Bhagavatam study 10 – 1.3.1-8 – The Lord manifests as the Purusha and other avataras

One three one chapter 3rd is entitled Krishna is the source of all incarnations in this chapter the different incarnations of the lord are talked about and the transcendence of the lord while being being involved in this world in terms of maintenance and keeping it on the path of purification both are talked about by discussion of his incarnations that supreme lord Bhagavan Mahadadivi the Mahatattva and other ingredients Adivhi this is a common mode of reference in the Vedic scriptures where if certain items are known are well known to be a set then just one is mentioned and etc as you say in English Adivhi so the others are understood so in the previous chapter for example Sthiti was mentioned Sthiti Adivhi so Srishti Sthiti etc that is to be understood similarly here Mahad Adivhi so Mahad and the other material elements the ingredients of material existence which are there Mahad and Adivhi Sambhutam Shodash Kalam Kalam Sambhutam the creation took place Shodash Kalam the 16 primary principles Adav Loka Adav Loka for the purpose of creating the Lokas so it is said over here that in the beginning the lord accepted as the Purusha Rupa he manifested himself as the first Purusha Avatar and then he manifested all the ingredients for material existence Bhagavan Mahadadivhi now among those material elements required the first what was manifested was the Shodash Kalam the 16 principles of material action so in Sankhya there are various more various frames of analysis Sankhya is related to word Sankhya Sankhya means to come Sankhya is the analysis the word analysis means dividing into components something is very big we cut it down break it down into its components and thus we understand what it is made up of how it functions how it is all brought together we try to understand all this so Shodash Kalam this means that the 16 elements of which eventually give rise to material existence they are talked about so now usually there are different ways to talk so for example the Bhagavad Gita talks about the 24 elements it’s talked about in 13.6 and 7 Maha Bhutaan Ahankaro Buddhi Ravyakta Mekach Indriyan Dashaikam Panchachindriya Gochar so Maha Bhutaan the five gigantic elements earth, water, fire, ether then Ahankaro Buddhi Ravyakta Mekach Ahankaro is ego, buddhi is intelligence Avyakta is unmanifest that is Pradhan Indriyan Dashaikam 11 senses which include the five working senses, the five knowledge acquiring senses in the mind Panchachindriya Gochar and then there are the five Indriya Gochar that refers to the sense objects so 5 plus 3 plus 11 plus 5 so we have 24 like that 5 plus 4 actually Maha Bhutaan Ahankaro Buddhi Ravyakta Mekach Indriyan Dashaikam Panchachindriya Gochar so here out of those 24 elements 16 are talked about and Prabhupada explains in the parapohi 16 are being referred to he says they are the 11 senses, the 11 working senses and the 5 gross elements so Maha Bhutaan and Indriyan Dashaikam so depending on the mode of between the frame of analysis sometimes all the elements may be talked about sometimes some elements may be referred to because those are the primary ingredients so here the unfolding of creation is being described and it begins thus yasyambhasishayanasya yoganidram vitanvataha naabhiradam bhujaasid brahmavishva sujampatihi so ambha ambhasi means water so when this first Purushavatar is lying down in the ocean ambhasishayanasya yoganidram vitanvataha he is reclining in yoga nidra at that time naabhiradam bhujaasid naabhirad so his navel this is a huge form and within his huge form his navel itself like a lake naabhiradam bhujaasid ambhuja is water so born in water refers to lotus so naabhiradam bhujaasid from the naabhi appears the lotus flower the primaeval lotus flower and from there what happens brahmavishva sujampatihi brahma appears as vishva sujampatihi who is the creator of the world brahmavishva sujampatihi he is the master in the process of creation there is sarga and there is visarga if we look at the later we will see towards the end of the second kind of bhagavatam there are atra sargo visargasya sarga is in one sense the creation of the material elements and visarga is there are different ways in which these are analysed at different places but broadly speaking elements are created and then the living beings are manifested with the presence of the elements there is a cook and there are ingredients and after that the cook uses the ingredients to make the recipe or there is a land and then there is a gardener who uses the land and the land contains some seeds and the gardener uses the land and the seeds and whatever resources are needed to create a garden over there so after the first material elements basic elements are manifested that was mentioned in the previous verse in this verse the manifestation of brahmaji is described and vishwa sujampatihi he is the master who will create the whole world he will create the universe this means he will ensure the universe will become populated and will become will become will fulfil its purpose of offering an arena for both gratification and purification text 3 yasyāvayavasamsthānai kalpito lokavistrah tadvai bhagvato rÅ«pam viÅ›uddham sattva-mÅ«rjitam in his bodily expansion samsthānai they are situated kalpito lokavistrah kalpito kalpana means imagination so it is imagined it is conceived lokavistro the various lokas the various planetary systems they are in his yasyāvayavasamsthānai in his bodily expansion they are situated That form of the Lord, now beyond that, Vishuddham sattva-murjitam. But the actual form of the Lord, Bhagavato Rupam is Vishuddham sattva-murjitam. It is transcendental.
