Question on the five manifestations
From the Bhakti List Archives
• November 20, 1997
Dear Sri Srinivasan : There are many PramANams for the five states of the Lord from Vedam to Ubha BrahmANams, IthihAsams , PurANams . One of the famous Vedic passage is : " ambhasya pArE , bhuvanasya MadhyE , nAgasya prushtE , jyOtheemshasamanupravishta: , PrajApathisccharathi garbhE antha : " This refers to the five forms of the Lord . "Ambhasya pArE " denotes "sErntha ThirumAl kadal " and it signifies the vyuha state of KshErAbdhi nAthan ; " Bhuvanasya MadhyE " refers to VibhavaathAram , when he walked on this earth as RamA and KrishNA . "Naagasya PrushtE " refers to the Lord seated on the back of AnanthAzhwAn in Sri Vaikuntam and this is the ParA state. " JyOthisheemshasamanupravishta " refers to the ArchA state celebrated by the AzhwArs in the divya desams ." prajApathisccharathi garbhE antha: " denotes the antharyAmi Brahman . PEy AzhwAr refers to this Veda Manthram in his paasuram on Thirukkudanthai ArAvamudhan : sErntha ThirumAl kadal Kudanthai VEnkatam nErnthavenchinthai niRai visumbum--vAyndha maRai Paatamananthan vaNdu kuzhAik kaNNI iRai paadiyAyavivai ---Third ThiruvandhAthi: 30th paasuram VaNN Thuzhai kaNNI ananthan"s raajadhAnis are described here . The Lord with beautiful TuLasi garlands is found in 5 places ((iRai paadi aaya )according to this paasuram and is a direct echo of the Veda manthram cited above. One is sErntha ThirumAl kadal( Thiru sErntha maal kadal or KsheerAbdhi ,the milky ocean ) , where He is joined by Sri Devi . This is the ambhasya pArE ( Vyuha Nilai ) . Generally , people refer to Sri Vaikuntam and a pillar there , where the Lord exists as the 4 VyUha mUrthys . Traditionally , the vyUha state is associated with in KsheerAbdhi .The first four rks of Purusha Suktham and the comments related to it in Ahirbudhnya SamhithA is said to support the VyuhA doctrine. Second is the" niRai Visumbhu" referred to in the above paasuram. That is the aprAkruthic world of Sri Vaikuntam with all its auspiciousness. This is the param . The Lord is Para VaasudEvan or Sri Vaikunta Naathan seatd on AdisEshA . This is the " Naagasya PrushtE " seating to bless the Nithya Suris and MukthAs .Paramapadha Naathan is referred to here ." paramE VyOman " of TaittirIya BrahamNam is the equivalent of" Nirai Visumbhu of AzhwAr . "VaikunthE tu parElokhE --asthE VishNu ; " of Linga PurANam goes with it as a derivative statement. Third is the " Bhuvanasya MadhyE " portion echoed in the " abhiraama GuNakara Daasarathe " portions of salutations reminding one of VibhavAvahtArams . Purusha sUktham and Bhagavdh Gita Support the vibhava aspect . When the Lord walks on this earth as RaamA and KrishNA , Purusha SUkthA states ( tasya dheerA; parijAnanthi Yonim /wise men know His origin as Vibhava avathAran ) . IthihAsams and PurANAs provide the larger set of references for Vibhavam . Fourth is " Kudanthai Venkatam serntha yen Chinthai " that refers to ArchAvathArams . " JyOtheemshasamanupravishta" refers to Lord's Veeryam penetrating and residing in ArchA murthys .The basic theory of Vibhava avathArAs comes from purusha SukthA and other portions of VedAs and is elaborated further by AgamAs and PurANAs . The equivalent of statements of Paancha raathra SamhithAs are found in AzhwAr's revelations :tamar uhnadadu yevvuravam avvuravam thAnE " ( In whatever from the bhakthAaS DESIRE , the Lord assumes a body in that form for receiving their worship ) . Dr. Chari quotes a Rg rk as a direct support for Archa Worship ( Rg vedam : X.155.3) . Fifth is " Yen chinthai " , where AzhwAr equates the purity of his mind as equal to that of the residence of ArchAmUrthys of Kudanthai and Venkatam . That is where the Lord resides as antharyAmi Brahmam ( PrajApathisccharathi garbhE antha : ) .AntharyAmi BraahmaNa of BruhadAraNyaka Upanishad is the strongest source of support among many upanishads for the worship of the Lord as the indweller of the caves of heart of jeevans . Thus , the authority for the five forms of the Lord including VyuhA is rooted in the VedAs and developed further in greater detail in paancharAthra and VaikAnasa AagamAs and PurAnAs later. V.Sadagopan ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: "M Srinivasan", INTERNET:m_srinivasan@qmgate.anl.gov TO: OM, INTERNET:bhakti@lists.best.com DATE: 11/17/97 4:20 PM RE: Question on the five manifestations Sender: bhakti-errors@lists.best.com Received: from lists1.best.com (lists1.best.com [206.86.8.15]) by arl-img-8.compuserve.com (8.8.6/8.8.6/2.9) with ESMTP id QAA13390 for <75041.3037@compuserve.com>; Mon, 17 Nov 1997 16:20:51 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by lists1.best.com (8.8.5/8.7.3) id MAA10301 for bhakti-errors@lists.best.com; Mon, 17 Nov 1997 12:30:24 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199711172030.MAA10301@lists1.best.com> From: "M Srinivasan"Subject: Question on the five manifestations Date: 17 Nov 1997 14:27:07 -0600 BestServHost: lists.best.com Sender: bhakti-errors@lists.best.com Errors-To: bhakti-errors@lists.best.com To: bhakti@lists.best.com In his continuing series on the Sahasranama, Sri. Krishnamachari had given for 'caturvyooha' a comment by Sri Sankara Bhagavatpaada on the fourfold manifestations of the Lord as Vaasudeva, SamkarshaNa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. After discussing this with Sri Krishnamachari, I understand that Sri Sankara quotes in this context a saying of Sri Vyaasa Bhagavaan (Vyaasa vacanam) as the pramaaNa (authority). If any one knows where this Vyaasa vacanam occurs, may I request you to kindly explain the context? I was under the impression that the Paancaraatra Aagama was the primary authority on the Lord's five modes (i.e the Para, the fourfold Vyooha, Vibhava, Archa and Antharyami) and that Sri Sankara did not accept the praamaaNyam (authoritativeness) of the Paancaraatra Aagama. A question arises whether there are other pramaaNas among the sruti, smiriti, itihaasas and puraaNas for the other four of the five modes. Could someone clarify this? dasan Srinivasan
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