Incarnations

(Sri Swamiji's speech on 3-9-96)
Compiled and translated by Sri H.V.Prasad

The incarnations of Vishnu are countless. Ten of them are popular. But 21 are very special. In each of these, Vishnu Tattva has spread. Krishna Avatara was the greatest. . Imagine two small boys playing on the beach. One of them builds a sand castle. The other too builds a rival castle. They build as if they are emperors. They take happiness from that activity. Seeing them, the parents feel very happy. The father calls them and asks them to go home. Then these boys destroy what they have built. This also they do happily. They do that so that other boys cannot derive pleasure from their labor. What they have done, they finish it. The boy who had built a rival castle was planning to take over the other's castle after his leaving. He is disheartened that the castle was destroyed by its creator. He is disheartened as if his labors were wasted. Who was right and who was wrong? Is the first boy who built and destroyed so that the other boy could not enjoy his castle, right? Or the other boy who was planning to take over the first boy's castle and was disheartened when the first boy destroyed his castle before his departure? Give me your answer tommorow. There are three characters here. Who is the third? Is it God? No. It is the father, who encouraged his son to build a sand castle and enjoyed his son's labors. Of the 21 incarnations, some are important. The same God is in me and makes me speak. The same God is in you all and makes you hear my words. I speak because you hear and you hear because I speak. You are here out of Love for Swamji. And Swamiji is here because you all have Love for him. The same God has brought us together. In this case, God is the first boy, I am the second and you all are the third boy.

The first incarnation took place at the beginning of Krita Yuga. That is at the Sandhi Kaala. The begining of a day is very important. The intellect is in a special condition then( from 4.30 to 6 AM). The second important time is when the sun is at the top, i.e., noon. In the evening the sunset time is also important. Our body is a temple and requires special treatment. Special treatment does not mean special food. To keep the body in good shape and to keep the mind sharp, sadhana is necessary. At these three periods of time, God enters our body. We must be silent and comtemplative at least during those times. At least for five minutes. Many complain that Swamji does not come in their dreams. To them I say, 'I tried but you were very busy and not prepared to accept my presence'. We must think of Him so that he comes to us. We must thank him frequently saying "Because of you I exist. I thank you for keeping me alive till now."

In the Yuga Antara time Manvantara was giving Arghya in a river and when he took a palmful of water in his hand, he found a fish in his hand. It requested him to care for it. He took the fish to his home and as the fish grew day by day, he could not care for it. He asked why he was growing and why he had come to him? The fish said that in seven days, a water pralaya (total destruction) would occur. "Take a boat. Saptarshis will come. Take samples of all living things. I will come and lead you out of this pralaya. A demon will steal the Vedas and hide them in the sea. I will come and protect the Vedas."

A demon stole the Vedas. Then Hayagreeva came and rescued the Vedas. God came in the form of a fish and sustained the creation. This is Matsya Avataara. The Pralaya occured to weed out the wicked and evil souls.

Next is Kurma Avatara. The incarnation as a tortoise. God came and got Amrita for the Devatas. The demons were deprived of it. God did it in a very wise manner. Feelings are important. Scold somebody in a foul temper. He will be hurt. But smilingly correcting someone will be taken in a light manner. If wisdom and gentleness are there, it is not enough. The Rakshashas [demons] had strength. So to take Amrita out of the ocean, He needed the help of the demons [for strength]. Then the Devatas went and surrendered to the demons. The demons became happy. The Angels served the demons. Right from Indra, all the angels served. It is said that to get work done, one has to pray evento a donkey if necessary. After some time passed, the angels submitted a plan to the demons. If we together, churn the milky ocean, Amrita will come out and by consuming it, we all can become immortal. They accepted. Mandara mountain was brought and placed in the ocean. Since there was no support for the mountain to float, it sank. Then the Devatas prayed to Vishnu to help them. He took a special incarnation as Kurma, i.e. the tortoise.

When the Lord supported in the form of a tortoise, the mountain floated. Vasuki, the celestial snake became the churning rope. The mountain became the churning stick. Have you ever churned anything? At least seen anybody churning? "No", I presume. The tortoise is a special animal. It is mild, soft, shy and slow.

Vasuki became tired and started to throw out poison. It enveloped the whole world and became a potential danger. Then Lord Shiva drank the poison and protected the world.

When you do seva, confusion comes. There will be so many obstacles. We almost become fed up. Only when we crave for something do we understand its importancet. Go to Tirupati. Stand in the queue and have Darshan. You will be craving for the Lord by the time you come to the Sanctum Sanctorium for Darshan. Going there as VIP for special Darshan has no value. Devotion comes only in the hard way. During the development of devotion, confusions do come. Do not worry. It is a good sign. Bad must intervene to make the good more valuable.

The churning continued with a great sound. A small churning in a house makes so much sound. Imagine this celestial churning. So much activity...so much sound. All activities have methods. If you sit before milk and beg the butter to come out, will it come out? No. Churning is necessary.

The churning continued. Several objects came out. The celestial elephant, Goddess Lakshmi, etc. etc.,came out.

Lakshmi went straight in to the heart of Lord Vishnu.

