Significance of the Almighty's advent

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Significance of the Almighty's advent

 

CHENNAI, JULY 16. The purpose of the Almighty's

manifestations from time to time in the world has been

proclaimed by Him during one of His advents - to

establish righteousness. To protect those who followed

the scriptural injunctions and exterminate those who

posed a threat to His devotees, the Lord had assumed

different forms to suit each occasion. The

significance of His incarnation in human form as King

Dasaratha's son has been conveyed by Valmiki at the

outset of the Ramayana itself.

The king had been childless for long and as though

ordained, he performed a sacrifice with the intent of

begetting sons just when the atrocities perpetrated by

the demon-king Ravana had become intolerable and the

denizens of heaven and the gods supplicated to the

creator, Brahma, to come to their rescue. Brahma

beseeched the Lord to assume a human form and manifest

in the world to punish the demon king. When the gods

and the creator were propitiating Lord Vishnu, after

assuring them of His protection, He willed Himself to

be born as Dasaratha's son, said Sri B. T. Srinivasa

Raghavachariar in his discourse.

>From the sacrificial fire arose an extraordinary being

of matchless splendor with a golden bowl covered with

a silver lid in his hand. Handing over the bowl to the

king, he instructed him to give the porridge contained

in it to his wives saying that this would enable him

to have the sons he desired. After disclosing his

identity as a messenger of the Lord, he disappeared

into the fire assuring that his visit heralded the

descent of the Lord into the world. The manifestation

of the Almighty was hinted even by the vessel handed

over to Dasaratha. Creation according to the Puranas

proceeds by the intermingling of the three qualities

(Gunas) - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Every non-sentient

and sentient being in the world has a mix of these

qualities and some exclusively display one quality

also. Human nature is an admixture of all the three

qualities and in each individual one quality is

preponderant.

The Supreme Being is beyond these qualities and the

scriptures describe His supernatural form as made up

of Suddhasattva. It was to convey that the Lord had

assumed a human form that the gold vessel with a

silver lid was presented to Dasaratha, gold

representing the quality of Rajas (activity) and

silver indicative of Sattva (purity). Only few were

aware of Rama's divine nature during His manifestation

and the three women, Tara, Mandodari and Sabhari, knew

the significance of His advent.

 

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