Dasavatara and Bhagavatgita-Varaha and Nrsimha

August 20, 2009

Varahavathara

Varaha means wild boar. HiranYaksha hid the earth in the

ocean and the Lord took the form of Varaha and killed him and brought back the

earth. Hiranya means gold and HiraNye akshiNee yasya, one whose

eyes are on gold is Hiranyaksha, who represents the materialistic outlook, hiranyabudDhi,

as opposed to bhagavathbuddhi , thoughts on the Lord. The earth is

immersed in materialism and the Lord brings it back and puts it on the waters

of bhagavtbuddhi. Mahavaraha, as the incarnation is called, is also known as vrshaakapi,

(Vishnusahasaranama), meaning dharma varaha, embodiment of dharma, vrsha

meaning dharma and kapi also means varaha besides monkey.

Srimadbhagavatham describes Varaha as yajna varaha, while Gita says sarvagatham brahma nithyam yajne

prathishTitham, Brahman the supreme reality is established in yajna.

Further in Gita the Lord says aham krathuh aham yajnaH , "I am the

sacrifice." In Narsimhavathra Hiranyakasipu stopped all the yajnas since Lord

Vishnu is present in yajna.

In Varahapurana the Lord says that if one contemplates on

Him always while he has control over his faculties , The Lord will remember him

even if the man is not able to think of the Lord in his last moments. He says

in the Gita ye thu sarvaaNikarmaaNi mayi

sannyasya mathparaaH ananyenaiva yogena maam Dhyaayantha upaasathe theshaam

aham samyudDhartha mrthyusamsaarasaagaraath (BG.12.6), I uplift those, who

offer all there actions tome and worship Me with unfailing devotion, from the

sea of samsara. This is the implication of varahavathara. Bhoodevi prayed to

the Lord when she was immersed in the

ocean and she is not only His consort but also a devotee and a dependent. Hence

the Lord took the form of a wild boar and

lifted her from the ocean.

Narasimhavathara

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu were brothers and alike in

attitude. Kasipu means food and clothing. hiraNyam kasipuH yasya saH hiraNyakasipuH, meaning, one to whom

gold is the food and clothing. Prahlada represents bhagavathbuddhi which is hindered by hiranyabuddhi. When the true devotee is persecuted by the

materialistic world the Lord comes to his rescue as he protected Prahlada every

time when Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him. Finally when his faith was

challenged the Lord appeared as Narasimha and killed Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada

told his father that the Lord Hari is everywhere and when Hiranyakasipu asked

him whether his Lord would protect him

if Hirnyakasipu kills him by his sword right then, Prajhlada replied

"no, He would not because the Lord would not allow you to raise the sword in the first place." Such

faith was rewarded which confirms the declaration in the Gita kountheya

prathijaaneehi name bhaakthaH praNaSyathi,(BG9.31) " affirm on my behalf ,

Arjuna , that my devotee never perishes.

The reason the Lord appeared as half man half lion was to

protect the words of another devotee, Brahma, who has given the boon to

Hiranyakasipu that he would not be killed either by man or animal, either

during day or night , either inside or outside and by any weapon. The Lord had to satisfy all the conditions to

make true the words of Brahma though He could have killed Hiranyakasipu in any

manner He liked. Also to prove true the words of Prahlada that the Lord is

everywhere, in a blade of grass or in a pillar Narasimha was occupying all

places at that moment ready to come out of whichever place Hiranyakasipu was

going to point at. Deiska says in his varadarajapanchasat that the whole

universe except that one pillar out of which the Lord came , is nrsimhagarbha,

occupied by Narasimha even today.

Narasimha was described as na mrgam na maanusham,

neither man nor animal, being half man

half lion. This signifies that he was dhvandhvaatheetha, beyond the

pairs of opposites, dhvandhvas such as love and hate, gain and loss and joy and sorrow, while

the boons of Hiranyakasipu denote the dhvandhvas. The meaning of

Narasimhavathara is that only one who has transcended the dhvandhvas,

like raga-dvesha, likes and dislikes can win over the hiranyabuddhi.

Prahlada is the example of a true devotee as described in

the Gita, vaasudhevassarvam ithi sa mahaathmaa sudhurlabhaH (BG. 7.19), the

great soul who considers that vasudeva is

everything is very rare.