The churning continued. Then Dhanvantari, the celestial doctor, appeared from the ocean, holding the pot of Amrita.

Dhanvantari appeared. He had four hands. Two visible, and two invisible. The invisible hands have secret mudras. Meditating on them brings good health. He had a Mala -the Vana Maala. Of the two visible hands, one had the pot of Amrita and the other hand showed Abhaya [Protection]. He is the god of herbs.

Seeing Dhanvantari, both Devathas and Rakshasaas rushed to him. The demons, by virtue of sheer strength overpowered the angels and grabbed the pot away. The dejected angels prayed to Vishnu "O' Swami, come now. We are in distress. You gave us the idea of churning to produce Amrita. You came as a tortoise and ensured that the churning took place. Please come now." Dhanvantari gave the Amrita and disappeared. Vishnu came in the form of a damsel [Mohini]. That damsel was so immensely beautiful. The demons, seeing her, left the Amrita and went to her. She charmed them. The demons became her servants and submitted themselves to her. Attraction or desire is dangerous. One who is lustful has no fear or shyness. It was Vishnu who was Mohini. So you can imagine her beauty. Mohini got the pot of Amrita and promised to share it among the angels and demons. The demons readily agreed. Amrita was given only to the Devatas and the demons did not get it.

Our Antaraatma is the ocean. Viveka is the Mandara mountain. The Praana Vaayu, i.e. our uchchvaasa and Nishshvaasa are the hissing of Vaasuki (the snake). The Dushta Bhavana (evil thought) is Rakshasha and Sadbhaavana (good thought) is the Devata. Vichara charcha, i.e., the process of thinking, is the churning. The answer or reply to our thinking is the Amrita. Constantly thinking about a problem generally gives answers by itself. The Lord will give an answer. The Lord never deprives you of what you deserve. You many times think "He [Lord] has deserted me ". You speak as if he owes you something. He will give you out of compassion. Just because he has compassion, it does not mean that you will get it free. You have to earn it with hard work, good thoughts, good deeds and Satsang. This is said in the Datta Darshana.

Next was Varaha Avatara, where the Lord came as a boar and protected the world from the demon Hiranyaaksha. He andhis brother Hiranya Kashipu were the cursed servants of Vishnu ( Jaya and Vijaya). They were cursed by the saints Sanaka and Sanandana for their arrogant behavior. Hiranyaksha had a son called Prahlada who was a great devotee of Vishnu. His father did not like this. When he questioned the omni presence of Vishnu, Vishnu came out of a pillar as Narasimha,( half lion and half human), and killed the demonic father of Prahlada. The killing was made to meet the demands of the boons.

As Narasimha broke open the pillar and came out, the terrible sound it made terrorised the world. The form of this Avatara is strange. It was so that the boon given to the demon could be bypassed. (Narasimha - Lion form on the top and Human form on the bottom). He caught hold of the demon, dragged him to the door, sat and kept him on His lap and tore open the demon's stomach with his deadly nails. The anger and poison stuck to his nails, which were soothed by Lakshmi by using the juice of Avadumbara leaves. . Prahlada prayed to Narasimha to calm down. He prayed that he be taken away from Samsara. Prahlada later became a great emperror.

Next is Vaamana Avatara. Vamana was the last son of Aditi, the great woman saint. Bali was a great demon emperor. Though a demon, he was a great soul. He performed a great yaga. Vishnu came as Vaamana to the Yaga and asked for alms. Bali who was famous as a donor, readily agreed to give anything. Shukra Acharya, the teacher of Bali apprehended that something was fishy. Vaamana asked for three feet of space. Bali agreed. Vamana had come to give Moksha to Bali. Vaamana grew in size and encompassed the whole world. His first foot covered the world. The second covered the sky and the third was placed on the emperor himself. Bali was sent to the nether world.
Next was Parashurama Avathara. This avathara was taken to destroy the egoistic rulers in the world. He went around the world 21 times and destroyed them andestablished righteousness.
Next was Rama incarnation.

Next was the Avatara of Krishna and Balarama.

There exists a confusion in Avatharaas. That is Buddha Avathara. The Buddha of Buddhism is not the incarnation of Vishnu. He was a great Yogi. That is all. Anybody who wins Buddhi is a Buddha. In the period of Bhagavatha, the demons and Tripurasura were killed by Shiva. They misused their boons. That is why they were killed. Boons should always be used for good ends. If you have Guru mantra, you get merit by chanting it. If you use that merit to harm others, either by thoughts or deeds, you are a demon. Buddha means anyone who instructs others to follow something not acceptable to Dharma. Anything that is a new technique or new method unapproved by the Vedas. It is like asking you to breath through your ears. Then Vishnu came as a Buddha and preached unrighteous methods so that they would comit sins. Yaga, Yajna, Mantras...all these must be put to good use. The Tripurasura demons , though righteous, were doing bad. So the Lord approached the problem with a new idea and came as Buddha and preached to them radical thoughts to make them give up Dharmic activities. You may ask if it is right on th part of the Lord to preach , bad teachings. It is certainly right, if it is for the common good. This is the Buddha Avatara. Not the Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.

Next will be Kalki Avathara when the Lord comes on a horse and ends the world and prepares for the next creation.