The many incarnations protect materially and spiritually SB – 1.3.9-16

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Srimad Bhagwatam 139 Turye dharmakala sarge Narnarayana avashi bhutvatmopsham eko upetam akaro duscharam tapah Turye so the third and fourth is going on Turye dharmakala sarge dharmakala so kala refers to part so wife is considered to be a part dharmakala, the wife of dharma sarge, were born of Narnarayana avashi Narnarayana avashi were born and bhutva aatmopsham opetam they became aatmopsham aatma upashamam upashamam means pacification control, conquest so they self they practise self control etam upetam for achievement in this for attaining self control for self mastery akaro duscharam tapah they perform duscharam tapah extremely difficult austerities duscharam that which is not at all easy to do so the Narnarayana avashi’s stories will be talked about in the bhagavatam they are great instructors who instruct Narada Muni who instruct the Kumaras and at one time Indra tries to dissuade them distract them from their austerity by sending apsaras he sends his best apsaras not only do they remain unaffected but from their own bodies from their own thighs they emanate another even more beautiful apsara who in front of whom all the apsaras from heavens pale in insignificance and Narnarayana avashi tells the apsaras who have come from Indra they say that Indra is just a child trying to agitate us tell him that we are not agitated but this apsara is a gift from us to him and that apsara later becomes the favourite of Indra she is Urvashi so they demonstrate that they can manifest the most captivating apsaras at will and they do not seek any pleasure through this they are absorbed in the higher fulfilment coming from spiritual absorption and tapa was the first syllabus that is spoken by the supreme to Brahma it is by tapa that we learn and we move onwards in our life so tapa, how to practise tapa is demonstrated in an exemplary way by the lord himself where he descends as the Narnarayana avatar so Narnarayana in the Mahabharata is said to be Krishna and Arjuna so it is interesting that both of them are together and these are probably the only incarnation where the two are considered to be almost like one, they are of course two distinct persons and at different times two of them talk so Nara and Narayana but they are two always together that’s why both of them together are considered incarnation one incarnation 10th text panchamah kapilonama siddhesha kaala viplutam prova cha suraye sankhyam tattvagrama vinirnayan panchamah the 5th was kapilonama his name was kapila so he will be talked about in the 3rd canto of shivbhagavatam kapilonama siddhesha kaala viplutam siddhesha siddha isha siddha is those who have achieved mystic siddhi is called mystic perfection siddha is those who have achieved mystic perfections and siddhesha just like we have yogi and we have yogesh so krishna in bhagavad gita is referred to as yogeshwara so he is not just a yogi but he is a lord of yogis he is the king of yogis similarly siddhesha is not just siddha he is siddhesha who is this kapila kapila performed austerities and he gained mystic perfections kaala viplutam procha suraye sankhyam provach asuraye provach means he spoke systematically asuraye so there is a brahmana named asuri sankhyam he spoke knowledge of sankhya to him tattva gramme vinirnayan tattva gramme so we have tattva gyan and we have tattva gramme here tattva gyan is the standard word we hear it is philosophical it is knowledge about the truth tattva gramme means the sum total of material existence the word gramme in english is a kilogramme that is a unit for measuring mass but in sanskrit gramme refers to the sum total of things so about material existence vinirnayan vinirnayan means a conclusive exposition so he gave it said over here that the analytical knowledge of sankhya was lost and he gave this knowledge to the brahmana named asuri so it’s interesting the word asura normally we use to refer to demons but here there is a brahmana of course brahmanas are usually not considered demoniac they are considered the opposite they are considered divine nature brahmana has the name asuri so the bhagavatam of course does not describe this particular incident further but the bhagavatam describes how he gave instructions elaborately to his own mother devahuti and in fact his instructions to devahuti are one of the longest one of the biggest philosophical expositions in the bhagavatam after the uddhava gita which comes in the 11th canto so it is said that knowledge was lost and knowledge was revived so this is a theme which comes repeatedly that whenever the avatars give some knowledge they don’t say that they are giving something new usually say that this was given in ancient times even krishna when he gives the knowledge to uddhava and he is quoting how he gave this knowledge to say the chatushkumaras before that as the hamsa avatar he gave the knowledge to chatushkumaras or whoever else he says actually this knowledge was given even before that also to brahma or to some other person at the start of the creation or long long ago but the knowledge was lost and it has been revived again krishna also tells in the bhagavad gita