Bhagavat Gita a detailed study-chapter4The truth about action

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7. yadhaa yadhaa hi Dharmasya glaanih bhavathi bhaaratha

abhyutThaanam aDharmasya thadhaa aathmaanam

srjaamyaham

 

Whenever there is a decline in dharma and rising of adharma I manifest Myself.

 

8. parithraaNaaya saaDhoonaam vinaaSaaya cha dhushkrthaam

Dharma samsThaapanaarThaaya smbhavaami yuge yuge

 

For the protection of the good and the destruction of the wicked and to establish dharma I incarnate in every yuga.

 

The purpose of incarnation is explained here. When there is dearth of dharma and abundance of adharma the Lord manifests Himself to protect the good and to punish the wicked. But this is not as simple as that. It is known the Lord took the incarnations of Varaha, the Boar and Nrsimha , the man lion to punish the demons Hiranyaksha and Hirnayakasipu and to protect the devotees like Prahlada and to retrieve the earth from the ocean. How does this apply to the statement `yadhaa yadhaa hi dharmasya glaanih,' decline in dharma and `abhyutThaanam adharmasya,' uprising of adharma. For this we have to examine the meaning of the episodes of Varaha and Nrsimha.

 

The mythology has it that the doorkeepers of vaikunta were cursed by the sanakaadhi and they chose to have three births opposing the Lord rather than many as devotees because they wanted to return to the service of the Lord quickly. But the Puranas and Ithihasas are not fairy tales but have deeper significance. Even to the believers in modern age it is necessary to show that our Puranas and Ithihasas are not mere stories to be swallowed without thinking. Let us see what was the significance of these two avatharas that support the statement in the sloka `yadhaa yadhaahi .'

 

The word hiranya means gold and aksha eyes. The one who has his eyes on the gold is a hiranyaaksha The hiranyabuddhi in contrast with bhagavatbuddhi denotes a materialistic outlook which envelopes the whole world eclipsing bhagavatbuddhi, the spiritual outlook. The whole world becomes immersed in materialism. The mahaavaraaha, the Big Boar is also vrishaakapi, dharma incarnate. Bhaagavatha puraana describes the Varaaha as Yajnavaraaha, the embodiment of yajna. This idea is also presented in chapter 3, where the Absolute Reality, Brahman , is said to be established in yajna, which means that the yajna signifies dharma. That was why the asuras destroyed the yajna activities to show their antagonism to the Lord. Thus Mahaavaraaha alone could save the world from hiranyabuddhi.

 

The earth was described as looking like a small ball on the tusk of the Varaaha implying that for those with bhagavatbuddhi the material world is thuchcha, of no value. The oceans were only knee deep for the Varaaha, the wild boar, who was fierce looking for the wicked but gentle to devotees.

Hiranyaaksha and his brother Hiranyakasipu, kasipu meaning food and clothing, stand for materialism.

Prahlaadha denotes bhagavatbhakthi which is hindered by hiranyabuddhi. When the true devotee is persecuted by the materialistic world the Lord manifests as a man-lion for the protection of His bhaktha. Hiranyakasipu's boons signify the dhvandhva, the pair of opposites, the presence of which can never destroy the enemy within and without. The desire for gold, represented by Hirnyakasipu can only be quelled a dhvandhvaatheetha, the intellect that has transcended the pairs of opposites, sukha-duhka, joy and sorrow, laabha- alaabha, gain and loss, jaya –ajaya , success and failure. Nrsimha is described as na mrgam na maanusham , which does not mean that He is half man and half lion but that He is indescribable, being the Supreme Reality.

When the two door keepers were born as asuras for three births, the Lord killed them both in one incarnation when they were born as Raavana, Kumbhakarna and as Sisupaala ,Dhanthavakra, But He needed two incarnations, namely that of Varaaha and Nrsimha to kill them as Hiranyaaksha and Hiranyakasipu, who personify madha, arrogance, and krodha, anger respectively. Of the six internal enemies of man, Ravana stands for kaama, desire, Kumbhakarna for moha, delusion and Sisupaala and Dhanthavakra represent maathsarya envy and lobha, avarice. This shows that it is more difficult to conquer anger and arrogance than the others.

Taken in this sense the words `yadha yadha hi dharmasya,' etc. mean that whenever there is adharma overpowering dharma the Lord manifests Himself, and His avataras were numerous, the ten commonly known being the most prominent ones where the manifestation is complete displaying the divinity in full.

One may doubt that when the evil is rampant at present why the Lord is not manifesting Himself. One answer given by the commentators is that the Lord is more concerned with the protection of the devotees rather than punishing of the wicked and when a devotee like Prahlada was tormented He would appear but now there is not even one Prahlada among us, all being Hiranyakasipus in varied degrees! But looking at it from different angle, the incarnation is happening all the time , only we are not aware of it because we lack the devotion and faith. Whenever there is manifestation of good, may it be someone who comes to your rescue in a crisis or some pure soul saves you by right advice there you can see the manifestation of divinity.

The reason why the Lord is not appearing in a clearly manifest form is because He alone knows when the time is ripe for it. He did not come as soon as the demons started harassing the world. The karma of everyone has to be worked out and He is the karmaphaladhaathaa, one who apportions the results of karma to everyone. But the most important thing to remember is that He never ever forsakes His true devotees.

Only question that remains in this context is, why the Lord should destroy the wicked ? Can He not change their nature by mere will or even without coming down as an incarnation?

The answer to the first question is that destruction is not annihilation. Only the body is destroyed as and when the karma pertaining to that particular body is exhausted. The Lord kills the asuras who are freed from evil impulses and get a better life being killed by Him. Like cutting off a decayed limb for the sake of the welfare of the body, the physical body is destroyed for the welfare of the soul.

The answer to the second question pertains not to the dhushtanigraha, destruction of the wicked but to the anugraha, showing grace to the devotees. For instance He could have killed Ravana from where He was and need not have taken the trouble of going to the forest as a human being and lose his wife etc. It was to prove true the boon given by Brahma , who was also His devotee and it is an example sishtaparipalana but more than that it was to bless the rishis and other devotees like Guha, Sabari and Vibeehsana and to give joy to all by His beautiful form and qualities. Similar is the incarnation of Krishna. The anugraha shown in these avatharas outweigh the nigraha.