LAW OF INCARNATION
THE descent of God or a God-realized saint to earth is called an incarnation. Man's rebirth is known as reincarnation. Man reincarnates to suffer and enjoy his karma; by meditating on the incarnations, who are not bound by karma, man can attain liberation. For God to incarnate, a platform must be prepared and an appeal must be made to the blessed Lord to intervene.
When conditions become so chaotic that none but God can help, He says in the Bhagavad Gita, "whenever there is decline of righteousness and unrighteousness is in ascendance, then I body Myself forth. For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil doers, and for establishing dharma on a firm footing, I am born from age to age."
God's incarnations, though taken mainly to restore dharma by punishing the unrighteous and strengthening the virtuous on earth, have illimitable good consequences in all other lokas as well. For instance, if chaos should take place on "karma bhumi" or the planet earth, then the various hells will be filled and the fire sacrifices, or yagnas, will not be performed and the celestials will not be pleased.
When Creator Brahma projected the universe, He said to mankind, "foster the gods through sacrifice and let the gods foster you. Fostering one another thus, you will attain the highest good. "The supreme Lord is always in the sacrifice, both esoterically and exoterically. Seeing the chaotic conditions in all the lokas which occur because the law is disobeyed on earth, the Lord comes to change the very course of conduct and to show the way for all humanity by reconciling and refining all the customs and systems of thought of a particular age (yuga dharma). An infinite amount of consciousness, wisdom, love, beauty, and power descends with Him. The great yogis, as well as those who come before Him to prepare the platform, recognize such an Avatara.
God's incarnations can be broadly divided into Amshavatara, Vibhutiavatara, Mahatmyavatara, Yugavatara, Amshavatara, Lilavatara and Poornavatara. An Amshavatara is a part manifestation; a Vibhutiavatara is an incarnation of a "glory" or power of God; a Mahatmyavatara is a sudden manifestation of God for a specific purpose and may come in any form or place;
A Yugavatara is one who descends with a
message for a particular age (yuga) or creates a new age; a Mahavatara
is one who gives a completely new interpretation of the scriptures
and whose message is for all times; a Lilavatara is an incarnation
of God in a supraphysical body, human in appearance, but completely
divine; a Poornavatara is an incarnation who is the fullest manifestation
of God. He is the culmination and embodies all the divine characteristics
of the various types of Avataras.
TYPES OF AVATARAS
AMSHAVATARA
Among the endless attributes of God, some of them are manifested in the Amshavatara. He will mainly have tejas (radiance) and ojas (brilliance). Such an Avatara, being a part manifestation of God-as a lake or river is of the ocean-will always turn toward the ocean that is God. Therefore, he will show a great devotion to God and will inspire thousands to also become devoted to God. A lake or river courses toward the ocean because the ocean is the source and goal. Common people who cannot approach the ocean that is God bathe in the river, i.e., the Avatara, for he is approachable, wonderful and comprehensible. Therefore, it is no wonder that thousands see God in such a one. It is natural, too, for other small streamlets to flow into the river so that through it they can easily reach the ocean.
It should not be forgotten that the Amshavatara, or the direct manifestation of God, can divide itself into hundreds of other small parts in various places and can incarnate again and again. For instance, Sage Narada, remaining as a great sage and as the part manifestation of God, sent one of his parts in the form of Sri Purandaradas to spread the glory of God in the world. (And Purandaradas could not only put himself into his disciples, but through his parts could also manifest in many places.)
Thus, the manifestation of a divine quality can be considered as some part or some part's part of the Amshavatara. By meditating upon, imitating and imbibing those qualities, an individual can ascend to spiritual heights, and eventually to Self-realization. Each soul is the spark of the Divine, having always the potentiality to become divine. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita, "The soul in the body is an eternal portion of Myself."
