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V.Krishnaraj

12/05/2008

                                                               Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950)

4.1: Sri Bhagavan said:

I taught this imperishable yoga to Vivasvat; Vivasvat passed this on to Manu; Manu taught Iksvāku.

This yoga of knowledge passed from the sun god to Manu, from Manu to Iksvāku, father and son lineage. Vivasvān or Vivasvat, the son of Aditi, is the sun god and means “the Brilliant One.” Manu Vaivasvata is Vivasvat's son. Lord Vishnu who came in the form of a fish saved Vivasvata from the Deluge, which is the basis of Vishnu's Matsya Avatāra (Fish incarnation) and Mastya purāna. Does it not remind you of the Deluge and the rescue of Noah, his family, and the animals by God? The words, Manu, the man (the author of the Laws of Manu); and manas, the mind trace their root in the Sanskrit word “man” meaning “to think.” Man is the thinking animal; therefore, the very concept of man came from the Sanskrit word, man  Sanskrit Man = to think, believe, imagine, suppose, conjecture.--Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary page 783.

Manu = father of human race.  Though he is considered the forefather of human race, very many others preceded him.

Matsya Avatara of Vishnu took place for saving Manu, the forefather of humanity, from drowning in the Deluge. Manu, upon the advice of Vishnu in anticipation of the Flood, built a float full of seeds of all plants and the sages. Vishnu came along as a mammoth fish, put him in the cavity of his conch shell and pulled him by his hair; Manu surfed and skimmed on the surface of the Flood waters until it became tranquil and shallow.

Iksvāku, the ruler of Ayodhya, was the founder of the solar dynasty and the cultivator of sugarcane, “IKSU.” I understand that Iksvāku was responsible for improving the sugarcane into a sweeter strain by experimentation and was obviously an expert on plant breeding and genetics. Avatar: incarnation.

4.2: Thus the knowledge, in a succession, came down to the royal sages who knew it and in the great passage of time, this knowledge was lost, O Parantapa (the oppressor of enemies).

Over ages, Avatārs, sages and teachers descend on this earth to rescue and lift humanity from the fallen condition. In the lineage of sages are Buddha, Ramanujacharya, Sankaracharya, Madhawacharya, and Chaitnya Mahaprabhu.

Lalita Vistara says that when Buddha was in Samadhi, a ring ornament of light of knowledge circled above his head.

4.3: I declared that same ancient yoga of knowledge to you, because you are my devotee and friend. This is the supreme secret. 

Lord Krishna, the Supreme Yogi Himself, passes the ancient truths and secrets to his devotee, friend, and relative, Arjuna. Yogis get their revelation by practicing yoga and becoming one with Brahman. Bhakti section in the Supplement explores the nature of relationship between man and God, of man to God, and of God to man.

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami says the following about Vaishnava schools.

"The worship of Vishnu, meaning "pervader," dates back to Vedic times. The Pancharatra and Bhagavata sects were popular prior to 300 bce. Today's five Vaishnava schools emerged in the middle ages, founded by Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Chaitanya. Vaishnavism stresses prapatti, single-pointed surrender to Vishnu, or His ten or more incarnations, called avataras."

The one relationship, that is a fast track to God, is Bhakti (devotion). Certain truths, timeless, immemorial, divine, and immutable passed down from teacher or guru to pupil and so on. Buddha, Ramanujacharya, Sankaracharya, Madhawacharya, and Chaitnya Mahaprabhu were restating the old truths with some variations and interpretations. The gurus do not claim any originality, while declaring the doctrine. Ramanujacharya received a mantra from his guru with a warning not to divulge it to anybody except the worthy ones. Compassionate Ramanujacharya, revealed it to all the assembled people irrespective of their caste or creed, the first chance he had. His guru forgave him eventually for the obvious indiscretion. That mantra is "Om Namo Narāyanaya.” Ramanujacharya said that he would risk going to hell by revealing the mantra against the wishes of his guru, and help many people receive salvation by hearing the Mantra directly from him.

    Qualified Non-dualism = Visishtadvaita

Ramanuja and Sankara agree that Reality is One; for  R the Real has internal complexities (Vishishta, qualified), while S says that Reality is simple. Brahman has three Reals in His Complex (Tattvatraya): Isvara, Cit and Acit. 1. Isvara: The Soul of the Universe, The Transcendent Lord,  (the liberated souls are the Bliss body of the Lord). 2. Cit: a Community of Jivas or individual souls, dependent on Isvara; the subtle body of the Lord. 3. Acit: Prakrti, matter, the Gross body of the Lord. R becomes the strong proponent of Bhakti movement (coming into full fruition) that began with Bhagavad Gita as laid out to Arjuna by Lord Krishna. Vaishnavas regard Ramanuja as the incarnation of Vishvaksena (Vishnu's Commander in chief).

Visishta = distinct, particular, peculiar to . Advaita = non-dual. Visishtadvaita doctrine was first introduced by Yamunacharya (10th Century), also known as Alavandar. Simply put, Visishtadvaita says there is Unity in Diversity. Unity is Brahman and Multiplicity is His Diversity (Cit and Acit).  All diversity or multiplicity subside in and subsume to Brahman. As said earlier, there are Para Brahman (Isvara with attributes), Chit Brahman and Achit Brahman. Everything is Brahman with Isvara being the hypostasis of dependent Chit and Achit. Isvara's body is Chit and Achit and therefore they have an organic relationship with Brahman. Tamil Vaishnavas call Chit Chetanams and Achit Achetanams. A note of caution: Parabrahman of Advaitins (Monist like Sankaracharya) has no attributes while Parabrahman of Vaishnavas has attributes (Kalyana Gunas = auspicious qualities).  Chit = Cit = Chetanam = one endowed with intellect and sentience =  individual souls (We the people).  Achit =Acit = Achetanam = matter = unintelligent and insentient matter.

Tattvatraya: (Sanskrit) [from tattva = reality, essential cosmic element + traya = threefold, triad].  The three primordial elements in the cosmos, according to the Visishtadvaita or modified nondualistic Vedantists are the Logos, its light, and mulaprakriti. Mulaprakriti thus becomes their achit (Acit); the light from the Logos is their chit (Cit); and the Logos itself is their Isvara (supreme lord).

Chit is not independent by any and all means, and absolutely depends on Isvara. Thus Chit forms the subtle body of Isvara.

Isvara is Sariri; body of Isvara is Sarira.

Sarira-Sariri = Body and Isvara (the owner of the individual souls).   Sesa and Seshi = Servitor and Master.

Sarira = the Body of Isvara, being Chit and Achit.

Seshi = God as the Lord of Mankind.

 Prabhupada (BG 18.78 Commentary) says, " Nothing is different from the Supreme. But the Supreme is always different from everything."

Sayings of  Sri Ramakrishna Parama: Sayings 890.  page 241-242.

890. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa puts in a delightfully simple words: Every object is Narayana (God). Man is Narayana, the animal is Narayana, the sage is Narayana, the knave also is Narayana. All that exists is Narayana. The deity (Narayana) sports in various ways. All things are His diverse forms and the manifestations of His glory.

Cosmic Sakti (power) is an aggregate (Samashti) of all Saktis, while kundalini Sakti in a body is the component part of the aggregate, or individual power (Vyashti). Look at the Pomegranate fruit: The whole fruit is an aggregate (Samasthi) of all individual fleshy seeds (Vyasthi).  Vyasthi is Brahman at individual level of the soul. Samasthi is Brahman at Cosmic Scale.

In Hindu religion, Isvara (controller of the universe) is compared to pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum) . The seeds are the individual souls. The whole fruit is an aggregate (Samasthi) of all individual fleshy seeds (Vyasthi) (Each seed is enclosed in red fleshy juicy aril.) Thus the souls form part of the body of Bhagavan.

