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Sec.2.2 / Part 2 Miracles

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VVijay236 • June 15, 1998 


Dear Bhagavatas,
Presented below is Sec.2 .2 of Part 2 Miracles from my book "Myths, Miracles
and Mysticism".
Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy
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Why no Avatars in Kaliyuga?

In the present Kaliyuga, Dharma has become almost unrecognizable, if not
totally extinct, though we are fast heading towards the doom. The necessity
for Avatars has become all the more necessary now. If this were so, it may be
asked, how come we do not see any noticeable evidence of Avatars and miracles
now even though Dharma is said to have sunk to an all time low. A litttle
explanation of the
scheme of Yuga  reckoning in the Hindu tradition is required in this context.

YUGAS AND MAHAYUGAS

As per our mega Calander, the time of one year for humans represents one day
for the divine beings. 360 such divine days make one divine year. 12,000 such
divine years makes a Mahayuga comprising the 4 yugas of Krita,Treta, Dwapara
and Kali yugas. In terms of our human standards the measurement of a Mahayuga
will
look like this:

Kali  yuga
432,000 human years
(We are said to be in the year 5099as of 1998,the balance  
of Kali yuga being 426,901years more,  as of April 1998)

Dwapara yuga ( Dwa means 2 times, So twice of Kaliyuga)  864.000 human years

Treta yuga (Tre means 3 times, So thrice of Kali yuga)      1,296,000 human
years

Krita yuga ( 4 times of Kali yuga)
1,728,000 Human years.

Total for one Mahayuga  =
4,320,000 human years
                                                                              
or 4.32 million humanyears.

It will be seen from the above that there is a pattern in the number of
Avatars in accordance with the duration of the Yugas : 4 in Kritayuga (
Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Narasimha), 3 in Tretayuga (Vamana, Parasurama and
Rama), 2 in Dwaparayuga ( Balarama and Krishna) and 1 in Kaliyuga (the
apocalypsic Kalki yet to be, at the end of Kaliyuga).

Miracles in the Kaliyuga

This is not to say that miracles have not happened in Kaliyuga itself. Even if
you are inclined to dismiss the instances narrated so far as belonging to the
so called mythological periods, we have much too numerous miracles during the
historical period that we know of  and even in our own modern times.

Miracles do happen but miracles would cease to be miracles if they become an
every day affair.So, till the emergence of the apocalypsal Kalki Avatar, great
saints and devotees have experienced and are experiencing the effect of
miracles within the ambit of their personal lives.

Alwars

The Alwars  (which means those immersed) are  a class by themselves and are
considered to be the reincarnation of Bhagavan Himself or his Bushanas
(ornaments) and Ayudhas (weapons). They were so immersed in their devotion
that a narration of their life stories and works would fill the pages of a
whole compendium. A brief account is given in our book " Hinduism
Rediscovered"

There are 12 Alwars: Though according to the Katapayadhi Snkhya, their birth
is placed in Dwapara Yuga to early Kaliyuga periods. modern research scholars
tend to place the dates of birth differently in 8th and 9th century AD.But,
this certainly lacks authenticity and needs to be examined more carefully.
According to one research the dates are as follows :

1.Poigai Alwar (719AD) 
2. Bhudat Alwar (719AD) 
3. Pey Alwar (719AD) 
4. Tirumazhisai Alwar (2.1.725) 
5. Periya Alwar ( 27.5.725) 
6.Kulasekara Alwar (12.2.767) 
7.Aandaal (25.6.776)
8.Thirumangai Alwar (31.10.776) 
9. Tiruppaan Alwar ( 31.10.776) 
10. Tondar Adip podi Alwar (1.12.787) 
11. Madhurakavi Alwar ( 14.9.797) and 
12. Nammalwar ( 4.5.798) 
Together with Tiruvarangattu Amudhanaaar, they wrote the 4000 Divya Prabhandam
hailed as Dravida Veda.

Aavesa and Anupravesa

In the Kaliyuga, God performs these miracles by entering into appropriate
pious souls in what is known as 'Aavesa'  and " Anupravesa'. It will not be
possible to chronicle the much too numerous instances of miracles but we shall
list out a few devotees of the Lord who  performed or have had the beatific
experience of divine miracles. 

The Acharyas who followed Nammalwar represent an illustrious lineage as
follows:
Nathamuni (825-918AD), 
Pundarikaksha a.k.a Uyyakkondar (nd), 
Ramamisra a.k.a Manakkaal Nambi (831AD-?), 
Yaamuna Muni a.k.a Alawandar (916 - 1041AD), 
Ramanuja Muni a.k.a Emperumanar (1017-1137AD), 
Embaar (nd). 
Parasara Bhattar (1062AD- ?), 
Nanjeeyar (nd), 
Nam Pillai (1253Ad - ?), 
Pillai Lokacharya (1264-1327AD), 
Swami Sri Vedanta Desika (1268-1369AD) 
Manavala Mamunigal (1370AD - ?) and 
Aadhi Van Satakopar (1398-1458AD).

Other Acharyas include Koorathalwan (nd), 
Nadaadur Ammal (nd),  
PeriyaNambi (nd), 
Periyavaachaan Pillai (nd),
Tirukkachi Nambi (nd), 
Tirukkoshtiyur Nambi (nd),
Thirumalai Nambi (nd), 
Tiruvarangattu Amudanar who contributed to complete the 4000 Divya Prabandham
(nd),  
Thiruvoimozhi Pillai (nd) and 
Vadakku Tiruveedhi Pillai (nd).

Besides, there were numerous other devotees like:
Annamacharya (15c), 
Bhadrachala Ramadasa (1608-1682), 
Chaitanya (1485-1534), 
Ekanathar (1533-1599), 
Jayadeva (12c), 
Jnaneswara (1275- 1296), 
Kabirdas, the muslim saint devotee of Sri Rama (1440-1518), 
Kanakadasa (nd), 
Madhwacharya, the great pontiff of the Dwaita School of Vedanta (1197-1278),
Meera Bai, the Rajput princess devoted to Lord Krishna, 
Namadeva  (1270-1350), 
Narayana Bhattadri (16c), 
Narsi Mehta, who wrote the famous 'Vaishnava Janato' (1500-1580),
Purandaradasa (1480-1564), 
Ramananda (13c), 
Aadhi Sankaracharya, the founder pontiff of the Advaita  Scool of Vedanta (788
-820), 
Surdas (1478 -1581), 
Swaminarayan  (1781-1830), 
Thyagaraja, who wrote songs in Telugu (1759 -1847),
Tukaram (1607-1649), 
Vallabhacharya (1473-1531) and 
Vidyapati (1350 -1450).

Section 3 : Siddhi and Non -Siddhi Miracles will follow.
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