It is Vishuddham. It is completely pure. That existence is completely transcendental.
Urjitam. It is excellent. So, two points are being said over here.
That the first verse is that it is conceived, it is imagined, it is thought that the various planetary systems are situated in the body of the Lord, but the Lord’s body is completely transcendental. So, this point of, so are the two talking about the same thing? No. The Virata Rupa is a conceptualisation.
Kalpito. So, it’s not that there is any particular Virata Rupa, Loka, Bhair. The Lord with, where the form of the Virata Rupa, as we’ll discuss, especially in the second canto, that the Sun and the Moon are the eyes or the lower planetary systems are the thighs and the knees and the ankles and the calves and the feet, like that.
There is no form like that. It is a conceptualisation and especially that conceptualisation is meant for people who are too much in the material conception of life to help those people to at least get a preliminary understanding of God’s greatness in terms of material greatness and gradually from that understanding will rise towards understanding of spiritual greatness, which does not have to depend on dimension. It depends primarily on the intensity of affection.
So, the Bhagavata Rupa is transcendental. So, while describing the unfolding of creation, the Bhagavata makes it clear that although the Lord oversees the creation, he himself does not have a material form. पश्यन्त्यादोरूपदब्रचक्षुषा सहस्रपाधोरूभुजाननाद्भुतम् सहस्रमूदश्रवणाक्षिनासिकम् सहस्रमूल्यंबरकुण्डलोलसत् ॥ So, पश्यन्त्यादोरूपदब्रचक्षुषा सहस्रपाधोरूभुजाननाद्भुतम् सहस्रमूदश्रणाक्षिनासिकम् सहस्रमूदश्रणाकुण्डलोलसत् पश्यन्त्यादोरूपदब्रचक्षुषा सहस्रमूदश्रणाक्षिनासिकम् सहस्रमूदश्रणाकुण There are thousands of legs, there are Thakuru’s thighs, भुजानन is hands and face, अद्भुतम् It’s all wonderful.
सहस्रमूदश्रणाक्षिनासिकम् Then there are thousands of faces and ears and nose, eyes, सहस्रमौल्य Then there is so many garlands, thousands of garlands and there are dresses and कुण्डलोलसत् and the earrings are all glowing. So here the magnificent form of the Supreme is talked about. So now the Lord manifests in various ways and in this verse the सहस्रमूदश्रणाक्षिनासिकम् पुरुष, which is talked about in the Purush Sutta prayers.
The Purush Sutta prayers are offered to manifestation of the Lord who is all glorious, who is all opulent and that manifestation is being talked about here. So now which particular manifestation is referring to? If we consider in the sequence of the manifestation of the creation there is Maha Vishnu, there is Garbhodakshay Vishnu and there is Shirodakshay Vishnu. So the Bhagavatam here is not giving an analytical step-by-step description using the framework of the three Purush Suttas.
Scripture in different places and the Acharyas also in different places may use different schema for analysis and for example we may see that Bhaktivinoda Thakur in Chaitanya Shikshambhava talks about the four levels at which people approach God fear, desire, duty and love and in contrast Krishna talks about the four motives with which people approach God the distress, the desire of wealth, the inquisitive and the knowledgeable. So now these are two different schemas of reference. So these four are motives with which people approach God.
Krishna is talking about them and what Bhaktivinoda Thakur talks about is four levels at which people approach. Now we can bring about some intersection and we can say that oh those who are distressed or those who have desires of wealth they are approaching at the level of desire. Now that’s true but where do we put the inquisitive and the knowledgeable? They are not necessarily approaching out of love and inquisitiveness is not exactly a duty although we can say from spiritual perspective, philosophical perspective that it’s our duty in the human form to enquire but it’s not duty in the sense in which it is normally understood.
So we all need to recognise that there are different schema and trying to specifically pinpoint which particular form is being referred to in which verse we can do that based on the guidance of the Acharyas but we need to understand the underlying principles. The Bhagavatam as long as it does not use a particular name to refer to a particular form so we may find that sometimes different the description of different form or one form may seem to have different features. That’s what it may seem like to us.