Ramanuja, bronze sculpture, 12th century; from a Visnu temple in Tanjore district, India: Click the link below.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-31208

According to Saivites, Bindu is the aggregate (Samasthi) of Siva-Sakti, Tattvas, people and personalities, while each individual (Vyasthi) is part of that aggregate. Bindu's prolific energy produces all conceivable things in the universe ranging from blade of grass to Brahma.  Tattva = building blocks of the universe; principles.

pome·gran·ate  (Random House dictionary description.)

Ramanuja (1017-1137) advances his qualified nondualistic philosophy (Vishishtadvaida) that the Universal Soul (Vishnu) and the individual soul (human soul) are identical but not equal. Let my explain this apparent contradiction with an example. Vishnu and liberated souls move as one unit, but there is Vishnu as one entity and the myriad souls as the second entity. (The liberated individual souls form the Bliss Body of Vishnu). Vishnu, the Universal Soul is Heavy Water and the individual souls are light water. Heavy Water and light water are chemically identical but not equal. Heavy Water (D₂O or ²H₂O and light water (H₂O) are chemically same and yet they are different. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen--Heavy Hydrogen.  Heavy and light water look alike, taste alike. Heavy water boils at 101.41 degrees Celsius, while water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. Heavy water is viscous.  The two Hydrogen atoms in light water are replaced by Heavier Deuterium atoms in D₂O. The atomic nucleus of Deuterium has one proton and one neutron and one orbiting electron.  It is the extra neutron that makes D₂O heavier than H₂O by 10%. D₂O and H₂O exist in lake water in a proportion of 1 to 20 million water molecules. The Heavy Water is chemically identical with light water as Vishnu the Universal Soul is identical with the individual soul. When you drink water it is a mixture of both. Your body is soaked in Heavy Soul and light soul. An infinitesimal tad of Heavy Water Vishnu is necessary for you to sustain life. He is called Antaratman (Inner Soul). You are the ubiquitous abundant light-weight individual soul compared to the all-pervasive Heavier Soul of Vishnu. Just remember that Vishnu is zillion times heavier than the individual soul, though Vishnu and the pure soul are identical. Though they are identical, the light-weight individual souls cannot create, maintain or destroy the universe and beings; that is the exclusive domain of Vishnu. There are myriad qualities of Vishnu that we do not have. Salt (Vishnu) is necessary for your health; you need only a dash of it. Pralaya (destruction of the body) by Vishnu through Rudra is recycling of soul, until they merge with him. This merger is the merger of light water of individual souls with heavy water of Vishnu.

During Pralaya (Deluge, dissolution), Bhagavan is portrayed to be floating on a banyan leaf. How is it possible for a Being who has swallowed the whole universe to float on a leaf? That quality is what is called Akadithakatanaa Saamarthiyam --Tamil Lexicon-- («¸Ê¾¸¼É¡º¡Á÷ò¾¢Âõ-- versatile doer of the impossible). It appears that the leaf supports Bhagavan. Is it the leaf that supports Bhagavan? Is it Bhagavan who supports the leaf? It is the former (Bhagavan) supporting the latter. He is the one who supports all the weight of the universe and the leaf itself.  Akaditam = The impossible. Saamarthiyam = adeptness. In modern parlance, it is Mission Impossible.

      Baby Krishna floating on a leaf in the cosmic generative ocean                                                                                              

    Sankara's (born 788 C.E.) interpretation of Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art--That You are.) asserts the identical nature of Brahman (Siva of Saivites, the Vishnu of Vaishnavites, Devi of Saktas) and the individual soul: That and Thou are one. That is unlimited; Thou is limited. When the limitation (UpAdhi) is removed, there is non-difference between That and Thou. Sankara opines that the wave (individual soul) rises and falls into the ocean (The Greater Soul or Brahman) merging with it; thus, the wave is the ocean before it rises and after it falls back into the ocean; that being so, there is no difference between the wave and the ocean; everything is Brahman: it, that, he, I and she. That is Monism: Brahman, beings, and matter are one organism.  Sankara does not hesitate to admit in his praise of Vishnu that he is the little wave and Vishnu is the vast ocean.  We are all little waves rising and falling; we exist for the duration of the wave and merge back into Brahman.

Campbell ( here the mouthpiece of Sankara) explains the oneness of  dream-like universe beautifully in words like dream, It, That, He, I and She.

The following modification is based on Joseph Campbell's view of dream sleep. (Page 70, Myths of Light.)

When you are in dream sleep, all dreams are mental creations like a movie in which you see yourself, others and events. Though there is duality of you on one side (subject) and that, he, she, and it on the other side (object), they are all one because they are your mental creation. It is a dream, a myth, and an illusion that you created. Life likewise is a dream, a myth, and an illusion. The heaven and hell, good and bad, god and soul, I and That, I and He, I and She, I and it are one. The acts in the dream are your acts; the it, that, he, and she are you because there is nobody else; they are all within you; therefore we walk and work in a world of dream, myth and illusion.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says that the soul is tied to a chain in man; when the soul is free from the chain of Maya, the soul is the Lord or Brahman. Adapted from Sayings of Ramakrishna, saying 20 page 27.

    Vaishnavites of Vishistadvaita persuasion give a different flavor and interpretation to Tat Tvam Asi. Tat is the subtle form (Suksma) of Paramatma (Supreme Soul); Tvam is the gross (Sthula) form. Asi means he remains so. Paramatma remains both as Subtle and Gross Forms. Subtle form is when Vishnu contains all (Samastham) in Him --remember baby Krishna having swallowed the whole universe is floating in the causal generative ocean; gross form is when creation proceeds from Him. Thus Paramatma is Suksma Cit-Acit Visishtan (ÝìÌÁ º¢òÐ-«º¢òРŢº¢ð¼ý = Subtle Chit-Achit Supreme controller) during Pralaya (deluge, sublation, destruction = black hole) and Sthula Cit-Acit Visishtan  (Sthula = Gross) in the phenomenal world. He is Satyam, Nityam Anantam and Amutam -- ºòÂõ, ¿¢òÂõ, «Éó¾õ, «Ó¾õ -- (Truth, Eternal, Endless, and Ambrosia) Visishtan = Å¢º¢ð¼ý = The controlling deity; the deity who controls breath.  When the controlling Paramatman is subtle, the universe, souls, and elements are in Him as subtle (not palpable) entities during the Great Deluge (Pralaya or destruction). The universe and beings become Singularity (avyaktam = unmanifest) in Him. When He is in gross form, the creation proceeds from Him at the end of Pralaya and acquires a physical form (the phenomenal world). Cit = intelligent sentient soul; Acit = non-intelligent insentient entity.  Acit = «º¢òÐ.  Cit = º¢òÐ. Reflection on Pralaya, Avyaktam and Srsti (creation), brings to our mind the configuration of the Black Hole, Singularity, and White Hole -- a recent concept of the scientific world.

    Ramanuja  (1017-1137 C.E.) is of the opinion that in their non-duality (non-difference between the Universal Soul and the individual soul) there are subtle differences or modifications (Vishishta). Let me give you a simple example. We all know that identical twins come from one egg and one sperm. The resulting zygote (fertilized egg) splits into two cells; for some unknown reason the two cells separate and become identical twins. The twins are genetically identical (That and Thou are the same).  One twin may be fat and another is not; they are discordant (incongruous) for fat deposit in their body, though they are genetically identical. That is the modification in non-difference (Vishista-advaita). This is yet another interpretation of Tat Tvam Asi.

