“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.11)

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अवजानन्ति मां मूढा
मानुषीं तनुम् आश्रितम्
परं भावम् अजानन्तो
मम भूत-महेश्वरम्

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram

If life were compared to a game, wherein the mature human being must pass through several stages before reaching the pinnacle, the summit, the conclusion, if you will, then the journey likely begins with belief.  As in, whether or not to believe that there is a God, a Supreme Controller, a Master Coordinator, a Deity who is above and beyond everything and everyone else.  After checking the box in favor of belief, the next stage involves study.  If there is a God, just who is He?  Is it a He?  Is it even a person?  In this regard, the philosophy known as Mayavada has been a plague on Vedic culture for centuries, with its appeal to the masses, through informing everyone that they are God.  The claim is easily dispelled through a basic study of the comings and goings of the avatara.

The Sanskrit word of “avatara” refers to one who descends.  According to Mayavada, the avatara is merely an elevated version of Brahman.  At least that is the claim.  You see, notable figures like Shri Rama and Shri Krishna are prophets.  They happened to advance to the highest levels of Vedanta practice.  They were Brahman realized, and so they could teach others.  Nevertheless, they were roaming within maya, which is illusion.  Every other individual has the same potential, to bypass the illusion and reach enlightenment.

The Vaishnava has a different conclusion.  They have confidence in this conclusion based on several factors.  One is the chain of disciples, known as parampara.  Chaitanya Mahaprabhu presents the eternal truth of achintya-bhedabheda-tattva.  This is the conclusion of simultaneous oneness and difference.  The living beings are indeed Brahman, which means they are sparks of Divinity.  At the same time, there is a separate and higher individual.

Another factor is common sense.  Let us apply this invaluable tool of the intellect in the following review of the avatara known as Krishna.  There are several things under Krishna’s control.  This is exclusive to Him.  No one else holds these properties simultaneously.

1. Choosing the time of appearance

We do not have to speculate on the matter.  Krishna confirms these truths in the brief, but profound dialogue with the bow-warrior named Arjuna.  Krishna establishes the general parameters for His appearances.  They are indeed appearances, instead of the typical janma.  Birth and death are periods of mourning for the wise.  Birth signals entrapment in a body consisting of gross and subtle elements.  Death is the departure of that same individual, leaving sadness in their wake.

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य
ग्लानिर् भवति भारत
अभ्युत्थानम् अधर्मस्य
तदात्मानं सृजाम्य् अहम्

yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.7)

Krishna chooses when to appear.  All of His features are transcendental.  The body is not a holding cell for Him.  There is only so much He can do to convince us, as we are limited by our perception, by our memory, and by our observation.  Krishna appears from the womb of Devaki, who is the wife of Vasudeva.

“The individual soul in the body of a baby cannot show the full power and potency of a grown man, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, even when lying on the lap of His mother as a baby, could exhibit His full potency and power by killing Putana and other demons who tried to attack Him. Therefore the spiritual potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is said to be eka-rasa, or without change.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 2, Chapter 32)

2. Choosing where to live

He chooses when to appear, and He also chooses where to live.  Mere moments after giving birth in the prison cell in Mathura, Devaki and her husband are blessed with the vision of Narayana.  This is from their baby, who wants them to know that He is not ordinary.  That child then directs Vasudeva to conduct a baby swap.  Krishna will live in the community of Gokula, to maintain a safe distance from the wicked leader of Mathura named Kamsa.

3. Choosing where to fight

Sometimes there is no option left.  You have tried diplomacy.  You have tried payoffs.  You have tried rational debate.  If the aggressors fail to respect private property and space, then you have to fight back.  You have to take up arms.  In one sense, the entire world operates under this principle.  As a wise man once said, ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force.

It is different for Krishna.  He can remain peaceful.  He can sit back and happily extract milk from a nurse who happens to be a witch.  He can playfully move a heavy mortar to use as a wedge to bring down two tall trees.  He can defend Himself and others by turning a giant hill into an umbrella.  Krishna never has to do anything.  On His schedule, based on needs that He feels require attention, Krishna can travel to a place like Mathura and eliminate a violent threat through one punch, swiftly and accurately delivered.

4. Choosing what to reveal

This is the easiest way to expose the cheaters.  The ones claiming to be God.  The ones who say that it does not matter which object of worship you choose.  They are all the same, you see.  You will abandon them one day, regardless.  Once you are advanced in your study of Vedanta, you will move beyond the childish model of sculpting a figure to whom you bring offerings.  There are no more offerings to make, since you are God.  Just keep repeating that to yourself.  One day, it will become true.

If that is the case, then reveal the universal form.  Show the cosmic manifestation.  This is one insight into God, after all.  Krishna has this feature to Him, but He is not quick to reveal it.  Krishna is not some cheap exhibit at a carnival.  He is not an item to be dispensed from a vending machine.  He reveals the universal form, the virat-rupa, to His devotees.  To the ones who are worthy of seeing it.  To the ones blessed with the special vision to know what they are observing.

न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा
दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षु: पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम्

na tu māṁ śakyase draṣṭum
anenaiva sva-cakṣuṣā
divyaṁ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ
paśya me yogam aiśvaram

“But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give to you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.8)

5. Choosing when to leave

Now you see Him, and now you don’t.  He might be sitting peacefully in a room right now, but in a few moments He will be scampering about, leaving a trail of butter-footprints behind.  He might be in the fields with His friends at one moment, and the next He is deep within the water, bravely taking on a venomous serpent known as Kaliya.  He plays with the cowherd girls in the forest, but in an instant He vanishes from sight.  The gopis then follow the footprints, to discover how Krishna reached for flowers to string into a garland, to offer to His beloved Radharani.

अत्रोपविश्य सा तेन कापि पुष्पैर् अलंकृता
अन्यजन्मनि सर्वात्मा विष्णुर् अभ्यर्चितो यया

atropaviśya sā tena kāpi puṣpair alaṃkṛtā
anyajanmani sarvātmā viṣṇur abhyarcito yayā

“Here someone sat down, decorated with flowers by Him. She must have worshiped Vishnu, who is the soul of all, in a previous birth.” (Vishnu Purana, 5.13.34)

The avatara can choose when to leave.  They never assumed the body to begin with.  They leave behind ways to maintain the connection.  The association is still there through sound, in chanting the holy names:  Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Starting lila to transpire,
Timing on His desire.

Also choosing where to live,
And when virat vision to give.

Deciding when appropriate to fight,
And later from vision flight.

Meaning that God one and true,
Same but also different too.

Categories: the five

Tags: avatara, dailyprompt, hare krishna, mayavada, poem, poems, poetry