that so kaalene hamta yogo nishtha parantapa the knowledge was lost because of time and now this knowledge is being revived so here tattva grama nirnayam so kapila each avatar comes with a particular purpose just like the previous avatar that is talked about was of narnara and they demonstrated austerity they did not necessarily impart some system of knowledge although they might have they did give philosophical instructions at different times but the distinctive contribution that each avatar makes is highlighted in this particular section so the most distinctive contribution of kapiladeva was to was to re-recover and re-manifest and make available once again the lost knowledge of samkhya and yes he gave it to devahuti but it is never described that devahuti herself became an exalted spiritual master who taught many others he is giving the knowledge to devahuti demonstrates how this knowledge can be understood even by women who are often not considered very philosophical but she was so exalted that she was able to understand this knowledge and the knowledge was further disseminated by teaching to various people and one of the prominent persons to whom kapila gave the knowledge is asuri brahma so now text 11 chastham atre apatyatvam prathah prapto anasuyaya anvi shikhim alarkaya prahlada divya ubhi uchivan so chastham atre apatyatvam so atri rishi apatyatvam deha apatya kalatra vishu so the word apatya is used to refer to relatives usually children sons so chastham atre apatyatvam sixth incarnation was atri to whom sonship was bestowed or the lord became his son prathah prapto anasuyaya anasuyaya anvi prayed for the incarnation through his wife anasuyaya so atri rishi obtained the lord as his son and this is referring to atatri and anvi shikhim alarkaya anvi shikhim anvi shikhim means on the he taught the subject of transcendence alarkaya prahlada divya uchivan prahlada divya so prahlada nadhe so prabhupada writes yadu hai hai and others so now at one time atri rishi prayed very fervently to all the three devatas brahma vishnu mahesh they all manifested together in one form and he gave spiritual knowledge so in the eleventh canto brahmana gives instructions to yadu often that brahmana is said to be dattatre and similarly in the seventh canto also there is brahmana who gives instructions to prahlada that is also thought by some to be dattatre so the idea dattatre enlightened people who are already very special and thus he elevated them to a system of knowledge that he disseminated so one of the prominent purposes where the lord descends is to share spiritual knowledge twelfth text tatha saptam akutyam rucher yagyo abhijayata sayamad yai suraganai apat swayam bhuvantaram tatha saptam akutyam so the seventh was one the in the womb of akuti akuti was the wife of the prajapati ruchi rucher yagyo yagyo, yagyo was a person who was born abhijayata, abhijayata means he had vented or he appeared sayamad yai suraganai so yamad yai along with yama and other suraganai host of devatas apat swayam bhuvantaram so swayam bhuvantaram so the pyramid manu rules is called as manvantar that is a combination of two words manu and antar manvantar the period of that manu is called so swayam bhuvantaram so if the particular manu is there in that time then his reign is called as swayam bhuvantaram so during the reign of swayam bhuvamanu yagya was the avatar who manifested through akuti and ruchi and he he did administrative work yagya also has given instructions but primarily he contributed by maintaining the cosmic administration along with the devatas so in the start of the 8th canto of shiva bhagavatam he described that when swayam bhuvamanu retires at that time when swayam bhuvamanu is about to retire he goes to the forest and performs austerity and that time some rakshas come to eat him to devour him and at that time as he is invoking the supreme lord through his prayers and through the austerity yagya avatar appears and yagya avatar delivers him from the demons who are about to devour him and also delivers him from material existence so this is yagya now he was born of akuti and ruchi ashtame merudevyam tu nabherjata urukramaha darshan vartmadhirana sarvasram namaskritam ashtame merudevyam tu 8th avatar that manifested was through merudevi and who was this nabherjata urukramaha he was born from nabhi through the womb of merudevi urukramaha urukramaha is the generic name for the lord one whose steps are wonderful one whose activities are wonderful specifically it can refer to vamanudev who appears in this world and who with his steps covers a large power covers the three worlds but apart from that whatever the activities the lord does they are extraordinary so even the lord who appears any incarnation of the lord manifestation of the lord can be referred to as urukrama so jata urukramaha he is referred to as urukrama darshan vartmadhirana darshan he demonstrated vartmadhirana so he demonstrated the path of the sober people sarvasram namaskritam sarvasram namaskritam that which is offered respect by all the ashramas so now usually among the ashramas the sanyasis are considered to be the top most and among the varanas the brahmanas are considered spiritually to be top most but the kshatriyas are considered