DIVINEINFORMATION PART 41
There are 1971 words in this posting counted bythe computer. Approximately 197
sentences
Respected friends,
While going through one of my external memorydevice, I came across some good
information storedfrom websites. I thought of sharing interesting ones from
them as aseries.
In part 41, I am starting with 145TH item in this posting. Kindly note the
series is a compilation.
Sincerely,
Gopala Krishnan 25-6-21
145 Lord Dattatreya
Dattatreya (Datta, son of Atri), who is lookedupon as and Incarnation of
God.Unfortunately, we possess on historical data concerning when or where he
wasborn, how long he lived, or how he arrived at the knowledge disclosed in the
text.Some of the Puranas mention him, and of these, the Markandeya contains
thelongest reference; but even this is legendary and by no means very
informative.
The accountin the Markandeya Purana suggests the following facts of
Dattatreyas’s life: He was born of highly spiritualparents, Atri and Anasuya;
very early in life he become renowned as agreat warrior, and soon, renouncing
the world and devoting himself to thepractice of yoga, heattained to the
highest state of liberation, thus becoming an avadhuta.
Avadhuta means a liberated soul, one who has “passedaway from” or “shaken off”
all worldly attachments and cares and has attained aspiritual state equivalent
to the existence of God.
Throughavadhuta naturally implies renunciation, it includes an additional and
yethigher state which is neither attachment not detachment but beyond both.
Anavadhuta feels no need of observing any rules, either secular or religious.
Heseeks nothing, avoids nothing. He has neither knowledge nor ignorance.
Havingrealized that he is the infinite Self, he lives in the vivid realization.
Tothe Hindu mind, Dattatreya is a symbol of this realization. Whoever the
knowncomposer of the Avadhuta Gita may have been, he must himself have been a
man ofthe highest spiritual perception.
146 VARAHA inthe Vedic Literature
LordVaraha is glorified in virtually all of the major Puranas (the
Vedichistories). In fact, they describe His different descents.
Inthis kalpa (day of Brahma), Varaha appeared twice: The firsttime He appeared
from Brahma's nostril with a white (sveta) complexion.
He saved theEarth after the previous devastation. Hence, He is called
Sveta-Varaha and thiskalpa is named after Him-- theSveta-Varaha-kalpa.
My note- Presentkalpam is swetavarahakalpam. Sathrikals refers to swetha varaha
kalpam during upakarma day.
LaterHe appeared in a dark color from the ocean to save the Earth after she had
beenviolated by the mischievous demon Hiranyaksha. During this
incarnationVaraha reinstated the Earth in her proper orbit and killed the
demonHiranyaksha.
The Varaha of the popular dasavatara("the ten incarnations") refers to Varaha's
second appearance.
Inaddition to the Puranas, references abound in the sruti--the fouroriginal
Vedas. (For those references please see M. Prasad's Someaspects of Varaha-katha
in the epics and Puranas(1989).
However, the most elaborate glorification ofthe Varaha-avatara occurs in the
Srimad Bhagavatam("the Beautiful Book of Bhagavan [God])." This magnificent
work wascomposed by Srila Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa and is the crown jewel of
the Vedicliterature.
In this work Vyasadeva specifically glorifiesthe Lord's transcendental
activities during His numerous descents in thisworld. These narrations
culminate in the description of God's original form asSri Krishna.
Whatfollows are the chapter titles (13-19) from the Srimad Bhagavatam, Third
Canto dealing withVaraha-katha.
13. The Appearanceof Lord Varaha
14. Pregnancy ofDiti in the Evening
15. Description ofthe Kingdom of God
16. The TwoDoorkeepers of Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya, Cursed by the Sages
17. Victory ofHiranyaksha Over All the Directions of the Universe
18. The BattleBetween Lord Boar and the Demon Hiranyaksha
19. The Killing ofHiranyaksha
"Oexpert and thoughtful men, relish the Srimad Bhagavatam, the maturefruit of
the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of SriSukadeva
Gosvami. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, althoughits
nectarean juice, was already relishable for all, including liberatedsouls."
