Re: Krishna/Vishnu in Bhagavatam
From the Bhakti List Archives
• April 26, 2000
SrI: SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN SataKopa- SrI nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha Dear devotees, namO nArAyaNa. SrI Martin Gansten wrote : > For evidence on Krishna being an avatara of Vishnu, we need not > go outside the Bhagavatam itself (though corroborative evidence > could be collected from other Puranas, Mahabharata, and Agamas; > and I believe Sri Anand has already given a few references of > this latter kind). For instance, Bhag.10.1.2 reads: > yadoz ca dharmaziilasya nitaraa.m munisattama / > tatraA.MZENAAVATIIR.NASYA VI.S.NOR viiryaa.ni za.msa na.h // > The direct meaning here is 'of Vishnu, descended through a part > (amsha) [of Himself]'. Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami (doubtless > following earlier GV acaryas) takes the instrumental (a.mzena) > as indicating association: 'along with a part', which he > interprets as referring to Balarama. Even if this is accepted, > however, it does not change the fact that Krishna is here > referred to as 'Vishnu descended'. VishNu purANam (5.1.2) gives the same account in the following way and makes the point explicitly very clear again : < Sage MaitrEya asks Sage ParASara > : amSAvatArO brahmarshE yO(a)yam yadukulOdbhavaha | vishNOstam vistarENA(a)ham SrOtum icchAmi tattvataha || " O Brahma Rishi ! I desire to hear the accurate, detailed account on this amSAvatAra of ViSNu born in yadu kula(race). ( bhavaha = birth; tattvataha = true account, as it is ). This ofcourse doesn't mean that KrishNa is an "amSAvatAra" like Sage VyAsa, who was a jivAtma empowered by Lord. We very well know from other pramAnas that Lord KrishNa is none other then Lord ViSNu Or Lord NArAyaNa. This is what asserted by the likes of BhIshma and Brahma (verses quoted earlier by SrI HarikrishNa) through their verses. The purport is : KrishNa is not merely human being who was playing at GOkula etc and He is certainly the Supreme Lord NArAyaNa ie. God Himself. --------------------- The account of the birth of Lord KrishNa in SB itself is very clear on this issue. After Lord VishNu appeared with His foou arms etc, SrI VasudEva recognized Him to be the Supreme Lord and offered glorifications /prayers. Then, DEvaki offered her glorifications/prayers. In SB 10.3.28, DEvaki requests Lord VishNu to make His form (which denotes Supreme Lord and meditated upon by yOgis) invisible to the general public { "...........rUpam cEdam paurusham dhyAna-dhishNyam mA pratyaksham mAmsa druSAm krushIshThAha" }. In the next verse (10.3.29), she says that she is afraid of Kamsa and is in anxiety, and requests the Lord to do something so that Kamsa will not understand that Lord VishNu Himself has been born. Kamsa already knew that Lord VishNu is after killing Him, soon after Sage NArada briefed him about these things (SB 10.1.65-66 : " ...............dEvakyA garbha sambhUtam vishNum ca sva vadham prati|| ....). Thats why DEvaki wanted Lord VishNu to make His identity unknown to others. She then requests (10.3.30) : "upasamhara viSvAtmannadO rUpam alaukikam | Sankha Cakra gadA padmaSriyA jushtam catur-bhujam ||" Trans. by Sri BhaktivEdAnta SwAmi of ISKCON : "O My Lord, You are the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead and Your transcendental four-armed form, holding conchshell,disc, club and lotus, is unnatural for this world. Please withdraw this form [and become just like a natural human child so that I may try to hide You somewhere] ". DEvaki is adding one more reason here. Not only that Kamsa will find Him out, but also that this form is un-natural for a child in this world. Another point to be noted is that, Lord is glorified as "ViSvAtma" ie. all-pervading aatma, who is the aatma for everything. Though the Lord is the "aatma" which is all pervading, He has taken a four handed form and its being addressed here. This also enables us to understand the distinction between the aatma (Lord Himself) and divine form of Lord. She elaborates her request in the next verse (SB 10.3.31) : "ViSvam yad etat .....purushap param parO bhavAn ........" Trans. by Sri BhaktivEdAnta SwAmi : "At the time of devastation, the entire cosmos, containing all creatures moving and non-moving entities, enters Your transcendental body and is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not be able to believe and I shall become an object of ridicule". Thus, she desparetly pleads Lord VishNu to make His identity unknown to the people and take a form resembling a human child. She doesn't say, "Get back Your Original form of KrishNa" etc here. Also, Kamsa identified God (ie. Vishnu) with the four-handed form only and its well known to him and many of the people. Lord VishNu then narrates about the past two lives of VasudEva and DEvaki, in which He Himself was born to them. Lord then says (SB 10.3.45) : "etad vAm darSitam rUpam prAg-janma-smaraNaya mE | nAnyathA mad-bhavam jn~yAnam martya-liNgEna jAyatE ||" Trans. by Sri BhaktivEdAnta SwAmi : "I have shown you this form << of VishNu >> just to remind you of My previous births. Otherwise, if I appeared like an ordinary human child, you would not believe that I << the Supreme Personality of Godhead, VishNu >> has indeed appeared". This makes extremly clear that Supreme Lord is identified with four handed form and the human form with two hands is only now going to be taken by Him. SB 10.3.46 says that " ......bhagavAn aatma maayayA .... babhUva prAkruta: SiSuhu" ie. Lord by His sankalpa (divine will) became a human child (ie. took the two handed form). Here, SrI BhaktivEdAnta Swami adds : "In other words, He transformed Himself into His original form : krushNAstu bhagavAn swayam". Well, there is no indication in the original texts even remotely regarding this. There were plenty of oppurtunities in these chapters of SB to say that Lord transformed into His original form. But, this has never been said and the reasons given are in the contrary ie. Lord transformed Himself into the two handed form like a human, since the four handed form would make people understand that He is the Supreme Lord. Also, in SrI VishNu purANam which describes the birth of Lord KrishNa, there is no mention of Lord VishNu getting back His original form ; rather it is clear that Lord VishNu is taking an avatAra ie. vibhava avatAra. Infact, it states Lord KrishNa as Lord VishNu's amSAvatAra, which is quoted above. There is no doubt that Lord KrishNa is a vibhava avatAra of Lord NArAyaNa (VishNu). Already many pramAnas have been cited from pAncarAtra, SrImad BhAgavatham and SrI VishNu purANam. Sri Martin Gansten wrote : > I think an independent observer would agree that the direct > meaning (mukhyartha) of these and similar Bhagavatam verses is > that Vishnu has appeared in the form of Sri Krishna, rather than > vice versa. Absolutely ! I too agree with you. adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan, anantapadmanAbhan. krishNArpaNam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your money connected @ OnMoney.com - the first Web site that lets you see and manage all of your finances all in one place. http://click.egroups.com/1/3012/2/_/716111/_/956777157/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@eGroups.com Visit http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/ for more information
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