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bhishma-stuthi-10

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M K Sudarshan • June 25, 1997 


srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha
sri vedanta guravE namaha

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s", 

In explaining the nature of "bhagavath-avatAra" or of what BhishmA in his
"stuthi" calls "yatBhava-pravAha-ha", the school of VisishtAdvaitic thought
points us to the basic texts of "pramANam" which, by themselves, are seen to
throw ample light on the subject.

The most incontrovertible "pramANam" needed to resolve the apparent anomaly
between "ajAya-mAnO"(unborn) and "bahuDhA vijAyathE!"(born repeatedly) is
available in the Lord's own utterances in the immortal 'Bhagavath-GitA'!

In 5 simple verses the Lord revealed 6 salient features of his
"avatAra-rahasya" in unequivocal terms. The underlying message of those
verses in Ch IV.5 to IV.9 (both inclusive) very clearly reveal what Sri
BhishmAchArya-r really had in mind when he exclaimed in the first verse of
the "bhisma-stuthi" :

 "svasuKha-mupagatE Kachi-dvihartum; prakriti-mupEyushi yatBhava-pravAha-ha!"

But let us first reproduce here those 5 verses from Chapter IV of the 'GitA'
and cull out the 6 features of the Lord's "avatarA-s" realizing which, in
the Lord's own words, a soul gains "utthama-gati" through "antima-smriti" as
Bhishma himself did !

Verse IV.5
---------

Sri BhagavAnUvAcha : (Thus Spake Sri Krishna to Arjuna)

       bahUni mE vyAtItAni janmAni tava chArjuna I
        tAnyaham vEda sarvAni na tvamvEttha paramtapa II

(Meaning : Many births have both you and I undergone, O Arjuna. I can
remember mine and yours --- every single one of them. But you, my valiant
one, can and will recollect none !)

Verse IV.6
---------

       ajOpi sann-avya-yAtmA BhUtAnAm-IsvarOpi san I
        prakritim svAm-aDhishtAya sambhavAmi-Atma-mAya-yA II

(Meaning : I am un-born and My Transcendental body is never sullied although
I make my appearance in every millenium in my True form !)

Verse IV.7
---------
 
        yada yada hi dharmasya glAnir-Bhavati BhAratha I
         abhyutthAnAm-adharmasya tadAtmAnam srjAmyaham  II

(Meaning : I make My appearance in the world of creation, Arjuna, at those
times when irreligion waxes and righteousness wanes.)

Verse IV.8
---------

        paritRaNAya sAdhUnAm vinAshAya cha dUshkrtAm  I
         dharma-samstthApanArThAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE II

(Meaning : I appear, every now and then, in each millenium, and when I do, I
protect My faithful subjects and annihilate their tormentors. And thus do I
re-establish Righteousness !)

Verse IV.9
---------

       janma karma cha mE divyam Evam yO vEthi tattvata-ha I
        tyaktvA dEham punar janma naiti mAmEti sO-arjUna  II

(Meaning : He who has fully grasped this Transcendent nature of My
appearances and activities, O ArjUna, takes leave of the earthly abode of
his body; but he is never re-born, he never returns; for he has entered into
Mine Own Abode !)  

                 ****************************************

In the light of the above utterances of the Lord in the 'GitA', we can
conclude that Sri BhishmAchArya-r's phrase in his "stuthi", viz.
"yatBhava-pravAha-ha", is an unequivocal reference to the 6
"avatara-rahasyA-s" which a true devotee must learn to experience in his
life and which, indeed, gradually pave the way ultimately for the Lord's
"smriti" at the time of "prayANa-kAlE".

Let us try and examine the 6 "rahasyA-s" in a brief way one by one.

(A) The first "rahasya" states that the Descent of God into the world of
Creation is Absolute Truth. It is neither fancy or myth.

Now, if you look at the matter closely we can say the "para-brahmham" is
"born" and we, "jivAtmA-s", too, are born ! The truth of our birth is
self-evident. The truth of the Lord's "avatara" however is not so
self-evident to our feeble perception.
    
That difference of perception, our "AchAryA-s" explain to us, arises because
there is an essential difference between His "birth" and our birth. 

And what is the difference ?

His "appearance" is un-caused. Our "appearance" on earth, on the contrary,
is merely a by-product of the inevitable and inexorable operation of
"pApa-pUnya- vinai" --- the endless cylic operation of "cause-effect".

Our life is but a cog in the great cosmic wheel of "birth-sustenance-decay-
death-regeneration"; it is but an insignificant footnote to the greater
history of the Universe being written by an Unseen Hand; it is an
inconsequential "side-show" whose repeated encores are needed only as a
trivial diversion from the larger "cosmic-opera" being performed in the vast
theatre of the "time-space continuum". 

"pUrvA-chAryA-s" use the analogy of the sun to illustrate the nature of the
Lord's "birth" or "avatAra" and contrast it perfectly with our own :

When we sight the morning sun, we say "the sun has risen"; similarly, at
dusk, we say "the sun is setting". Now, we make such statements about the
sun even though we are all fully aware that, in truth, the sun neither
"rises" nor "sets"; the sun just "is" ! The sun just remains fixed,
ever-eternal and blazing in all its glory in the endless firmament ! But to
our limited perception it appears (or rather, we find it actually convenient
to make it appear) as though the sun rises and sets at dawn and dusk every
day ! But in reality, it is we mortals who "rise" and "set"! It is we who
are the ones who take "birth", it is we who "live" and "die", it is we who
experience "day" and "night" ! Such distinctions or (to use a technical
word) such "plurality" in human perception, however, has really nothing to
do with the "actuality" of the sun. Long after we die or long before we were
born, the great "ball of fire" in the sky was already there and will
continue to be there, isn't it ?
 
Similarly, the "AchAryA-s" explain to us, when we talk of the Lord's "birth"
and compare it with our own, we should learn to appreciate or "experience"
that "difference in truth" between the fundamental natures of the two.

We shall examine the other 5 salient features of the "avatara-rahasya" in
the next post.

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha
sudarshan