Caitanya (1485-1533 CE) Acintya-bhedaAbheda.  There are three entities in the universe: Isvara, Cit and Acit (Lord, souls, matter) . Cit and Acit are different and yet non-different from Him. His philosophy finds expansion and elaboration in Acintya Bheda-abheda PrakAsa (inconceivable simultaneous difference-non-difference manifestation).

Essential elements of Acintya Bheda-Abheda, Inconceivable simultaneous difference-non-difference or difference-Oneness.

The write-up is based on Introduction to Brahma Sutra, translation and commentary by Radhakrishnan and other sources.

Lord's potencies are inconceivable (Acintya).  We are one with Him, because we came from His marginal and external (Jiva and Maya) potencies as depicted in the diagram. He gave us the soul,  the body and the world. We are different from Him because we (souls) are atomic (atom = anu = «Ï = extremely minute and limited = individual soul) in nature,  while He is inconceivable, immutable, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. Our soul is a fragment of the fragment of  His Jiva Sakti; our body proceeds from his Maya Sakti.  He is the Eternal Truly Abiding Entity.  He liberates us and gives us Grace. His Knowledge is immeasurable, while ours is derived from His; ours is miniscule and limited. The energy, the metabolism, the electricity, the enzyme systems that we have in our system are infinitesimal energy as compared to His immense energies or potencies. Our energies are limited by our intelligence and our body, while His is unlimited, whole, and immeasurable.

There are nine Prameyas (Inference or proposition) in relation to God.

1) Bhagavan is the highest Reality and a Personal God 2) He is knowable from scriptures only. 3) The universe is real. 4) The difference between god and the soul is real. 5) The dependent individual souls are real and are servants of the Lord. 6) There are five kinds of souls. 7) Liberation is merger with the Lord. 8) Worship is the cause of liberation. 9) There are three sources of knowledge: perception, inference and Scriptures, the last being the most authoritative and reliable.

Chaitanya formulated these principles taking into consideration all the available philosophies of his time, rejected some notions, accepted some and emphasized some in his philosophy so that all principles are commensurate with the Scriptures. Ramanuja says there is one Reality qualified by Cit and Acit. Madhavacharya says that the soul is real, distinct from the Lord. Nimbarka advanced the theory of Jiva being simultaneously different and non-different from the Lord. They all agreed on Bhakti (devotion), Jiva's servitude to the Lord,  Prema, and the tenets of BhagavAn-BhAgavatA-BhAgavatA relationship. Sankara says the universe is a superimposition on Brahman , like a wave in the ocean- the idea the Vaishnavas reject.  Prema = love for Krishna;  BhagavAn = Lord, Krishna, Vishnu; BhAgavatA = devotee. BhagavAn-BhAgavatA-BhAgavatA relationship = The relationship between god and devotee and the relationship between the devotees.

Vaishnavas have five sects: Suddhadvaita (Vallabha), Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja), Dvaitadvaita (Nimbarka), Dvaita (Madhava), Acintya bhedabheda (Chaitanya, Baladeva). Mayavadi philosophers have Sankaracharya as the protagonist of Mayavadi philosophy, whose main thrust is that the world is an illusion and superimposition on Para Brahman or impersonal Brahman. Mayavada Vedanta regard Jiva  (Embodied soul = living being) as Brahman with Upadhi (limitation = body). Brahman is Consciousness without body. There is no independent entity like Jiva apart from Brahman. I coined two terms for Brahman with Upadhi (Avidya Brahman = Brahman with spiritual ignorance or Upadhi Brahman = limited Brahman). Saktas and Vaishnavites do not agree with these concepts about Brahman. In Tamil Nadu, Vaishnavas belong to one of two sects: Vadakalai and Tenkalai. vadakalai_tenkalai.

Kularnava Tantra says that Jiva (embodied soul) is part of Siva enveloped by MAyA. It is like sparks flying off from the Great Fire.

MAyavAdi = Illusion-Proponent, Proponent of doctrine that the world is an illusion.

 There is a philosophical conflict between Mayavadis and the Vaishnavas; the latter have internal differences too. Chaitanya rejects Mayavadi concept of Brahman, the world and the souls. Mayavadis do not accept the existence of deities and claim that man has appended names on the impersonal Brahman (names are Vishnu, Siva, Durga, Kali, Ganesa...) simply because human mind cannot concentrate on formless Brahman; man needs an artifice, a prop, a form or an object for worship or meditation (on impersonal Brahman). Mayavadis imply that the Vaishnavas have cleverly but wrongly morphed Impersonal Brahman to Saguna Brahman or Isvara with names such as Vishnu, Krishna.  Isvara = manifest god; Lord; Master; King.

Chaitanya accepts Madhava's rejection of Mayavadi philosophy, and embracing of Krishna (Personal god, Vishnu, Narayana) as an eternal spiritual Supreme Being.  Ramanuja's devotional service with rejection of Karma and Jnana Yogas (as paths of salvation), and service to BhAgavatAs (devotees) are welcome features for Chaitanya, who also likes the Vishnuswami's Raga Marga ( path of spontaneous love and devotion), exclusive dependence on Krishna, and worship of Radha and Krishna. Chaitanya embraces Nimbarka's highest form of worship of Krishna and Radha, Gopis' love and devotion to Krishna, and Prapatti. Impersonal Brahman worship is a NO, NO among Vaishnavas. There is no such entity as Attributeless Brahman. Brahman always has names, attributes and Kalyana Gunas (auspicious qualities) in Vaishnava view.

Here are the other features of Acintya Bhedabheda. The important thing to remember is that Brahman is Immutable and only His saktis (power) undergo transformation (Parinama). Bhagavan's desire kindles His Acintya Sakti (inconceivable power or potency) to create many universes and planets where jivas can live. His desire does not change Him in any way. Calling Him Formless denies His Spiritual Sakti. He is the Causal Agent; we remain alive by His power; upon physical death, we subside into Him: That Entity is Brahman. His power is inconceivable and He manifests in four ways: Svarupa (His own original Form); Tad Rupa Vaibhava (That Form Superhuman power- His splendors, abodes, incarnations); Jivas (individual souls); Pradhana (material energy).  These four features are compared to the sun: His form is interior of the sun; His Superhuman power is the surface of the sun; the Jivas are the emanating sun's rays; matter is the reflection of the sun as in body of water. The four features exist eternally; Oneness of the Supreme is also eternal; this is the essence of Acintya state of Bhagavan.

The ideas of formless Brahman, superimposition, illusion, the soul being the reflection of Brahman, the Jivas and the material world as the dream world of Brahman are false statements, according to Acintya Bhedabheda.

Here are the salient features of Bhagavan.