The SrimadBhagavatam is available in English translation and commentary by His
DivineGrace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. SrimadBhagavatam ki Jaya!|
147 Sri Adi-Varaha
This is Deity of Adi-Varaha, probably the oldestone in Mathura. In the
Satya-yuga asage named Kapila gave the Deity to Lord Indra, the demigod in
charge ofrainfall. Lord Indra took the Deity to his residence in the heavenly
planets tobe worshipped. When the kingdom was usurped by Ravana, Indra lost
possession ofthe murti, and Ravana took the Diety with him to his capital of
SriLanka.
After along time Lord Ramachandra came to Lanka and killed Ravana. When
Ravana'sbrother Vibishana was installed on the throne, he offered everything to
Rama,but Rama refused the kingdom. He told Vibhishana, "O Rakshasa Vibishana,
Ishall not have anything to do with all this. Youmay just give Me the Deity
that was taken here from the city of Indra. I shalltake Him to Ayodhya and
worship Him every day."
Vibishana gave Rama the Kapila-Varaha,whom Rama carried to Ayodhya in a flower
airplane.
Heinstalled the Deity at Ayodhya and worshipped Him there for 110 years.
Then,when Shatrughna, Lord Rama's brother, went to Madhupuri (Mathura) to
defeatsome demons, he brought the Deity with him, and Lord Varaha has been
there eversince.
(excerptedfrom Vrndavana Dhama Ki Jaya by Sri Dhruva Maharaja dasa, 1988)
Fordetails on the various Varaha Deity forms, please see Daniel Smith's
VaisnavaIconography, S.K. Ramachandra Rao's Pratima-kosha, and T.GopinathaRao's
Encyclopedia of Hindu Iconography. Adi-Varaha-murtiki Jaya!
147a Varahain the Vishnu Purana
Srimathe Lakshmi Narasimha Parabramhane namaha:
Srimathe vedantha Desika Yathindra desikaya namaha: Srimathe Lakshmi Narasimha
divya paduka sevake srivan shatakopa Sri Narayana Yathindra Maha Desikaya
namahe:
Sri Vishnu Puranam: Section 1: Chapter4:
Parasara Muni: Maitreya! Thisparticular kalpam is called Varaha-Kalpam. Perumal
incarnated as a Varaha (wild boar) to reinstatethis universe at the start of
this kalpam. At the end of pralayam Perumal wakesup from his yoga-nidra (sleep)
and sees the universe submerged in water. Hethem decides to dive into the deep
waters to lift the universe. Perumal whoones took the form of a great fish to
save the vedas from the ocean where therakshasas had hid it, Perumalwho at a
later date took the form of a tortoise and stabilized the Mantharamountain
while churning the ocean for Amritham, that same Perumal now takes theform of a
wild boar to end the suffering of Bhumi-piratthi.
(SrimadBhagavatam mentions that Varahabhagavan emerged from Brahma's nostril).
This Varaham that emergesfrom Brahma grows to a galactic size (maha-varaham). A
form that is so huge,that compared to its size the size of the submerged
universe looks tiny!
Here ourporvacharyas ask an interesting question and point out an important
rahasyam.
Q:What is the need for Perumal(God Vishnu) to take such a huge for?
Lets assumethat a generous person comes to know that a group of bhagavathas
will bevisiting his village. He decides to host them. His generous nature will
impelhim to prepare prasadam for a 100 people even if just a handful finally
showup. Similarly, as soon as Perumal realizes that Bhumi- piratthi needs help,
His"daya" (mercy) impels Him to take a massive form, without evenresearching
the size of the object that needs to be rescued. Our acharyasconclude by saying
that even the cumulative love and affection of a 1000mothers cannot equal the
daya that Perumal has for his children (us jivatmas).
