Question on the five manifestations

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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

 

 

 

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"M Srinivasan", INTERNET:m_srinivasan

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DATE: 11/17/97 4:20 PM

 

RE: Question on the five manifestations

 

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"M Srinivasan" <m_srinivasan

Question on the five manifestations

17 Nov 1997 14:27:07 -0600

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bhakti

 

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