1) The Absolute Transcendent  Lord, possessing all Aisvarya (opulences). 2) Madhurya Rupa = Sweetness of Form. 3) Chanting of His name is superior and liberating. 4) Lord's Special quality (Visesa): VAstava Vastu = Truly abiding Entity. 5) The difference between Isvara, Cit and Acit (Lord, Jiva and matter) is that He can create, maintain and destroy, while individual soul cannot do them; Cit and Acit are ever dependent on Him. 6) His powers and qualities are inconceivable. 7) He is all-pervasive and yet atomic and lives in the spiritual heart of beings. 8) He is just and impartial and showers special Grace on His devotees. 9) He is the creator of the universe and beings and yet He is immutable; He is not made of parts, and is whole (Purna); yet He is with parts and potencies. 10) The Lord, His qualities and His name are one. Analogy: The coils of snake (parts and attributes) are not different from the whole snake (Sesa). The light and the substratum of light, the sun are One. Likewise, the knowledge and the substratum of knowledge are One. 11) Bhagavan has no internal differences. 12) He is not a coalescent whole of disparate and different qualities as a tree is a coalescent whole of leaves, flowers, fruits, branches, trunk and root. 13) He is a homogeneous essence; each of his qualities are not parts but identical with Him, perfect, full and immutable. 14) All his Saktis as listed below. His Cit Sakti (Pure Consciousness) has three parts: Jnana Sakti (Supreme knowledge), Ichcha Sakti (Desire to create...), Kriya Sakti (Action). Our consciousness and knowledge is an infinitesimal tad of His Jnana Sakti.  (We also have Jnana, Ichcha and Kriya Saktis in minute quantities.)  Cit Sakti, Svarupa Sakti, Antaranga Sakti, ParA sakti are synonyms.  Svarupa = own form.  Cit Sakti is Consciousness; it is Spirit and and anti-matter; it is His Internal potency (Antaranga Sakti); it is superior to His external and marginal potencies, it is called ParA sakti (Supreme power). His marginal potency (Jiva Sakti) is the origin of souls; His external Maya Sakti is the origin of the building blocks of the universe, manifestation of Time.  Jiva Sakti is not part of Cit Sakti or Maya Sakti, though they all abut as in the diagram. Jiva Sakti is Tatastha Sakti. Tata = shore or bank. Stha = situated. It is situated on a bank (neither in the river or the ocean nor on the land) meaning it is neither in the Cit Sakti nor in the Maya Sakti.  When it leans away from Cit Sakti, it is ready to generate souls which take (derive) the body from Maya Sakti.  Thus Marginal Jiva Sakti and External Maya Sakti are the origin of souls and the universe in all their manifestations and phenomena.

15) Parasakti is the efficient cause of the universe and not subject to change. AparA Sakti (AKA Jiva Sakti)  is the origin of souls. Avidya Sakti or Maya Sakti is the origin of matter (and body). Jiva Sakti and Maya Sakti undergo Parinama or transformation only as far as the powers go; He remains unchanged. 16) Maya Sakti's three gunas undergo agitation and evolution from the glance of the Lord. 17) The world He creates is real. 18) During dissolution, there is retrograde involution of matter and souls into Him.  Jiva (soul) Sakti and Maya (body) Sakti: For didactic purposes let us compare these two powers to Electricity. Electricity transforms into motion in a fan. Electricity transforms into light in a bulb.

 Let us now consider Brahman (Isvara, Bhagavan, Lord), the soul (Cit) and the matter (Acit). Matter is non-different from the Lord; but the Lord's energies are many and each one manifests in many different ways. Another example. Electricity is the energy; in toaster oven, it heats up the wire; in blender, the energy whirls the blades; in the light bulb it emits light. One energy and many manifestations or modifications: that is Bheda-abheda (difference-non-difference). The soul and the world are identical with and yet different from Isvara (God).  Isvara is the Supersoul.  What the Supersoul sees, is what you see. His seeing is primary and your seeing is secondary. Isvara is the Cameraman and you are the camera. What the camera sees is what you see. You (the individual soul) can interpret the image as the camera but not as Cameraman.  The Cameraman (God) interprets the image better than you (camera) do.  That is difference-non-difference.  The non-difference between Isvara and the soul is that both are made of the same constitution; the former is an eternal blazing fire and the latter is a short-lived spark.  The difference is that He owns, surveys, purveys and parlays His external Illusory Energy (Bahiranga Maya) to exercise  control over the individual soul. What is External Illusory energy?

Bahiranga = Bahir + Anga = external, unessential + part, limb.

mAya =  (source of) visible universe. illusion.

Bahiranga MAyA is an external illusory energy of Bhagavan and NOT His Internal immutable Cit Energy (Superconsciousness and Supreme Knowledge).  Since Maya creates illusion and the world of mutable matter (visible universe), Bhagavan of Pure Superconsciousness cannot have that energy as part of His Internal constitution. The matter and the worlds emanate from the sweat pores of his body and become the visible universe (Causal Vishnu BG10) .  The embodied soul derives essentially two items from Bhagavan: one is the soul in minute amount from His Jiva Sakti and the second is the body emanating from His Maya.  Body is visible to human eye and soul is not, so man thinks he is made of body and not of soul. This ignorance (avidya) is illusion, a false notion derived from Maya.  This is the false principle of WYSIWYG. When one overcomes ignorance and sees beyond material illusory Maya, he comes to know that he is the soul and the body is only a sheath covering the soul. What is more important, the wrappings or the content of a package? (The soul changes the body after each physical death and subsequent birth until the soul reunites with Bhagavan; the analogy given is the soul is like a man changing his shirt (body) as often as necessary.) When he realizes this,  he is free to merge with His Source, the SuperSoul of the universe. The shirtless soul is fit for merger. The bodiless soul is fit for merger. That is why the Vaishnavas go into the Vaishnava temple without a shirt. Shirtless state is a mark of  humility, sign of respect to Bhagavan, dependency on Bhagavan and a sign of purity before you come before Bhagavan. Also it means that he wants to shed the body and merge the pure soul with Bhagavan. (Woman keeps her upper garment in the temple for obvious reasons.) See the shirtless image (absent upper garment) of Ramanuja. Not all temples follow this code. Shirt = body, Ego, Mineness, Independence, arrogance, wealth, self-importance, possessiveness. One goes before Bhagavan saying that he is a destitute, Bhagavan is the only Savior and he needs refuge at His feet.

lose your shirt US INFORMAL
to lose a lot of money, especially as a result of a bet.

stuffed shirt noun [C] INFORMAL DISAPPROVING
someone who behaves in a very formal and old-fashioned way and thinks that they are very important.

would give you the shirt off their back informal

if someone would give you the shirt off their back, they are extremely generous. John's not well off, but he'd give you the shirt off his back.

Maya has two meanings: Illusion and the progenitor of matter (earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, buddhi, ego, gunas, 14 planetary systems, gross body, subtle body... Maya is NOT His supreme power (His Apara Sakti)  and characterized as His external power (bahiranga Sakti). It is like a shadow at sunset, long and far away from Him and yet follows Him doggedly.

    Narayana (Isvara) created matter, the gross body of the Lord; the universe is his body. One cannot put the chemicals and water together and create the body. Another example. The catalytic converter in the car has the catalyst (Platinum and palladium) which converts unburned hydrocarbons into harmless carbon dioxide and water, carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide into nitrogen and oxygen. Narayana is That Catalyst. Vedic Hymns call the catalyst Isvara's Glance. Without his glance, Tattvas, chemicals and water cannot come together to make a living being. This also supports the theory of inconceivable difference-non-difference.  Man has not put the chemicals together and created a living being as of now. 

    Where is the Lord's Glance in Cloning?

    Now let us take the example of cloning of the dog by the South Korean scientists. Cloning a dog is difficult because no one can predict when a dog ovulates; it ovulates once or twice a year; no one has found a way to induce ovulation in a dog; the ovum coming out of the dog's ovary is immature and stays in the oviduct to mature; the scientists have to extract the mature ovum from the oviduct of the dog by surgery; they have to remove the native genes of the extracted ovum, replace them with the nucleus from the skin cells from the ear of another dog, and place the new partially iatrogenic ovum into the oviduct of the dog hoping it will become an embryo, move out of the oviduct, plant itself in the uterus and survive; they had only four hours from extraction from the oviduct to introduction into the oviduct.  They used one dog as a ovum donor and a second dog as ovum recipient. They succeeded after 123 dogs, some discomfort to the dogs, three pregnancies, one miscarriage, one respiratory distress syndrome, millions of dollars, and a lot of lab time and effort ending in one live dog. The funny thing is the dogs did not have a clue what happened to them. On top of it, none of the dogs consciously asked the scientists for a puppy. They only act on their biological urge and not on need for a puppy. Has any dog felt the need for a puppy and thus engaged in coition for that express purpose? Hormone-induced sexual urge is the primary and the only impeller of a dog and sexual intercourse as an  essential tool to make a puppy does not enter the imagination of a dog. The dog never connects coition and a puppy in its mind. The estimate is $1,000,000 per dog if some body wants cloning done. It was dog work for the scientists to come this far, while it is only a Glance for the Lord. They chose Afghans because they are sweet, affectionate, dumb and aloof according to dog lovers.  Yes, it took many generations of breeding to make them dumb because dumb is likable.