materially to be the top most materially means kshatriyas have opulence, kshatriyas have power kshatriyas have followers the brahmanas have the power of learning and quite often the kshatriyas submit to the brahmanas when there is a conflict but essentially from the administrative perspective the brahmanas don’t interfere unless the kshatriyas are going terribly wrong, anyway the point here is here it is that which is offered respected by all the ashramas so the sanyasis sanyasa ashram is respected by all the ashramas and Maharaj Yurshabha about who is being talked about over here his actions and his teachings will be described in the 5th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam and it is stated here that this Maharaj Yurshabha what did he do he demonstrated the path of perfection he demonstrated actually extraordinary renunciation in the sanyasa ashram he demonstrated what is called as Jada Yoga so it is actually very difficult to follow but it also demonstrates how utterly indifferent and transcendent to the world one can become by being fixed in spiritual truth so all these different avatars are manifesting different and different aspects of the path through transcendence whereas Narayana and Rishi they also demonstrated through their austere living the path of perfection but they lived they lived as renouncers throughout their lives whereas Maharaj Yurshabha if he lived as a king he had children and he entrusted his children with the royal responsibilities trained them instructed and entrusted them and then he renounced the world and as he demonstrated not just the renounced order of life but he demonstrated the various ashrams including grahastha ashram and sanyasa ashram through his own example text 14 rishi bhir yachito bheje navamamparthivam bapuhum dugdhe mam oshadhir vipras tenayams ushattamaham rishi bhir yachito bheje so rishi bhir yachito when the rishis besieged him bheje he accepted at that time the word bheje had come right at the beginning of this chapter also that paurushamrut the lord accepted and it come in third chapter also second chapter also so rishi bhir yachito bheje he accepted on the plea of the sages navamamparthivam bapuhum parthivam so he was known as maharaj pruthu so he is referred to pruthu is in the in the inflected form it is modified according to the grammatical form which is used parthivam vapuhum he manifested as the ruler of pruthvi dugdhe mam oshadhir vipras dugdhe mam so he milked the earth oshadhir oshadhir various products from the earth oshadhir in vernacular oshadhir refers to medicines but oshadhir in sanskrit has a generic meaning also where it refers to plants, herbs fruits, flowers grains the products of the earth vipras, o brahmana so here this is being spoken by suta goswami according to nainishar messages tenayam sa ushattamaha tenayam tenayam by him because he was able to get so many products on the earth the earth blossomed under him the earth looked attractive so prior to maharaj pruthu there was the atrocious king vena who had exploited the earth terribly and because of his exploitation of the earth the earth had stopped giving products and people had started starving so that effect continued even after pruthu became the king and his case this past time we described in the fourth canto that when pruthu was the king and his citizens were starving because of the drought that had afflicted the kingdom at that time his citizens they came to him saying that we are being burned like an ant being burned on a log of wood with fire from both sides with nowhere to go like that we are being scorched by a digestive fire please help us so maharaj pruthu requested the earth and the earth thinking that it is of course a past time but the earth initially thought that like father like son so like father like son so pruthu might also be an atrocious king like vena and so she refused to give any produce and she ran away assuming the form of a cow and pruthu ran after her and he was about to afflict her with arrow in anger at that time she she sought forgiveness and then maharaj pruthu arranged for different people to come and get their needs milked from this cow so the point is that when the lord appears it is not just for spiritual well being the spiritual well being also requires material provision even when we have to practise sadhana we need some material provision so that we can practise sadhana and that material provision is provided by the lord and that material provision is what maharaj pruthu arranged of course you see he did not stop with material provision alone he also performed elaborate yajnas for satisfying the lord he engaged his population and the resource of the state in the process of worshipping the lord and practising bhakti he also pleased the lord and he instructed his citizens in practising spiritual life and he set an example by receiving instructions from the kumaras although he himself was very exalted and then maharaj pruthu as a king offered all round welfare to his citizens text text 15 rupam sa jagruhe matsyam chakshu shodadhi samplave naavyaropya mahimayam apad vaivasvatam manum so rupam sa jagruhe matsyam so he accepted the supreme lord accepted the form of a matsyam matsyam sorry matsyam is