The Lord proved by His protecting Prahladha the

declaration in the gita yo maam paSyati

sarvathra sarvam cha mayi paSyathi thasya aham na praNasyaami sa cha me na

praNasyathi(BG.6.30) One who sees Me everywhere and everything in Me, I

never perish (cease to exist) in him nor he perishes in Me.

The story goes that the Dvarpalakas of Vaikunta were

cursed by the sages sanakadhi to be born on earth and the Lord granting their

request that they will be taking three births as His enemies so that they wpuld

return to vaikunta soon. Their first birth was Hiranyaksha and Hiranya kasipu,

and the next was as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and the last was as Sisupala and

Dhanthavakra. The pride of the dvarapalakas had to be quelled and since the

pride is associated with the other five

enemies of man, they had to be conquered.

The Lord says in the Gita, ahamkaaram balam dharpam kaamam krDham cha samSrithaaH maam

aathmaparadheheshu pradhvishanthaH abhyasooyakaaH, while describing the

nature of asuree sampath, demonic qualities. It means, arrogance, brutal

strength, pride, lust, anger and cavil and jealousy which make them inimical

towards the Lord.

Hiranyaksha stands for madha, arrogance and

Hiranyakasipu denotes krodha , anger. Ravana signifies kama,

desire and kumbhakarna, moha, delusion Sisupala and Dhanthavakra denote maathsarya,

jeolousy, and lobha, greed respectively. It is significant that the Lord destroyed

Ravana and kumbhakarna in one incarnation as Rama and Sisupala and Dhanthavakra

in the next as Krishna. But to destroy the two

brothers Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu He had to take two incarnations which

shows that it is more difficult to conquer arrogance and anger.

August 21, 2009

Madam Sarojaji,

Bhakti is eternal.

An excellent descriptive

Sruti smriti puraaNaam aalayam karuNalayam,

namaami bhagavadpaadam Sankaram lOka Sankaram.

vyaasaaya vishNuruupaaya vyaasaruupaaya vishNavE,

namovai brahma nidayE vaasishTaaya namO namaha.

Bhagavan sri Vedavyasa's immortal writings inspire the whole world to this day. He divided and arranged the single sacrosanct Veda into four Vedas. He authored the Brahma Sutras and eighteen Puranas. He is the author of the great epic Mahabharata, which contains the Bhagavad-Gita, the crown jewel of Hindu Scriptures. He also wrote the most chanted Vishnu Sahasranama.

Your comparison of the Avatharas with that of Bhagavad-Gita is superb. The blessings of Vishnu in the form of Vyasa are with you.

With love and regards,

Sastry --- On Thu, 8/20/09, sarojram18 <sarojram18 wrote:

sarojram18 <sarojram18[Guruvayur] Dasavatara and Bhagavatgita-Varaha and Nrsimhaguruvayur Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 11:28 AM

Varahavathara

Varaha means wild boar. HiranYaksha hid the earth in the ocean and the Lord took the form of Varaha and killed him and brought back the earth. Hiranya means gold and HiraNye akshiNee yasya, one whose eyes are on gold is Hiranyaksha, who represents the materialistic outlook, hiranyabudDhi, as opposed to bhagavathbuddhi , thoughts on the Lord. The earth is immersed in materialism and the Lord brings it back and puts it on the waters of bhagavtbuddhi. Mahavaraha, as the incarnation is called, is also known as vrshaakapi, (Vishnusahasaranama ), meaning dharma varaha, embodiment of dharma, vrsha meaning dharma and kapi also means varaha besides monkey. Srimadbhagavatham describes Varaha as yajna varaha, while Gita says sarvagatham brahma nithyam yajne prathishTitham, Brahman the supreme

reality is established in yajna. Further in Gita the Lord says aham krathuh aham yajnaH , "I am the sacrifice." In Narsimhavathra Hiranyakasipu stopped all the yajnas since Lord Vishnu is present in yajna.

In Varahapurana the Lord says that if one contemplates on Him always while he has control over his faculties , The Lord will remember him even if the man is not able to think of the Lord in his last moments. He says in the Gita ye thu sarvaaNikarmaaNi mayi sannyasya mathparaaH ananyenaiva yogena maam Dhyaayantha upaasathe theshaam aham samyudDhartha mrthyusamsaarasaaga raath (BG.12.6), I uplift those, who offer all there actions tome and worship Me with unfailing devotion, from the sea of samsara. This is the implication of varahavathara. Bhoodevi prayed to the Lord when she was immersed in the ocean and she is not only His consort but also a devotee and a dependent. Hence the Lord took the form of a wild boar and lifted her from the ocean.

