The Hindu : God's full manifestation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

God's full manifestation

CHENNAI AUG.26 . Among the several incarnations of the Lord in this world, that of Krishna is unparalleled. The Purana tradition recounts that in this manifestation the Supreme Being manifested His divinity fully and hence refers to Lord Krishna as the eternal Dharma. He is also hailed as the teacher of the entire humanity. He taught the ultimate truth to mankind using Arjuna as a pretext on the battlefield, which has come to be revered as the Bhagavad Gita. Jayadeva in his Gita Govinda sings the glory of the 10 main incarnations of the Lord in which he does not enumerate Krishna incarnation along with the rest as he contends all of them to be Krishna. A philosopher-saint of the Advaita tradition, Madhusudana Saraswati, was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and he glorifies Him as the Absolute Reality.

Narayana Bhattatiri praises this incarnation as the very embodiment of merit (Punya). Why did he say so? It is to convey that only a person who has acquired great merit in his previous lives would develop devotion to Lord Krishna that he uses this phrase both at the outset and also in the canto describing this incarnation in his work Narayaneeyam. While the purpose of God's incarnations like protecting the virtuous, re-establishing Dharma and punishing those who violate Dharma were evident in Krishna manifestation, one that stands out was His teaching the eternal truth.

In his discourse, Sri Jayarama Sarma said the Bhagavata Purana recounted that it was to reduce the burden of Mother Earth that the Almighty incarnated as Lord Krishna. Oppressed by the sins perpetrated by the arrogant Daitya kings towards the end of the Dwapara Yuga, Mother Earth approached the creator, Brahma, in the form of a desolate cow and told him about her distress. Brahma and Siva escorted her to Lord Vishnu and prayed to Him for intercession.

It was in answer to Brahma's prayer that an ethereal voice told them that the Supreme Person was already aware of the affliction of Mother Earth and commanded the celestials to be born in the world among the Yadus. It presaged that Lord Vishnu would manifest in the house of Vasudeva and with the intent to do what pleased Him, the thousand-headed serpent Adisesha would precede Him as His elder brother. Commanded by the Lord, His potency (Maya) by which the entire universe stands bewitched also manifested in part for carrying out His work.

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