    All this is a prelude to human cloning. There are so many self-loving millionaires and billionaires who would like to clone themselves, give a shot and make a claim for immortality. There are some who would like to clone their children. Soon there will be a bank to store genetic material for use in human cloning. Where is God in all this? What is his place? Is he a passive onlooker in all this human endeavor? What would you say to Bhagavatam which says that all the ingredients of a life (human) came together, wanted to create a human but could not, until Isvara cast a glance at which time life animates the ingredients, which become a palpable breathing reality?

    Let us take the mechanics of cloning. An egg is necessary for human cloning, which the scientists have not made out of off-the-shelf chemicals. They remove the nucleus from the ovum and leave the rest inside; obviously whatever is left inside is necessary to sustain the introduced donated new nucleus and make it become an embryo. Scientists don't know what an ovum minus its nucleus is. So far they haven't taken the job of God. It appears so far that they needed 123 dogs, millions of dollars and a lot of invasive procedures to get one little Snuppy.  God is still in charge.

11/2007 notes: Scientists have succeeded to coax the skin cells (reprogramming) behave like embryonic cells. We need a cell that undergoes a rapid turnover: skin cells, bone marrow cells, intestinal lumen crypt cells. Skin cells are easy of access. Remember we shed skin (Keratin layer) every day; that is Keratinocyte stem cells migrating from its nidus, the germinal layer differentiating into prickle cells, granular cells, lucidum cells, corneum cells and last dead keratin cells that our body is covered with. It is because of keratin layer that we do not become soggy and boggy, when we take a shower or sweat. Stem cells live in the midst of some cells that secrete a substance to keep the stem cells alive. The Keratinocyte Stem cell is already a differentiated cell (terminal cell) because it is not totipotent and can make only  those cells that I mentioned earlier. Keratinocyte stem cell cannot become the Insulin-secreting Beta cells of the pancreas.  You have to reprogram the Keratinocyte stem cell to go backwards to the original Totipotent Stem Cell. How do you do that? The human egg has growth factors that can help produce the stem cells. So the scientists have to introduce factors similar to them into the skin cell. You know a virus can sneak into a cell, so you employ a virus to carry (one or more of the six) genes (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, Lin28, C-Myc, Klf4 ) necessary to coax the cell nucleus make stem cells. That virus is called a vector. The scientists knew the programming genes from mouse cell experiments. The problem with this is that the scientists have to find a way to silence these four genes after the totipotent stem cells are produced, because they worry they may cause, God forbid, cancer or some such thing. It is a Totipotent stem cell growth factor, which is only a hair-breadth away from making a cell cancerous. Once the Stem cells are harvested, the future is to transform the totipotent stem cells into 1) Dopamine-producing cells to treat Parkinson's disease, 2) insulin-secreting Beta cells of Pancreas to treat diabetics, 3) a host of other cells like cardiac muscle, spinal cord neural cells... This is called Stem Cell Therapy. There are 220 types of human cells in the body. These induced cells will play a critical role in repair of the body cells. At present donor organ transplantation  is fraught with rejection, and adverse outcomes from administration of immune modulators. These stem cells are the answer. This procedures takes the case out of controversy and all people of all persuasions agree on this. This is man's struggle to understand nature and god (Achit and Isvara to help embodied Chit).

    Since He is matter and all its manifestations, matter is non-different from Him. And yet all that you see in the universe is the effect of His external energy (bahiranga Māyā) and different from His Internal Potency (atma-maya). This is difference-non-difference.

  When you dream, you react to the events in the dream; if it amounts to a nightmare, you awaken in fright and know that it is not real. You remember the dream vividly and the effects show on you by way of sweating, palpitation, fright. This universe is a dreamlike creation of Isvara. This is the Monistic view. He, being the Supersoul,  is not affected by the nightmarish events that take place in this universe. He is part and parcel of everything and yet apart from all of them.  That is difference-non-difference.   Acintya philosophers believe that this world is real and not a dream; the world is dreamlike.

4.4: Arjuna said:

Your birth was later and Vivasvat's birth was earlier. Then how am I to know that you declared this to him in the beginning?

Arjuna is questioning the validity and veracity of Krishna's words. It is not uncommon for the devotees of the Lord or Goddess to question the veracity of god's words and actions. An example is cited here of Kamalakanta (born in 1773 in Bengal), devotee of Kali, questioning Her. It is not considered as insolence in Hindu religion to challenge God; it is a joust in love and devotion.

O Mother, You are full of Bliss! You are the enchantress of Siva. You dance in a delirious joy, clapping your hands. You are eternal and the First Cause. You are clothed in space (naked). You wear your moon on your eyebrow. Where did you find a garland of severed heads, before you made the universe?

The question is valid. Soon Kamalakanta changes his tune, challenge, and questioning stance and says, "What I say is berating but I say it in fondness for you. You are a confounder."

Arjuna and Krishna lived in the 28th Kali Yuga; Krishna lived also as Sun 28 Chatur Yugas before his incarnation.

4.5: Sri Bhagavan said:

You and I had many births before this birth, O Parantapa, and you do not remember them, while I do remember them all.

4.6: Though I am unborn, imperishable and the Lord of beings Isvarah, and am steady in my own nature, I myself come into being by My own māyā power.

Ātma-māyāyā: Māyā power.

When Krishna descends, he descends on His own free will; He incarnates with no dilution of his efficacy, without the stain of karma, and with kalyanagunas--auspicious qualities. Advaitins regard incarnation as a divine phenomenon. To Ramanujah, Krishna Avatar was real. When we say that God descended (incarnation) to this earth, it is God's mysterious yoga-māyā power.

Nobody questions the reason he made his avatār possible. His power is absolute, and incomprehensible to us human beings. Taking a human body for God from His pristine and perfect state is an imperfection and a steep descent. However, is it an imperfection or a steep descent? How could He diminish Himself? A descent is a transfer of amsa (fragment) of supernatural Himself, without any diluting effect. That amsa, that particle, is only one-millionth part of Him according to the Puranas. Such is His greatness: He did not diminish himself and there is no descent; It is a play activity; it is māyā. He becomes transitory by the power of his own prakrti in this world of impermanence through his divine power of illusive transformation in the spirit of childlike play activity. All this is mysterious Divine yoga-māyā power. Krishna says the gunas came out of Prakrti. He is not in the gunas (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas), but they are in Him. If He is not in the gunas, there is no way that we could know Him by the power of those gunas, which we received from prakrti (matter). Man has to go beyond and transcend the gunas to know and become one with Him. There is a higher intuitive non-dialectical intellect and these gunas are an obstacle or an impediment to realization, for their utility is only for an ordinary mundane existence or life. He is the creator of gunas, a limiting factor, and a hurdle for a yogi: That is māyā, which is illusion. According to Jayakhya Samhita, Narāyana, the Supreme God comes down to earth in the form of a human being out of compassion, uplifts humanity from ignorance, and offers help in the form of sacred texts. Lord Vishnu picks a select group of human beings and breathes into them special powers so they can fulfill their role as saints, sages, and gurus, in spreading spiritual knowledge and give words of wisdom to all of us. God owns that special mystic power in its full spectrum and glory; He reveals a little of that mystic power to people like Einstein and Gandhi.