from matsya matsya is fish so the infected form becomes matsyam so he accepted the form of a fish chakshu shodadhi samplave chakshu shodadhi at the towards the end of the period of chakshu shamanu odadhi samplave when there was inundation of water everywhere naavyaropya mahimayam so when practically the whole earth was drowned under the inundation of water naavyaropya so he held there he with his snout this fish enabled a enabled a ship to naavyar boat or a ship it was a giant boat this boat was big this boat various living beings during along with sorry along with vivaswapmanu during the during this cosmic flood that happened they along with vivaswapmanu they came in the boat and they were saved while the stormy waters of inundation went around causing plunder all around them so thus here we see that the supreme offered his protection even from material destruction so paritranaya sadhna vinamashraya shudhushrutam so here this if you see in this particular incarnation there might not be any direct dushkruti so matsya matsya did not exactly fight against any particular enemy to kill that enemy matsya actually helped to overcome material calamities and offered to and enabled his devotee to steer to steer the devotee to safety even amidst that calamity so well there is a general pattern but the that the lord protects the saintly destroys the demoniac and he establishes dharma now each manifestation is also an individual and each situation is also individual and different and in such varying situations the different manifestations the lord may manifest may act in different ways for the purpose of elevating people and if people don’t even exist if people don’t survive how can they be elevated so even offering protection from the dangers to natural calamities that also is done by the lord when he descends so 16th surasuranam udadhim matmatam mandarachalam kamatha kamatha rupena prishta eka dashe vihum surasuranam udadhim so among the devotees and the demons among the devatas and the demons actually there was a competition and to resolve that competition there was this past time in the 8th kanto there was a conflict so to resolve the conflict a peace measure was made that both of us can churn the milk ocean thereby get milk so get nectar actually not just milk nectar udadhim so they were churning the ocean matmatam mandarachalam while they were churning using mandar mountain actually a mountain cannot even be moved its so big what to speak of being moved continuously as a churning rod its a very difficult thing to do and the mountain was so heavy that it could not be sustained and despite the best efforts of the best combined efforts of the devatas and the asuras the mountain was sinking into the ocean instead of being held up so that it could be used as a churning rod so dadhre kamatha rupena dadhre so at that time it was sustained by kamatha rupena kamatha refers to tortoise so the lord appeared in the form of kurma, kurma dev and prushtha eka dashe vibhum prushtha refers to his shell it was sustained on his shell eka dashe vibhum manifested in his eka dashe in his eleventh manifestation thus here when the devatas and the asuras together were trying to do a dharmic endeavour we will see what was the dharmic endeavour in this actually they wanted nectar and we may say that the nectar that seeking the nectar was not exactly a transcendental endeavour it is a material endeavour by which they wanted to prolong mortality but they were doing it under the instruction of Vishnu and we will see that while they were doing this various manifestations of the lord appeared mohanimurti appeared and mohanimurti even deluded Shiva and through it all the supremacy of the lord was established the dependence of both the devata of the asuras as well as the devatas their subordination to the supreme lord Vishnu was demonstrated and thus this past time of course at an additional level it also protected the devatas because otherwise the devatas were being overcome by the asuras and through the churning of the ocean a truce was brought and eventually the devatas got the nectar and they were able to defeat the asuras also so the point is that there is a lot of that in this particular past time of course the lord manifested in several ways he manifested as kurma below then he also manifested in ananta as a form above and he helped the churning rod from above also because it was too high and they couldn’t sustain it and then he also manifested later as mohanimurti and eventually when the battle broke out when the asuras felt they had been cheated so at that time the lord manifested Vishnu also to fight and help the demons help the devatas overpower the demons but the most in the churning of the milk ocean the most celebrated the most well known manifestation was that of kurma dev that he manifested below the below the churning rod the mountain and sustained it on his body so we can just conceive imagine how enormous enormous kurma dev must have been that on his back the mountain was sustained this way the lord manifests in many extraordinary wonderful forms for the purpose of shemaya for the purpose of delivering protecting and delivering people will continue the discussion of other avatars in our future talks