how he comes in to being and why he does so, in these stanzas. What is he saying? Whenever there is threat for Dharma – ‘yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanir bhavathi’, by which the opposite of dharma multiply; that is when there is rampantly more immorality and corruption, to control such eventuality ‘abhyuththaanam adharmasya’; then, ‘tadaa’; I situate myself as and when and where required, ‘aatmaanam srujaamyaham’. What happens when Dharmam is on the decline? The good and saintly people will suffer in the hands of the bad and corrupt. Isn’t it? The saintly well behaved have to be saved and the corrupt will have to be punished. So, ‘paritraaNaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrutaam’ and to re-establish the rule of moral laws, he situates himself in every Yuga, ‘dharma samstaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge’! That is the positive promise given by God in Bhagawat Gita!
175. “This is not a temporary change for the better intended. Dharmam has to be re-established. The saintly good people will have to be aided to find their feet and recommence their activities. The sinfully corrupt have to be weeded out from the society. Of course one cannot do away with sinfulness forever as the pairs of opposites will continue their struggle against each other. The very drama of the play of opposites is what constitutes the essence of existence. In the way it happens in this creation, instead of being exactly equal, immorality and sinfulness has the upper hand most of the times. When it goes out hand almost, then the Avatara takes place when ‘sishta rakshanam and dushta sikshanam’ that is saving of the followers and sorting out of the antagonists occurs. Thus every time that God takes Avatara, immediately afterwards the reverse process of gathering of negative forces will happen once again. So, God would like to see that though Dharmam cannot be made permanent, it may be well established. However well that may be established, the pendulum will once again swing in the opposite direction for sure! God is likely to say, “That is alright. Have I not given a promise that I will come back again and again, ‘sambhavaami yuge, yuge’?”
176. Kali Yuga is said to last for 4,32,000 years and the previous Yugas to that are supposed to be lasting for twice, thrice and four times longer durations respectively! So we can be certain that God comes amongst us much more often than just once a Yuga! Then when we look at the fact that this whole Chatur Yuga of 432,000 multiplied by four is only one day of Brhma, followed by another Chatur Yuga for his one night; we can imagine that God has his hands full that, as he closes his shop for one Avatara, must be preparing for the next! In the earlier sloka he said only, ‘yadaa yadaa hi’ meaning as and when. So we should take his, ‘yuge, yuge’ as equivalent to saying ‘every other day, whenever required’! He has said that whenever Dharmam dwindles and Adharmam is dominant, to save the good and saintly and destroy the unholy, he will come amongst our midst. Also since he has promised, ‘paritraaNaaya sadhoonaam’, however much the proliferation of unholy forces it will not be totally one sided, there will still be some ‘holy and good’ to be saved. Most importantly God is not like the human beings of the world, who are stuck in the nature’s reign. He will on his own bring the nature under his reign and take birth, he has said.
177. The Clue for the Secret of Avatara. Why did he say that he comes amidst us having brought the Nature under his control? Here in the Fourth Chapter he says, ‘prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya’. Elsewhere in the same Gita, he says ‘prakrutim swaam avashtabhya’ (Gita IX – 8). These two words, ‘adhishtaaya and avashtabhya’ means the same as ‘vaseekrutya’, that is ‘having brought it under his control’. Actually in both places, that is how our AachaaryaaL has interpreted in the Bhashyam, using the word ‘vaseekrutya’! Here in Chapter Four of Gita, he is talking about how he is taking Avatara for establishing Dharma. There in Chapter Nine he is talking about how at the end of each Pralaya, after total absorption he lets out the life forms once again to go through Karma, that is re-creation after due absorption. In both the places he has used the phrase ‘having brought the nature under my control’. Here is the clue for the secret of God’s Avatara. The clue is the fact that in both places of his Avatara and re-creation of the rest of the life forms after the deluge of Pralaya; he is virtually using the same phrase, ‘prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya / avashtabhya’ and our AachaaryaaL has given the meaning for both these two words ‘adhishtaaya and avashtabhya’ as ‘vaseekrutya’ to mean having brought under control!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.