Isvarah: According to Visistadvaida, there is Isvara and prakara, the latter consisting of Chit and Achit (Cit and Acit). Prakara is Isvara’s manifestation of Himself in the visible universe: Chit is sentient consisting of all living units (including plants), both conscious and self-conscious; Achit is matter. The doctrine of Ramanuja considers Chit and Achit as the body of Isvara the third entity and consequently one with Him. What is the relationship between the world and Him? They are His body. He is the Antaratman (Inner Soul, Paramatman).  The individual soul is the driving force for the body, though Paramatman drives the individual soul. So the individual soul is part of His body.  In essence he pervades matter, the individual souls, and their bodies. To expand on this further, every atom has jiva or soul and is the saria (body) of that jiva it ensconces, while every jiva in its turn the body of Paramatman, who pervades every jiva and atom of matter.

All without exception are integral part of Paramatman: Sariira-Sariiri bhavam (Sariira-Atma bhavam = Body-Soul relationship). Chit and Achit do not exist without Isvara or Brahman; these three are in inseparable union.  Chit = sentient, Jiva; Achit = insentient and lifeless matter

Ramanuja's verse that depicts the essence of Vaishnavism, PratAna Pratitantram (Important opinion or doctrine)

Asesha Chit achit Vastu Seshine Sesa Saayine |

Nirmala ananta Kalyaana Nidhaye Vishnave Namaha ||

Meaning:

All the intelligent the unintelligent (the matter) articles ownership Sesa serpent reclining|

 purity infinity auspiciousness keeps to Vishnu salutation and surrender||

This verse is the keystone of Vishistadvaida edifice and Sri Vaishnava philosophy of Ramanuja. 

Meaning and purport: He is the owner, controller and inner dweller of all the intelligent, the unintelligent and matter. He reclines on the Sesa Serpent. He is purity, infinity and auspiciousness. Salutation and surrender to Vishnu, the all-pervasive Paramatman. the intelligent, the unintelligent = the sentient, the insentient and lifeless matter.  All are eternally and inseparably integral and subject to Him and exist for His purpose. Brahman is the Supersoul (Universal Soul, Over-Soul, World Soul) and Body of the universe of beings and matter. Though Brahman is the controller, Inner Soul, and Inner dweller (Isvavra, Antaratman, Antaryami- ®ŠÅá, «ó¾Ã¡òÁý, «ó¾÷¡Á¢) of one and all, He is not contaminated or affected by the impurities of the dwelling.

If you are good, you are good; if you are bad, you are bad; the Inner Dweller is not affected by your qualities; He remains pristine. He remains like the Diamond in the dirt or in a delightful exhibit; He is Diamond wherever He may be.

In vishistadvaida, there is an additional element, Atmathvaidam (¬òÁ¡ò¨Å¾õ). What it means is that if you see one soul (¬òÁ¡), you don’t have to look at another soul. (You see one, you have seen them all.) They are all alike. Bhagavan remains as Antaryami in all the souls. It also means that all beings have two souls, one the individual soul and the second the Bhagavan the Inner Abiding Soul). If you see your neighbor, you are seeing yourself; he is a true reflection of you. All souls and the Universal Soul are all alike in all beings in a Hall of Mirrors.

Sesa serpent reclining =  Vishnu reclining on the Cosmic Serpent. Sesa means remainder.  Remainder is what was left after the world came out of the primordial waters. It also stands to mean the remains of the universe after destruction. Sesa emerged from dying Balarama, the older brother of Krishna and is the theriomorphic form of Vishnu. His fiery exhalations and KalAkula poison burn the world and the ashes dissolve in the waters indicating reversal to the undifferentiated state of the universe from which a new universe will emerge.  After this universal conflagration, the surviving entities are Vishnu and Sesa, upon which Vishnu reclines. The coils represent the endless cycle of Time.

auspiciousness: Supernal Vishnu is endowed with Kalyana gunas: Sat (Reality), Jnana (Supreme knowledge), Ananta (Infinity), Amalatva (Purity - lack of impurity), Ananda (Supreme Bliss).

Below is a depiction of a nearly abstract triune form of Krishna (Jagannatha = Master of the universe): a divine caricature or cartoon depiction of the three siblings, white Balarama, black Krishna and their sister Subhadra in the middle.

View from the West

The West points out that Krishna and Balarama were historical figures. The Yadhava prince Krishna, the Pandavas, the Kauravas and Jarasandha may not have been Aryans. Apotheosis of Krishna is NOT UNLIKE (like) the divinity of Christ; it is based on faith in Hinduism and Christianity. Heimann suggests that Krishna was probably an ancient god of cattle. --page 151, Harpers Dictionary of Hinduism.

Ramanuja calls the creative force as intelligent principle, also known as superconsciousness.  During dissolution, the events of creation  go in the reverse direction, and the prakrit  merges with the Brahman. The series of intermediate substances between  Prakrti and the manifested world at each end are  reversible and reproducible. Ramanuja feels that  the manifested world evolved from out of Brahman as the spider issues forth (exudes) the web from its body.  That is the creative part.  According to Brahmasamhita Text 13, the universe and the beings exude out of the porous body of the Lord.  When the spider reabsorbs the thread it is  involution or dissolution.  Thus Brahman is the efficient (instrumental) and material cause of this universe.  This universe and the life-monads are like the leaves on the tree.  It is like saying that the tree of an  universe is firmly anchored in Brahman by its roots.  The leaves (souls) do not have a separate existence.  

Matter:  It is like hair growing out of His body.  It is like saying that the insentient hair of an  insentient universe is projecting from a living body of Isvara. Author's note: To use a common idiom, Brahman (Isvara) says" That is my baby"  meaning the universe and the life-monads are His baby.  The only difference is that this baby is ever connected to Brahman by the umbilical cord  until dissolution, when the baby is reabsorbed.  The Puranas substantiate this story as follows with some modification. During and after the Great Deluge, Vishnu was floating in the water, he willed  and sprouted a lotus stalk from his navel  and created Brahma (see the painting above). Brahma sitting on the lotus was asked to create the gods, sages, the universe and all living beings. It is not like the potter who  takes the clay and makes the pot.  Clay is not part of himself, but external to the potter.  Author's note: To elaborate and illustrate, just imagine that  Brahman [through His Divine Surrogate Brahma]  is the potter, the clay, the potter's wheel, necessary  paraphernalia  and the pot.  He is all in One and Omnipotent.  

Ramanuja elucidates  the motive, the action and the result of Brahman's creation of this universe. He reasons as follows.  Motive could benefit the Doer Himself or others. Since the world is full of such evils like birth, death, old age, sickness and misery, why would He not create something new devoid of all these maladies?  (Author: When you get a rose, you get a rose with thorny stem.)   Ramanuja feels that this is all mere play activity - Lila / leela of Brahman.  This universe is his playground.  The motive is to amuse Himself.  His action is willing the evolution  and dissolution of prakrti.  The result is that this universe is here  for Brahman to play in, between creation and dissolution. Vedas assert that the Lord’s will and desire rise resulting in creation. He willed that He becomes many. He wanted to create beings. This will of God is called Māya. Māya power is personified as a female and is called Māya (considered as Durga, sister of Vishnu or Krishna). In this world of tears, there is a serious business of soul making. Eventually these souls go to Brahman and attain bliss.  Bhagavatam says that this female principle, Māya, is coeval with the Lord. The Lord is the three-fold cause (Trividha-kārana) of this universe: material (upādāna), instrumental or efficient (nimitta) and inductive (sahakāri = Saha+kāri = powerful, stimulating, inductive + Doer).