VIBHUTI-AVATARA
Vibhuti means "glory of God."This glory can manifest in man, animals, nature, in all of creation. That which creates awe and wonder and which remains unfathomable or indescribable, we treat as the glory of God. Some such glories are described by Lord Krishna in the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, which is entitled Vibhuti Yoga: "Among the Vedas I am Sama Veda; among gods I am Indra; among the senses I am the mind; I am consciousness in living beings. (Verse 22)
"Among mountains I am Meru. (Verse 23) Among priests know Me to be Brihaspati; among generals I am Skanda; among the seats of water I am the ocean. (Verse 24) Among the great seers I am Bhrigu; among words I am the monosyllabic OM; among sacrifices I am japa yajna; among immovables I am the Himalayas. (Verse 25) Among calculators I am Kala, or time; among quadrupeds I am the lion; among birds I am Garuda. (Verse 30)
"Among rivers I am the Ganges. (Verse 31) Among the mantras I am the Gayatri; among seasons I am spring. (Verse 36) Among the sages I am Vyasa. (Verse 37) I am the ruling power in rulers; I am righteousness in those aspiring for victory. Of secrets I am the custodian in the shape of science. I am the wisdom of the wise. (Verse 38) Every such creature that is glorious, brilliant or powerful, know that to be a manifestation of a spark of My effulgence." (Verse 41)
This description by the Supreme Lord is enough to make us aware of the Vibhuti-avatara, but how difficult it is to actually fathom the meaning of those glories of God! The Lord says that Prahlada is His glory; that Arjuna and Vyasa are His glories; that Garuda (the celestial eagle) and Anantha (the infinite power of God symbolized as a serpent which is holding the whole universe) are His glories. In the Bhagavatam there is a story about a sage who went to Anantha and found the whole earth to be a small grain over one of the hoods of the serpent. When we think about the wisdom of Sage Vyasa, whose many books contain the highest spiritual wisdom, we cannot but worship him as God; this is why Vyasa is identified with Lord Vishnu.
MAHATMYAVATARA
A Mahatmyavatara is a sudden manifestation of God for a specific purpose and can manifest in any form or place. The Vedas were once stolen by a demon named Shankhasura, so Lord Vishnu appeared as a fish in the small sacred vessel of Manu. Seeing its growth, Manu put it into a lake; the next day it covered the lake, so he put it into a river. When it filled the river, he could only ask it to enter into the ocean. The fish, entering into the ocean, destroyed the demon, who was hiding in a conch shell, and brought back the eternal Word, the Vedas. An incarnation of God such as the fish symbolizes the whole scheme of evolution, which in history is the Piscean Age.
The second incarnation of a Mahatmyavatara revealed the supremacy of God when a quarrel ensured between the demons and the celestials. The demons wanted to acquire physical immortality. Using Mount Mandara with all its divine herbs as the churning rod, and Vasuki, the serpent god, as the churning rope, they hoped to produce a nectar by churning the Ocean of Milk. When they put Mount Mandara into the Ocean of Milk, however, the mountain sank. The celestials invoked the Lord to come to their help. Lord Vishnu then took the form of a tortoise and held the mountain over His back until the churning was over. This symbolized the Amphibian Age.
The third Mahatmyavatara of the Lord was a divine boar who came to destroy the demon Hiranyaksha, who was suppressing the earth under the yoke of his demonic rule. The Lord destroyed the demon and restored peace; this symbolizes the Age of Mammals. The fourth Mahatmyavatara was Narasimha, or the man-lion God, the form through which the demon Kashipu was slain for the protection of devotion. Here the human body with the animal head might symbolize the missing link in evolution. The fifth incarnation in this category was Vamana, a divine dwarf, who measured the three worlds by manifesting the mahatmya, or divine power.
In all the above incarnations, the direct intervention of God for the destruction of the wicked, protection of the good and the restoration of dharma, is demonstrated. Esoterically, this teaches us that we need not boast that the human being is the crown of evolution, for all life is sacred, and God is in everything and in everyone. This concept also developed sympathy and compassion toward animals, some of which were deified and worshipped in ancient religions.
YUGAVATARA
A Yugavatara is one who descends with a message for a particular age or one who creates a new age. Some Yugavataras come for a whole yuga, or age, such as the present Kali yuga which extends over 432,000 years. Within this Kali yuga, there are ages which extend over a period of one or two thousand years, and some Yugavataras may come for one of these ages within an Age. Jesus, the Son of God, is an example of a Yugavatara.
A Yugavatara who descends from the bosom of God and enters into a physical vesture is always a divine being. Strictly speaking such a one requires no womb to manifest, but usually descends through a humble, pious couple. Such a descent is called a virgin birth. Possessed with the love and power of God, such an Avatara is recognized as such by highly evolved souls. In modern times Paramahamsa Ramakrishna was recognized as a Yugavatara.
MAHAVATARA
A Mahavatara is an incarnation of cosmic intelligence. His appeal is to the mind whereas the appeal of a Yugavatara is to the heart. A soul who attains infinite consciousness realizes that the world can be redeemed and manifests infinite love and compassion toward all beings. Even after departing from the body, such a soul works for thousands of years through a divine body. In Lord Buddha we find an example of an evolving consciousness which attained infinite consciousness, or enlightenment, and became a door for many souls to attain the same state. Individual consciousness, when it attains super-consciousness, is capable of attaining mukti, or nirvana, but this is the freedom of that individual soul only. A Mahavatara becomes the way for all humanity to attain such awareness.