Narasimhavathara

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu were brothers and alike in attitude. Kasipu means food and clothing. hiraNyam kasipuH yasya saH hiraNyakasipuH, meaning, one to whom gold is the food and clothing. Prahlada represents bhagavathbuddhi which is hindered by hiranyabuddhi. When the true devotee is persecuted by the materialistic world the Lord comes to his rescue as he protected Prahlada every time when Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him. Finally when his faith was challenged the Lord appeared as Narasimha and killed Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada told his father that the Lord Hari is everywhere and when Hiranyakasipu asked him whether his Lord would protect him if Hirnyakasipu kills him by his sword right then, Prajhlada replied "no, He would not because the Lord would not allow you to raise the sword in the

first place." Such faith was rewarded which confirms the declaration in the Gita kountheya prathijaaneehi name bhaakthaH praNaSyathi, (BG9.31) " affirm on my behalf , Arjuna , that my devotee never perishes.

The reason the Lord appeared as half man half lion was to protect the words of another devotee, Brahma, who has given the boon to Hiranyakasipu that he would not be killed either by man or animal, either during day or night , either inside or outside and by any weapon. The Lord had to satisfy all the conditions to make true the words of Brahma though He could have killed Hiranyakasipu in any manner He liked. Also to prove true the words of Prahlada that the Lord is everywhere, in a blade of grass or in a pillar Narasimha was occupying all places at that moment ready to come out of whichever place Hiranyakasipu was going to point at. Deiska says in his varadarajapanchasat that the whole universe except that one pillar out of which the Lord came , is nrsimhagarbha, occupied by Narasimha even today.

Narasimha was described as na mrgam na maanusham, neither man nor animal, being half man half lion. This signifies that he was dhvandhvaatheetha, beyond the pairs of opposites, dhvandhvas such as love and hate, gain and loss and joy and sorrow, while the boons of Hiranyakasipu denote the dhvandhvas. The meaning of Narasimhavathara is that only one who has transcended the dhvandhvas, like raga-dvesha, likes and dislikes can win over the hiranyabuddhi.

Prahlada is the example of a true devotee as described in the Gita, vaasudhevassarvam ithi sa mahaathmaa sudhurlabhaH (BG. 7.19), the great soul who considers that vasudeva is everything is very rare.

The Lord proved by His protecting Prahladha the declaration in the gita yo maam paSyati sarvathra sarvam cha mayi paSyathi thasya aham na praNasyaami sa cha me na praNasyathi( BG.6.30) One who sees Me everywhere and everything in Me, I never perish (cease to exist) in him nor he perishes in Me.

The story goes that the Dvarpalakas of Vaikunta were cursed by the sages sanakadhi to be born on earth and the Lord granting their request that they will be taking three births as His enemies so that they wpuld return to vaikunta soon. Their first birth was Hiranyaksha and Hiranya kasipu, and the next was as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and the last was as Sisupala and Dhanthavakra. The pride of the dvarapalakas had to be quelled and since the pride is associated with the other five enemies of man, they had to be conquered.

The Lord says in the Gita, ahamkaaram balam dharpam kaamam krDham cha samSrithaaH maam aathmaparadheheshu pradhvishanthaH abhyasooyakaaH, while describing the nature of asuree sampath, demonic qualities. It means, arrogance, brutal strength, pride, lust, anger and cavil and jealousy which make them inimical towards the Lord.

Hiranyaksha stands for madha, arrogance and Hiranyakasipu denotes krodha , anger. Ravana signifies kama , desire and kumbhakarna, moha, delusion Sisupala and Dhanthavakra denote maathsarya, jeolousy, and lobha, greed respectively. It is significant that the Lord destroyed Ravana and kumbhakarna in one incarnation as Rama and Sisupala and Dhanthavakra in the next as Krishna . But to destroy the two brothers Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu He had to take two incarnations which shows that it is more difficult to conquer arrogance and anger.