Isvarah or Narāyana (Vishnu) created four-faced Brahma who created Samkara (Rudra-Siva). Now we have the Hindu holy trinity: Vishnu, Brahma, and Samkara. Narāyana has not only created God Brahma, but also all the other gods and deities.  The diagram and flow chart depicts Mahavishnu is mostly imperceptible and slightly perceptible to us. His visible spectrum is immense, made of  zillion universes and beings. The visible spectrum projects the universe, gods, beings, Tattvas (building blocks) of the universe.... His Consorts (His Saktis or powers) and He are responsible for these emanations, derivatives and tattvas (building blocks).  All entities in the universe have three qualities: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas in different proportions. Translation is approximate: Virtue and goodness; motion and passion; darkness, sloth and slumber. Let me give you an example. Water is Sattva; steam is Rajas, Ice cube is Tamas. Narayana and His consort Sri give rise to gods; Narayana and Bhu, motor and sensory organs, mind...; Narayana and Nila, building blocks of the universe, the Great Elements, Tanmatras, inanimate elements. As you see, Narayana is the essential ingredient in this combinations.

Saiva Siddhantists have a different outlook on the soul, its body, its impurities (Mum-malam = ÓõÁÄõ), the ripening and falling of impurities (Malaparipakam-ÁÄÀ¡¢À¡¸õ), good and bad Karmas coming to Null status (Iruvinai oppu-þÕÅ¢¨É¦Â¡ôÒ), descent of grace into the soul (Saktinipatam-ºì¾¢¿¢À¡¾õ), and merger (odukkam--´Îì¸õ). Primer in Saiva Siddhanta,   Sivam,  The soul according to Saiva Siddhanta

Mum-malam = ÓõÁÄõ;  malaparipakam = ÁÄÀ¡¢À¡¸õ;  Iruvinaiyoppu = þÕÅ¢¨É¦Â¡ôÒ; SakthinipAtham = ºì¾¢¿¢À¡¾õ.

Now coming down to earth plane, Swami Vivekananda said:  Krishna is the most rounded man I know of, wonderfully developed equally in brain, and heart, and hand. He is a gentleman, a warrior, a minister, a scholar, and a poet with exquisite language. His perfect sanity.... No cobwebs in his brain, no superstition... He knows the use of everything; He had the greatest calmness and peace amid intense activity. With the missiles flying all around him, he goes on discussing the problem of life and death in a calm and sedate manner. Vivekananda makes you believe for a fleeting moment that Krishna is human: That is māyā or illusion.

4.7: Whenever and wherever there is decline of dharma (righteousness), and a rise of adharma (unrighteousness), then I send forth Myself.

Dharma is not just righteousness; dharma is to dhri, meaning to sustain or preserve; therefore, dharma is sustainer of this universe. (At the cosmic level the law is Rta or Rtam; Sanskrit Rta, English Right, Persian arta, and Latin ritus are cognate.) The Lord is the Supreme Sustainer of the universe; therefore, He descends when there is a descent in dharma. Dharma is the law for the evolution of the universe; this is Pravrtti, continuation, motion or forward movement; this is unfolding of tattvas (building blocks) and a centrifugal movement away from the Great Soul. By observing dharma, evolutionary unfolding is reversed by involution by which the individual soul finds its way back to Godhead.  This is Nivrtti, cessation of forward movement, retrograde or centripetal movement of Jiva towards the source, the Great World Soul. Practicing dharma is to sync with the laws of universe.  Pravrtti (evolution) is moving forward to a life on earth.  Nvirrti (involution) is beating the path back to Godhead. The soul is the traveler in this dual act. Pravrtti is descent of the soul; Nvirrti is ascent of the soul. In Pravrtti, the soul is contaminated; in Nvirrti the soul is pure. The soul that is not completely pure will be recycled in a body of a human, animal, plant, worm again and again until it becomes pure to beat a path of Nvirrti and merge with the Supernal Supersoul. The purification process can happen only in a human being and not an animal. Man born as animal in this birth will have to be born again as a human to pick up that purification process. Man is nearer to God than an animal, though Hindu mythology believes that animals attain salvation under exceptional circumstances.

There is historical proof that an Avatār, a Saint, a Guru, or a teacher appears in this world, whenever there is adharma in this world. When the balance between good and evil or righteousness and unrighteousness weighs heavily towards evil, disruptive, and ungodly side, the Lord becomes an Avatar: Lord Krishna descends into the world as an Avatār to correct the unrighteousness, and save the human race.

Adharma is the personification of injustice, unrighteousness and vice; therefore, Himsa (violence or injury) is personification of Adharma's wife. What an apt couple!  Vishnu Purana states they beget children true to their character: Anrta (falsehood) and Nikrti (immorality). They intermarry and beget two sons Bhaya (Fear) and Naraka (Hell) and twin girls Maya (deceit) and Vedana (torture); the girls marry their brothers; Bhaya and Maya had one son Mrtyu (Death); Naraka and Vedana (siblings) have a son , Duhkha (pain). The children of Mrtyu are Vyadhi (disease), Jata (Decay), Soka (Sorrow), Trishna (Greediness) and Krodha (Wrath). The incestuous progeny comes to an end. It is worthwhile to know that Vishnu has in Him all the qualities; the above members of the pedigree are the terrific forms of Bhagavan Vishnu. Nothing good or bad happens in this world without his knowledge. Virtue and evil are two sides of a  person; which one dominates determines the character of the person or the world.

Let us take the latest incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Before Buddha appeared in the world as an avatar of Vishnu, materialism was rampant in India, which, in those days, was that of an unrestrained enjoyment of senses, widespread public drunkenness, and bubbling godless Epicureanism. They had no use for God, soul, heaven, or hell. They laughed at and ridiculed the priests, and there existed an alarming decline in the spiritual life of people, which consisted of "Eat-drink-and-be-happy." There was a widespread abrogation of social contracts and evil in the land. Then came Buddha; he did not teach any God to anybody, but he brought the Vedanta to the people's attention. That brought about a rapid conversion of Indian masses to Buddhism; and as a reaction to Buddhism, the Gods and Goddesses enjoyed a new life in man's consciousness and Sanātana dharma came back to life. Sanātana dharma means “Eternal established order” according to Sanskrit dictionary and is the proper name for Hinduism. The Greeks (Alexander) called them as the people living east of Sindhu (Indus River); Greeks of that age dropped the S and called the River, Indu. Then came along the Afghans and the Persians; The Parsees came along and in their language S becomes H (think of the difference in pronunciation of Joseph and Josè); Sindhu became Indu and later Hindu. The versatile tongue and languages of India have nothing to do with the term Hindu.

 Buddhism did not take hold in India because it had no roots in Upanishads. Then Hinduism’s revival came and Buddhism almost died in India, but other countries embraced it. The Buddha was the first to induct female Bikshus (also Bikku or monk), though he had an inkling that the monks of both genders might consort with each other. This had been the case that started the decline of Buddhism in South India, as recorded by historians. Buddhism allows eating of flesh as long as the eater does not butcher the animal; there are some who find fault with that idea.  Sankara and Ramanuja hastened the decline of Buddhism by their mere words, philosophy and arguments. In olden days, religious leaders settled scores by public discussion and disputation. That was serious business. Kings and their subjects changed religion and joined the winner.  If it is not for Sankara's and Ramanuja's efforts, there would not have been re-conversion of people back to Hinduism. South India and possibly the rest of the country would have stayed in Buddhist and Jain camps. Buddhism and Jainism have their own glorious heritage and merit, though they succumbed to superior dialectic prowess of Sankara, Ramanuja, Alwars and Nayanars. In many ways the native-born Buddhism and Jainism contributed to Hinduism's rise to a higher plane of civilized behavior: Ahimsa, lessening of animal sacrifice, suspension of horse sacrifice....