LILAVATARA
A Lilavatara is God coming in a supraphysical body (aprakrita), human in appearance but completely divine. According to the Bhagavad Gita, the Lilavatara, like any of God's Avataras, comes for the restoration of dharma, and such an Avatara knows the past, present and future of all evolution and of everyone, though no one is capable of fathoming Him in full. Krishna says, "Arjuna, you and I have passed through many births. I know them all while you do not,"and again, "Though unborn and immortal and also the Lord of all beings, I manifest Myself through My own yogamaya, keeping My nature under perfect control."
But without knowing what yogamaya is, we will not be in a position to fully understand what a Lilavatara is. Maya, mahamaya and yogamaya are the three main divisions of the law of maya. They can be translated as the deluding potency, the enlightening potency and the yogic potency of God. Maya, in short, is the power of God. She causes relativity through the trigunas. Through the trigunas, she deludes those who forget the law; as kundalini, she helps those who strive after realization. For God's incarnation she prepares the divine body. Being beyond the trigunas, this body cannot be born in the womb of a mother, although the earthly mother through which God takes His supra-physical body feels as if she is actually carrying an earthly child. It is said that just before the divine birth, God appears before the parents to tell them who they were in their past lives to be privileged to become the earthly parents for the divine descent.
According to the Puranas, among the Trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, it is Lord Vishnu alone who takes incarnation. Among His incarnations, ten are generally acknowledged, although 21 are considered to be Lilavataras, and only Krishna is considered to be a Poornavatara. The story of Sir Rama is an example of the descent of a Lilavatara.
Dasharatha, the ruler of Ayodhya, was born of the solar race. Having no children, he worried that his line might stop. According to the advice of Brahmarishi Vashista, the family priest, Dasharatha performed a great fire sacrifice to beget children. Ravana and Kumbhakarna, two invincible demons, were threatening all the lokas with chaos at that time. Celestials prayed to Lord Vishnu to slay the demons to restore dharma. So, at the will of God, Creator Brahma sent part-manifestations of all the celestials to serve Lord Vishnu, who incarnated through Dasharatha and his wife, Kausalya, as Rama.
Sri Rama assumed a most beautiful dark blue body, worshipped His parents and Guru Vashista, loved His servants, treated His brothers kindly, learned all the scriptures, manifested the highest wisdom, and walked as a perfect man on earth.
POORNAVATARA
A Poornavatara is an incarnation who is the fullest manifestation of God. He is the culmination and embodies all the divine characteristics of the various types of Avataras. Sri Krishna was a Poornavatara.
Vasudeva and Devaki were the earthly parents of Krishna. Before his birth, the Lord of Goloka said to them: "In your past life you were Sage Kashyapa and Aditi, who prayed for a divine child. I promised that I Myself would body forth when the time was ripe. Thus you were sent away and have waited with much suffering; your suffering will come to an end with My descent as your son. Carry Me to the nearby village of Gokula, where Nanda and Yashoda, who were the Vasu couple (guardian deities) in their past lives, have prayed for My lila. Dharma will be restored; the karma of those who surrender and realize Me will be ended; the world will be flooded with supreme love. Age-old tradition will be upheld, misinterpretation of the Vedas will be uprooted, the course of conduct will be specified, demons will be destroyed, and glory will be manifested. There will be a battle between good and evil. I shall side with the good and bring My mighty evolution to decided progress. Connecting the past with the present and leaving a message for the future, I shall return with all of those who have come from My abode. The path to my abode will be shown so that seeking souls can find peace." Speaking thus, the supreme Lord assumed a human form.
Holding the Pandavas as His instruments, Lord Sri Krishna brought in a new age. Never was all that has to be said, said so succinctly as in the immortal Bhagavad Gita, the Song of Lord Krishna. Its essential message is that through service, wisdom, or devotion one can attain freedom. "Remember Me and fight the battle of life," is the admonishment of the Lord of the Universe.
When Krishna was preparing to return to His heavenly abode, Vaikunta, his disciple Uddhava cried, "What will happen to me; what will happen to this earth, bereft of Thy footprints?"
Then the Lord said: "I am prem (divine love) that is in the hearts of everyone. The power of this manifested love, form and wisdom will be cherished, remembered, sung and chanted forever. Do not weep; you can see the Truth within when I am gone and will know that, in reality, I have never left. Take this promise-I shall put Myself into the Bhagavatam, the holy book of Sage Vyasa, and I will manifest as My divine name for the coming dark age. Wherever my pastimes are told, My stories are narrated and My divine name is chanted-there I am. Not in Vaikunta, but where My kirtans (songs) are sung-there I am." With a last embrace and a word of blessing to Uddhava, the One without a second returned to His transcendental abode.
The Bhagavatam reminds us that by reading and talking about God's pastimes, our karma will be reduced to ashes; thereby, the cycle of birth and death is ended, and we attain liberation and immortality.
(Essence of Bhagavad Gita and Bible, p. 39)