August 22, 2009

Dear Sastriji,I am really glad to have received a comment from you appreciating my work.Though I do not call my self a vidvan by any means, I remember this saying'vidvaan eva vijaanaathi vuiidvajjanapariSramam.'Thank you.Saroja Ramanujam . Dr. SarojaRamanujam , M.A., Ph.D,

sanskritsiromanireply to sarojram18 and to get the previous posts--- On Fri, 8/21/09, Dr.B.G.Y Sastry <drbgysastry wrote:Dr.B.G.Y Sastry <drbgysastryRe: [Guruvayur] Dasavatara and Bhagavatgita-Varaha and Nrsimhaguruvayur Date: Friday, August 21, 2009, 6:44 PM

Madam Sarojaji, Bhakti is eternal. An excellent descriptive Sruti smriti puraaNaam aalayam karuNalayam, namaami bhagavadpaadam Sankaram lOka Sankaram. vyaasaaya vishNuruupaaya vyaasaruupaaya vishNavE, namovai brahma nidayE vaasishTaaya namO namaha. Bhagavan sri Vedavyasa's immortal writings inspire the whole world to this day. He divided and arranged the single sacrosanct Veda into four Vedas. He authored the Brahma Sutras and eighteen Puranas. He is the author of the great epic Mahabharata, which contains the Bhagavad-Gita, the crown jewel of Hindu Scriptures. He also wrote the most chanted Vishnu Sahasranama. Your comparison of the Avatharas with that of Bhagavad-Gita is superb. The blessings of Vishnu in the form of Vyasa are with you. With love and regards, Sastry --- On Thu, 8/20/09, sarojram18 <sarojram18 > wrote:

sarojram18 <sarojram18 >[Guruvayur] Dasavatara and Bhagavatgita- Varaha and Nrsimhaguruvayur@grou ps.comThursday, August 20, 2009, 11:28 AM

Varahavathara

Varaha means wild boar. HiranYaksha hid the earth in the ocean and the Lord took the form of Varaha and killed him and brought back the earth. Hiranya means gold and HiraNye akshiNee yasya, one whose eyes are on gold is Hiranyaksha, who represents the materialistic outlook, hiranyabudDhi, as opposed to bhagavathbuddhi , thoughts on the Lord. The earth is immersed in materialism and the Lord brings it back and puts it on the waters of bhagavtbuddhi. Mahavaraha, as the incarnation is called, is also known as vrshaakapi, (Vishnusahasaranama ), meaning dharma varaha, embodiment of dharma, vrsha meaning dharma and kapi also means varaha besides monkey. Srimadbhagavatham describes Varaha as yajna varaha, while Gita says sarvagatham brahma nithyam yajne prathishTitham, Brahman the

supreme

reality is established in yajna. Further in Gita the Lord says aham krathuh aham yajnaH , "I am the sacrifice." In Narsimhavathra Hiranyakasipu stopped all the yajnas since Lord Vishnu is present in yajna.

In Varahapurana the Lord says that if one contemplates on Him always while he has control over his faculties , The Lord will remember him even if the man is not able to think of the Lord in his last moments. He says in the Gita ye thu sarvaaNikarmaaNi mayi sannyasya mathparaaH ananyenaiva yogena maam Dhyaayantha upaasathe theshaam aham samyudDhartha mrthyusamsaarasaaga raath (BG.12.6), I uplift those, who offer all there actions tome and worship Me with unfailing devotion, from the sea of samsara. This is the implication of varahavathara. Bhoodevi prayed to the Lord when she was immersed in the ocean and she is not only His consort but also a devotee and a dependent. Hence the Lord took the form of a wild boar and lifted her from the ocean.

Narasimhavathara

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu were brothers and alike in attitude. Kasipu means food and clothing. hiraNyam kasipuH yasya saH hiraNyakasipuH, meaning, one to whom gold is the food and clothing. Prahlada represents bhagavathbuddhi which is hindered by hiranyabuddhi. When the true devotee is persecuted by the materialistic world the Lord comes to his rescue as he protected Prahlada every time when Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him. Finally when his faith was challenged the Lord appeared as Narasimha and killed Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada told his father that the Lord Hari is everywhere and when Hiranyakasipu asked him whether his Lord would protect him if Hirnyakasipu kills him by his sword right then, Prajhlada replied "no, He would not because the Lord would not allow you to raise the sword

in the