________________
DECEMBER, 1903.) THE NARAYANIYA AND THE BHAGAVATAS.
383
(13528) Whatever forms the deity asgames, He does so by His own power (kurvdṇaḥ sayan átmanan dtinand). He is the receptacle of the Vedas and of austerities. He is Yoga, Hois Sankhya, He is the foremost Brahma (neat.), and the infinites (vibhu ) Hari .... The religion, in which rebirth is impossible (i. e., ni vritti, see Adhydya 342), has Narayana for its object, and so also the religiou, which has pravritti for its distinguishing mark, has Narayana for its essence. Smell, the attribute of earth; taste, that of water ; touch, that of air ; sound, that of other; mind (mmas ), of which the attribute is indiscreteness (avyaktagunalakshana); time; Kirti, Sri, and Lakshmi; Sâmkhya and Yoga ; all these have Narayana for their Selfs (atman ). ( 13537 ) As the Male ( Purusha ) He is the Cause, and as Pradhana He is also the cause.... He, Hari Narayana is the one real principle (tattva )83 He, Kôšava, knows the thoughts of Brahmâ, of the Rishis, of the Samkhyas, of the Yögins, of the Yatins who know themselves, but not they His. All acts performed in honour of the gods are really devoted to Vishņu. He is called Vasudeva, the abode of all beings and actions (sarvabhúta-koritd'vdsa, cf. sarvdv dsa, in 18388, above).
850. Janamôjaya says: --The ordinary good man, free frora both merit and demerit, reachos the Male (Purusha ), through the three stages of Aniruddha, Pradyurana, and Samkarshana ) ; but those who are monotheists, – devoted to one God (ékántin) reach the Male (Purusha) at once. To my mind the latter is the preferable religion. Who taught it first ? • Vaisampåyana says : - It was told by the Adorable Himself to Arjuna (i. e., in the Bhagavad Gitd). As then stated it was difficult to understand. Närada subsequently explained it to Krishna Dvaipâyana, who explained it to me. Narada's account of the mode in which the religion was taught was as follows:
(13559) When Brahmî was mentally born from Narayana's mouths, the latter imparted it to the Vaikhânasas, who drank foam, and they to Soma, and then it disappeared.
(13582) At the second birth of Brahmâ, from Nárayana's eye, Brahmâ received it from Soma and gave it to Radra, who, in the Kpita age, gave it to the Vâlakhilya Rishis. Then it again disappeared.
n Vibhu, as a Bhāgavata technioal term, means 'infinite,' as opposed to an u, 'finite. The word here possibly means a developed, or secondary, form of the Adorable. According to the Bhagavatas, the Supreme Deity exista in five different forms.
1. The first is that of the Adorable Himself, the Bhagarat, in this son sexion styled 'Parktpara' or 'The Supreine.
3. The second consists of the four vydhas or evolved forms of the Adorable, vis., Vasudeva, Sarkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, dealt with at length in the Narkyapiya. 3. The third is that of a Vibhavn, or secondary form of the Deity. There are five kinds of viol
(a) A Parna Avatara, or complete incarnation, such as that of Bama, Krishna, or the Man-lion.
(6) An Arhia Avatara, or major Partial Incarnation, in which only a portion of the Deity became incarnate, such as those of the Fish, the Tortoise, the Dwarf, or Kapila.
(C) A Kald Avatara, or minor Partial Inoration, in which the Deity is not present to so great an extent in the preceding. Suoh ia Parafu-Rama, who, in the Anggita, is not referred to as an ingarnation at all. It will be remembered that he was a Brahmapa, who was conquered by Rama, a Kshatriya incarnation,
(d) A Bakti Avaldna, or an Inoarnation in Might, saol as those of the Adorable as Siva or Brahmi who, according to Bhagavata theology were but forms of Him.
(0) A Vibhati Avatara (Incarnation of Power) or Karya Ayatdra (Incarnation for a Purpose). This is a temporary or occasional manifestation, such as that of the Adorable as Móbint at the churning of the Dean. Every Bhagavata who preaches the doctrines of his religion is, for the time being, Vibhaus Avatara.
4. The fourth form in which the Supreme Deity exists is that of the Antaryamin or 'Inward Restrainer,' i... the God in the soul of every animate being.
5. The fifth and laat form is that of an Archd Avatara, or Incarnation for Worship, i.e., the Deity inherent in overy idol or other representation of God. An idol is merely a marti, or image, till it is solemnly consecrated (pratishthita) according to the rales laid down in the Narada Parichardtra. It is then no longer a marti, or image, but is an Arch& Avatara.
For most of the above, I am indebted to Srl Sitaráma-sarana Bhagawan Prasada, the esteemed editor and translator of the Bhakta-mála.
# Tattva is the name given to the Twenty-live S&rinkhya principles, to which reference has frequently been made, vis, Nature (prakriti or pradhana), Intelligenos (budathi or mahat), Consciousness (ahankara ), Mind (manas), the tea Oegaas of Sense and Action (indriya), the fire Subtile Elementa ( tanndera), the five Grosser Elements ( mahadh dta), and the Soul (purusha, pur, at man). In the theistio Yoga, the last is deified into the Universal Soal, or God.
NO. 13489, above.
