Puranas8

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THE LILA AVATARAS

 

During Brahma's one day there are twenty-five Lila-avataras also known as Kalpa

avataras because they appear in every Kalpa. Of these Lila-avataras Hamsa and

Mohini are not very well known.

 

1) Catursana - The four Kumaras.

 

They appeared in the beginning of creation

and are specifically empowered to distribute

transcendental knowledge. They are empowered

with the Lord's jnana-sakti. They are also

known as Saktyavesa.

 

2) Narada Muni - The son of Lord Brahma.

 

He is empowered with the Lord's Bhakti-sakti.

He is also Saktyavesa.

 

3) Varahadeva - Sukara or the Boar incarnation.

 

The Boar incarnation appeared in two

different milleniums. During the period of

Svayambhuva Manu, the earthly planet remained

submerged in the water of devastation, so the

Lord appeared as a white boar and lifted the

earth and set it properly. During the period

of Caksusa Manu Lord Boar was red and He

killed the demon Hiranyaksa.

 

4) Matsya - The Fish incarnation.

 

He appeared to show special mercy to

Satyavrata Muni. After the period of Caksusa

when there was a partial inundation, he also

protected Vaivasvata Manu by keeping him safe

on a boat.

 

5) Yajna - The son of Prajapati Ruci and his wife Akuti.

 

During the period of Svayambhuva Manu there

was no qualified Indra. So the Lord appeared

as Yajna and took that position.

 

6) Nara Narayana - The twin sons of the wife of King Dharma.

 

They are partial expansions of Krsna and

Arjuna. Nara and Narayana Rsis exhibited the

Lords renunciation.

 

7) Kapiladeva - The son of Devahuti.

 

He explained the Sankhya philosophy.

Kapiladeva exhibited the Lord's

transcendental knowledge.

 

8) Dattatreya - The son of Atri Rsi and Anasurya.

He is a combined incarnation of Lord Visnu,

Brahma and Siva. He spoke on the subject of

transcendence to Alarka, Prahlad, Yadu, etc.

 

9) Hayasirsa - Lord Hayagriva

 

At the end of the millenium ignorance

personified took the form of a demon, stole

the Vedas and took them to the planet

Rasatala. At that time the Lord, at the

request of Brahma, retrieved them after

assuming the form of a horse.

 

10) Hamsa - The Swan incarnation.

 

Due to bewilderment, Brahma, could not answer

some questions put forward by his sons. At

that time the Lord appeared as a swan and

answered the questions.

 

11) Prsnigarbha - The incarnation who appeared before Dhruva.

 

He created the planet known as Dhruvaloka for

the habitation of Dhruva Maharaja.

 

12) Rsabha - The son of King Nabhi and his wife Merudevi.

 

His oldest son was Bharata Maharaja of which

the earth was named after - Bharat-varsa. He

instructed his sons to follow the path of

perfection by tapasya.

 

13) Prthu - The incarnation of the Lord's ruling force.

 

Due to the demonic nature of King Vena, the

sages killed him by a curse. They prayed for

the Lord to appear and churned the two arms

of the dead body according to a specific

method and the Lord appeared as Prthu.

 

14) Nrsimhadeva - The half man half lion incarnation.

 

He appeared to protect Prahlad by killing

Hiranyakasipu.

 

15) Kurma - The Tortoise incarnation.

 

He appeared to become the resting place of

the Mandara Hill, used as a churning rod by

the demons and demigods to produce nectar.

 

16) Dhanvantari - The father of Ayurveda.

 

He appeared from the ocean of milk with the

pot of nectar.

 

17) Mohini - The Lord's form of a beautiful woman.

 

The Lord tricked the demons by appearing in

the form of a beautiful woman and asked the

demons for the nectar and distibuted it to

the demigods.

 

18) Vamanadeva - The Dwarf incarnation.

 

Assuming the form of a dwarf brahmacari the

Lord visited the fire sacrifice of Bali

Maharaja. He begged three steps of land and

with those steps He took the whole universe.

He is the son of Kasyapa and Aditi.

 

19) Parasurama - Bhrgupati, the son of Jamadagni and Renuka.

 

He annihilated the administrative class

twenty-one times because of their rebellion

against the brahmanas.

 

20) Raghavendra - Lord Ramacandra.

 

He came to perform pleasing work for the

demigods, protect His devotees and kill

Ravana and his followers. The Lord assumed

the form of a human being and exhibited

superhuman powers by controlling the Indian

Ocean.

 

21) Vyasadeva - The son of Parasara Muni and Satyavati.

 

He divided the one Veda into several branches

and sub-branches, seeing that the people in

general were less intelligent.

 

22) Lord Balarama - The first plenary expansion of the Lord.

 

23) Lord Krsna - The original form of the Lord.

 

Both Balarama and Krsna appeared in the

family of Vrsni (Yadu dynasty)and in doing

so removed the burden of the world.

 

24) Buddha - The son of Anjana.

 

He appeared in the province of Gaya in Kali

-yuga to delude those who are envious of the

faithful. He also appeared to stop animal

slaughter in the name of Vedic sacrifices by

preaching non-violence and by not accepting

Vedic authorities.

There is also another Buddha incarnation

mentioned. There are seventy-two Kali-yugas

during the period of one Manu. During one

Kali-yuga the Lord appeared as Buddha to

bewilder the demons who were destroying

the inhabitants of other planets by flying

unseen in space ships made by the demon Maya.

 

25) Kalki - The son of Visnu Yasa.

 

He will appear in the village Sambhala. He

will mount a horse, Devadatta and taking His

sword, will kill millions upon millions of

bandits. He will also commence Satya-yuga.

 

NOTE:

 

 

During Brahma's one day there are fourteen manus and

twenty-five Lila-avataras. There are thirty such days in

Brahma's one month. There are twelve months in a year and

Brahma lives for one hundred years.

 

One hundred years is divided into two halves. The first half

is over and the second half is now current. Fifty years complete

one parardha. Brahma must complete another fifty years after

which everything will be destroyed.

 

Thus Brahma's life span is 311 trillion 40 billion earthly

years. Brahma's life, however, is calculated to be less than a

moment for the Personality of Godhead. In the Causal Ocean there

are millions of Brahmas appearing and disappearing like bubbles

in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Next: THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF THE UNIVERSAL ANNIHILATION