yadhavaabhyudhaya

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In this context it would be interesting to note the peculiar

circumstances which made Vyasa write the Bhagavatha purana. The

Dasamaskandha, tenth section of Bhagavathapurana contains the story

of Krishna , the subject matter of Yadhavaabhyudhaya. It seemed that

after Vyasa had finished Mahabharatha and other vedantic works he

became depressed for no reason. Narada came to him and told him that

his feeling of depression born out of dissatisfaction was due to the

fact that though he exhaustively wrote about dharma and Vedanta he

did not write about the exploits and the glory of Krishna and the

incarnations of the Lord which would inculcate bhakthi . Hence his

heart became dry and depressed. Then Narada told him the whole

Bhagavata as he had learnt from Brahma. This was the inducement for

Vyasa to write the Bhagavatha purana. That is why Desika calls it

vibhudhajeevaathu, the life-giving elixir.

 

Desika refers to the Lord as Vibhu, and Sreemaan. He is

Vibhu, all powerful, all pervading, Sreemaan associated with Sree,

Lakshmi. The significance of the two adjectives is given by the words

eko vusvamidham chithram ajeejanath. He is eka , one only. ‘Sadheva

soumya idham agra aaseeth, ekameva adhvitheeyam (Chandhogya Up.) Sat

alone existed in the beginning, one only without a second.’ Hence

Brahman, Lord Narayana of Visistadavaita, was both the material and

instrumental cause of the Universe. Usually in creation as applied to

the worldly things like the creation of a pot the material cause, the

mud and the instrumental cause, the potter are different. But before

creation, says the Upanishad there was none else than the Brahman. So

Brahman is the upaadhaana karana, material cause and nimiththa

kaarana, instrumental cause. This is indicated by the words svayam

and svasmin.

 

The Lord created the world which Desika describes as

chithram, wonderful. He compares it to a painting, chithram which is

created by the Lord with the brush of His leela, playful and without

effort, and the paint He used was His krpa, infinite mercy. The

canvas was nothing but the Lord Himself, svasmin, in Himself, created

by Himself, svayam. This is in accordance with the concept of sarira-

sariri bhava of Visishtadvaita. The world consisting of sentient and

insentient beings is the body of the Lord of which He is the soul.

Before creation the world exists in Him in subtle form and after

creation it assumes the gross form.

 

Now what is the purpose of creation? To say that it is His

leela would make Him a sadist who has created the world full of

sorrow and misery for His sport. No, it is not so, says Desika,

because He has coloured it with His krpa. The word leela only denotes

that the creation was as effortless as a play for Him. He not only

created but also sustains the universe through His acts of mercy. The

duhkha is due to our karma but to protect us by showing the path to

emancipation is His act of mercy.