So the first verse if he is lying down in the ocean we might say is this referring to Mahavishnu he also lies down in the ocean. Is it referring to Karanadaksha Vishnu? Is it Mahagarbhadaksha Vishnu? He also lies down in the ocean within the Garbhodak Sagar. So is it referring to Shivadaksha Vishnu? He also lies down in the ocean but not at the bottom of the universe at the top of the universe in Akshira Sagar.
So if we see from from him Brahma is born then we can understand from which Vishnu Brahma is born in the Garbhodaksha Vishnu. So this refers to the Garbhodaksha Vishnu. So now as far as he is having is it the same? That was what was referred to two verses earlier.
Now is this also referring to the same? Yes we could say he is and as far as he is having thousands of forms thousands of hands and legs that is a vision which a devotee can relish in meditation and is perfectly compatible with the Lord’s omnipotence in being able to manifest anything and everything. So fifth text etan nana avataranam nidhanam bheejam aumeyam yasyam amshena sujyante devatirnyam naradayah etan that same Lord who manifests in this universe and who sustains the universe nana avataranam so through various avatars through various descents that Lord what does he do? nidhanam bheejam aumeyam he who is the indestructible source and seed of all that exists nidhanam bheejam aumeyam yasyam amshena sujyante whose plenary portion and part of plenary amshamshena sujyante through expansions and further expansions and expansions sujyante are created or manifest devatirnyam naradayah devatirnyam naradayah so devatas, animals and humans all of them adayah means others also that means all living beings are manifest through him this verse is talking about two things now first is that this purusha this purusha with sahasrasheesha from him Prabhupada identifies this as the second manifestation of the purusha so in particular visions the Garbhodaksha Vishnu may also reveal many many heads and many many legs so from this manifestation firstly there are the avatars that come and secondly there are the various living beings that are manifested so here the principle is the point here is not a technical analysis of precise sequence of manifestations where the point is the principle that the lord is the source of everything we could say that yes from Garbhodaksha Vishnu there is Shivdaksha Vishnu and avatars come from Shivdaksha Vishnu and even the living beings come from Shivdaksha Vishnu yes that would be true at one level no doubt but the important thing is that even Shivdaksha Vishnu comes from Garbhodaksha Vishnu and therefore we could very well say that it is the Garbhodaksha Vishnu which is the source and because we are talking about the frame of one universe right now we talked about how Brahma is the creator of Brahma the creator of the universe is created here so in that sense things are moving onwards with the frame of one universe and how the emanations happen within that universe so therefore we could say that this refers to Garbhodakshaya Vishnu so the sixth text sa eva prathamam devaha kaumaram sargam ashritaha cha chara duscharam brahma brahmacharyam akhanditam so now from this verse onwards the first six verses talk about how the Purushavatar sustains the various manifestations in the material existence originates and sustains the various manifestations in the material existence and now from here onwards how that Purushavatar moves onwards and is the source of various incarnations is talked about sa eva prathamam devaha so among the first manifestations of the lord that appears devaha from that supreme lord kaumaram sargam ashritaha kaumara the word kumara can be both a common noun and a proper noun a common noun kumara can be that means it is referring any young boy who is in the stage of kaumara so it’s roughly between the ages of 5 around the age of 5 little more little less so bal avastha, kumara avastha, eva avastha we can say paugandh avastha can also be there it depends on different modes of classification so usually from the age of 5 onwards it is said kumara avastha starts it’s probably till the age of 10 now so here it is said that the kumaras, kumara can refer to anybody who is in the kumara avastha anybody in the age of 5 or 10 it can also refer to specific people who are known as kumaras and these people are the four kumaras so usually the kumara stage one is considered to be one is expected to be unmarried one is a brahmachari at that time so kaumaram sargam ashritah sargam ashritah at the time of creation right in the beginning of creation among the first previously it was said how brahma was created and brahma viswas jampati he created the universe so here the first being that manifested after he appeared were the kumaras chachar duscharam brahma chachar duscharam they perform that which is very difficult to perform brahma brahmacharyam kanditam so brahma so brahma brahmacharyam kanditam so the word brahma comes twice brahmacharyam kanditam refers to their practise of uninterrupted celibacy and brahma refers to the fact of spiritual truth of ultimate reality it doesn’t refer here to brahma their father it refers to brahma the absolute truth so for attaining the absolute truth they perform austerity the kumaras using this particular framework this chapter is a reference and of course other sources the swamis have analysed in the bhagavata amrit the various incarnations and they are considered to