Parasara Muni continues: The body of this Varaha-murthi is verily the vedas and
the yAgas that are enjoined in thevedas. To reinforce the fact that the
universe is sustained by the vedasand the yAgas, Varaha-bhagavan incarnates
with a body made of thevedas. This is why Varaha-murthi is also called
"Yegya-Varaham".
When theSanakadi-muni's in the j~nAnA- loka see this divine form of Perumal
theyeulogize Him thus: "Oh the lotus eyed one! Oh chief among devas! Yourdivine
body personifies all the components of a yAga. Your four feet are thefour
vedas. Your two front teeth, protruding out of your mouth, are
the"yupasthambham" used in the yAgas. Your reddish long toung is thesacred fire
and all your remaining teeth that consume the "purodasum"are verily the main
yAga-Kundam. The hair that sticks out of your body are the"darbha" grass.
Proper kalam (time) that is so critical in yAgas ismaintained by your two eyes.
These represent night and day. Your extended noseis the "srik". You are thus
the "yegna-purushan".
[Srik isthe long wooden ladlelike instrument that is used to scoop ghee and
othermaterials to pour into the yAgam]. Here again our acharyas as trick
questionand point to an interesting fact.
Q:When perumal(God Vishnu) incarnated as a Varaham (wild boar) how were the
sagesin the jnAna-loka able to identify Him as the aadi-purushan (the primeval
one)?
The answerto this question can be found in way the Sanakadi- muni's address
perumal:"Abjalochna" (meaning the lotus eyed). Even after perumal
camouflagedhimself as a wild boar, He was not able to hide his lotus like eyes.
It wasthese pair of beautiful eyes that gave him away! Saga Parasara also
eulogizesVaraha- bhagavan as "Maha-Varaha sputa Padma-lochanaha".
Parasara continues: Maitreya! this divine Varaha-bhagavandives into the ocean
to rescue Bhumi-devi. When piratthi sees perumalapproaching she too salutes Him
as the lotus eyed one: "NamasthePundarikashaha". She goes on to say, "I am
created by you, sustainedby you and have you alone as my final refuge. This is
why I am called Madhavi - the one who belongs toMadhavan. So my dear Lord,
please come and lift me out of this deepwaters". When perumal hears this, as if
in a manner of acceptingBhumi-devi's request, He makes a "gur-gur" type of
noise. This, unlike the rough snort ofan ordinary boar, sounds more like the
chanting of the sama-vedam.This is how sweet and melodious perumal's voice is.
He then grabs Bhumi-devi inbetween his two massive protruding teeth and kicking
the padala-lokam by hishind legs raises swiftly to the surface of the water,
like a huge blackmountain raising out of the ocean. Nammalvar captures this
scene veryeloquently in one of his parurams:
"neelavarai erandu pirai kavvi nemindha dhoppa koolavaraham onedrai nelam
kottidai konda enthai"
When the sages see Varaha-Bhagavan holdingbhu-mandalam and raising out of the
pralayawaters they once again eulogize Him thus: "Oh dear Lord, the
bhu-mandalamthat is caught between your two teeth is like a lotus leaf sticking
to the tuskof a male elephant emerging out of a lotus pond after playfully
wallowing in itfor some time. In reality nothing exists other than you. In fact
the whole universeis your body and you stand as the jnAna-swarupi and sustain
this universe. Thischaracteristics is unique to you. So for the prosperity of
the universe and theinnumerable jivatmas that reside in the universe, please
reinstate the universeto its past status."
Perumal, the one who is ever eager to please Hisdevotees, out of His free will
reinstates the universe as it was before thepralayam.
Govindanama sankirthanam....govinda, gooovindha!
Sidecomment 1: Srimad Bhagavatha mentions that perumal had to fight and kill
ademon by the name Hiranyakshan while bringing bhumi-piratthi from the
ocean.Sri Vishnu Puranam does not elaborate on this.
My note- There is a varaha temple close toTrivandrum city. Because of the
temple the place is called Sree Varaham
I will continue in next posting.
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