be first incarnations of the supreme now in a broad sense this first, second, third is not necessarily in an absolutely linear sense in the sense that within one day of brahma depending on the rough timing when these particular people appear they can be called as first, second, third, fourth at the same time you need to understand these avatars keep appearing and within the bhagavatam sometimes one avatar may be described earlier later avatar may be described earlier and earlier avatar may be described later and the reason for this may well be that the bhagavatam is not restricted to one kalpa so the point is that all the bhagavatam is first, second, third, fourth, fifth this is not necessarily in any sense the sequence is not indicative of primacy you know the first is the most important or the last is the most important it is just indicating in a rough chronological sense within a day of brahma within a manifestation how the avatars appear and this is a broad listing that is given so the point is not a chronologically or any other way systematically linear analysis the point is a number of examples are given to broadly illustrate the principle that the lord appears time and time again to reclaim the living beings who are lost in material existence so seventh text rasatalgatammahim rasatalgatammahim udharishyan upadatta yagyesha saukarambapuhum yagyesha saukarambapuhum vithiyam second is saukarambapuhu saukarambapuhu refers to the boar incarnation Prabhupada calls him lord boar so normally boar if somebody says you are a boar you consider it a big offence nobody would consider juxtaposing the two words lord and boar together but it is done over here to illustrate the point to convey that even if the lord appears in a form which might not at all seem very attractive or respectable still the lord remains supremely attractive and supremely respectable saukarambapuhu he takes on the form of a boar to bhavayasya so bhavaya asya bhavaya means for the welfare of, asya means of this earth rasatalgatammahim rasatalgatammahim when the earth rasatalgatamm had fallen down to the level of rasatal udharishyan upadat udharishyan he lifted it up and established its proper position yagyesha yagyesha he is the isha of yagyas saukarambapuhu who had manifested in a saukara form so this story will further illustrate in later parts of the bhagavatam essentially when the earth had become earth’s balance had got destabilised because of Hiranyaksha exploiting too much gold from it and the earth fell from its present situation down to a lower position and that lower position to which the earth fell is conveyed herein through the metaphor, through the example through the, not the metaphor through the the earth’s deliverance was done through the manifestation of the lord in the saukarambapuhu this is a pig may dig underground for something to eat or may search some thing by burrowing underground so the lord manifested in a boar form to go underwater and the earth has fallen to the rasatan level, he actually the lord’s earth had fallen down he picked it up udharishyan, he delivered it tritiyam rishisargam vahi devrishitvam upetyasaha tantram sattvatam achashta naishkarnam karmanam yathaha tritiyam rishisargam vahi, so third the incarnation manifested in the millennium of the rishi rishisargam vahi devrishitvam upetyasaha, devrishitvam narada muni is known as usually devrishi, he is rishi among the gods he sometimes descends to the earth also and we know about him most of the time when he has descended to the earth but he still is a being of the celestial lord, a devrishi tantram sattvatam achashta tantra tantra is one genre of literature, especially bhakti literature which talks about the rituals of worshipping the lord, especially duty worship tantram sattvatam achashta tantram sattvatam means that tantra which is in the mode of goodness, so what happens to that, naishkarnam karmanam yathaha naishkarnam karmanam yathaha, so how one can work without becoming bound that is what this particular manifestation of the lord taught, which is interesting, narada muni is the teacher usually of bhakti wherever he goes, he delivers people by his purity, by his potency and by his words of wisdom, he inspires them to practise bhakti so that reference to bhakti is given indirectly by your friend tantram sattvatam sattvatantra is the name of a book also, sattvatantra can also mean sattvata if you consider them as referring to devotee, tantra is referring to the literature sattvatantra means he now we know narada muni compiled the narada bhakti sutra and there are others also who compiled others also compiled bhakti sutra like shandilya bhakti sutra is also there but the point is narada is himself exemplar of bhakti, he is a teacher of bhakti, who has inspired many many other people also to take a bhakti and he is also the giver of bhakti to everyone including by bringing the by himself manifesting by carrying the lord within his heart and by manifesting the lord in this world he actually brings the world and its inhabitants close to the supreme lord such is the purpose for which the lord descends into this world and till now we discussed about how he manifests in various purushas and then he manifests the he manifests in various ways as the kumaras as the boar and as narada to deliver the world which are the incarnations he manifests in and what all he does in those incarnations we will discuss in our future talks thank you