The View from the West about The Buddha as told in Myths and Legends of India by Donald A. Mackenzie

130 INDIAN MYTH AND LEGEND

Vishnu's Buddha Avatara was assumed, according to orthodox teaching, to bring about the destruction of demons and wicked men who refused to acknowledge the inspiration of the Vedas and the existence of deities, and were opposed to the caste system. This attitude was assumed by the Brahmans because Buddhism was a serious lay revolt against Brahmanical doctrines and ceremonial practices.

Buddha, " the Enlightened ", was Prince Siddartha of the royal family Gautama, which, as elsewhere told, ruled over a Sakya tribe. At his birth marvelous signs foretold his greatness. Reared in luxury, he was kept apart from the common people; but when the time of his awakening came, he was greatly saddened to behold human beings suffering from disease, sorrow, and old age. One night he left his wife and child, and went away to live the life of a contemplative hermit in the forest, with purpose to find a solution for the great problem of human sin and suffering. He came under the influence of Upanishadic doctrines, and at the end of six years he returned and began his mission.

Buddha, the great psychologist, was one of the world's influential teachers, because his doctrines have been embraced in varying degrees of purity by about a third of the human race. Yet they are cold and unsatisfying and gloomy. The " Enlightener's " outlook on life was intensely timid and pessimistic ; he was an "enemy of society" in the sense that he made no attempt to effect social reforms so as to minimize human suffering, which touched him with deepest sympathy, but unfortunately filled him with despair; his solution for all problems was Death; he was the apostle of benevolent Nihilism and Idealistic Atheism.

There is no supreme personal god in Buddhism and no hope of immortality. Gods and demons and human beings are "living creatures"; gods have no power over the Universe, and need not be worshipped or sacrificed to, because they are governed by laws, and men have nothing to fear from them.

Buddha denied the existence of the Self-Soul of the Upanishads. Self is not God, in the sense that it is a phase of the World Soul. The " self-state" is, according to the " Enlightener", a combination of five elements of matter, feeling, imagination, will, and consciousness ; these are united by Karma,' the influence which causes life to repeat itself. Buddha had accepted, in a limited sense, the theory of Transmigration of Souls. He taught, however, that rebirth was the result of actions and desire. " It is the yearning for existence'', he said, "which leads from new birth to new birth, which finds its desire in different directions, the desire for pleasure, the desire for existence, the desire for power." Death occurs when the five elements which constitute life are divided ; after death nothing remains but the consequences of actions and thoughts. Rebirth follows because "the yearning", the essence of " works ", brings the elements together again. The individual exists happily, or the reverse, according to his conduct in a former life; sorrow and disease are results of wrong living and wrong thinking in previous states of existence.

The aim of the Buddhist is to become the "master of his fate". Life to him is hateful because, as the Enlightener taught, " birth is suffering, death is suffering; to be joined to one thou dost not love is suffering, to be divided from thy love is suffering, to fail in thy desire is suffering; in short, the fivefold bonds that unite us to earth --those of the five elements-- are suffering". As there can be no life without suffering in various degrees, it behooves the believer to secure complete emancipation from the fate of being reborn. Life is a dismal and tragic failure. The Buddhist must therefore destroy the influence which unites the five elements and forms another life. He must achieve the complete elimination of inclination-- of the yearning for existence. Buddha's "sacred truth", which secures the desired end, is eight-fold--"right belief, right resolve, right speech, right action, right life, right desire, right thought, and right self-absorption ". The reward of the faithful, who attains to perfect knowledge, unsullied by works, is eternal emancipation by Nirvana, undisturbed repose or blissful extinctions, which is the Supreme Good. If there had been no belief in rebirth, the solution would have been found in suicide.

 Buddha's negative attitude towards immortality and the conception of a Supreme Being was departed from by those of his followers who have taught that Nirvana is a conscious state of eternal bliss.

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Buddha taught that the four Noble Verities are: (I) pain, (2) desire, the cause of pain, (3) pain is extinguished by Nirvana, (4) the way which leads to Nirvana. The obliteration of Desire is the first aim of the Buddhist. This involves the renunciation of the world and of all evil passions; the believer must live a perfect life according to the Buddhist moral code, which is as strict as it is idealistic in the extreme. "It does not express friendship, or the feeling of particular affection which a man has for one or more of his fellow creatures, but that universal feeling which inspires us with goodwill towards all men and constant willingness to help them."'

Belief in the sanctity of life is a prevailing note in Buddhism. The teacher forbade the sacrifice of animals, as did Isaiah in Judah.

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats."       Isaiah, i,II

Brahmanism was influenced. in this regard, for offerings to Vishnu were confined to cakes, curds, sweetmeats, flowers, oblations, &c.

Buddha, the enemy of the priesthood, was of the Kshatriya caste, and his religion appears to have appealed to aristocrats satiated with a luxurious and idle life, who felt like the Preacher that "all is vanity"; it also found numerous adherents among the wandering bands of unorthodox devotees. The perfect Buddhist had to live apart from the world, and engage for long intervals in introspective contemplation so as to cultivate by a stern analytic process that frame of mind which enabled him to obliterate Desire blankly and coldly. Familiar statues of Buddha show the posture which must be assumed; the legs are crossed and twisted, and the hands arranged to suggest inaction; the eyes gaze on the bridge of the nose.

Monastic orders came into existence for men and women, but the status of women was not raised. From these orders were excluded all officials and the victims of infectious and incurable diseases. A lower class of Buddhists engaged in worldly duties. Although Buddha recognized the caste system, his teaching removed its worst features, for Kshatriyas and converted Brahmans could accept food from the Sudras without fear of contamination. Kings embraced the new religion, which ultimately assumed a national character.

Missionaries were from the earliest times sent abroad, and Buddhism spread into Burma, Siam, Anam, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Java, and Japan. The view is suggested that its influence can be traced in Egypt. " From some source," writes Professor Flinders Petrie, " perhaps the Buddhist mission of Asoka, the ascetic life of recluses was established in the Ptolemaic times, and monks of the Serapeum illustrated an ideal to man which had been as yet unknown in the West. This system of monasticism continued until Pachomios, a monk of Serapis in Upper Egypt, became the first Christian monk in the reign of Constantine."'

Jainism, like Buddhism, was also a revolt against Brahmanic orthodoxy, and drew its teachers and disciples chiefly from the aristocratic class. It was similarly influenced in its origin by the Upanishads. Jainites believe, however, in soul and the world soul; they recognize the Hindu deities, but only as exalted souls in a state of temporary bliss achieved by their virtues; they also worship a number of " conquerors " or " openers of the way ",

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as Buddhism, in debased form, recognizes Buddha and his disciples as gods, and allows the worship here of a tooth and there of a hair of the Enlightener, as well as sacred mounds connected with his pilgrimages. In the gloomy creed of the Jainites it is taught that " emancipation" may be hastened by rigid austerities which entail systematic starvation. Many Jainites have in their holy places given up their lives in this manner, but the practice is now obsolete.

In the Age which witnessed the decline of Buddhism in India, and the rise of reformed Brahmanism, the religious struggle was productive of the long poems called the Puranas (old tales) to which we have referred. In these productions some of the ancient myths about the gods were preserved and new myths were formulated. They were meant for popular instruction, and especially to make converts among the unlettered masses. Their authors were chiefly of the Vishnu cult, which had perpetuated the teachings of the unknown sages who at the close of the Brahmanical Age revolted against impersonal Pantheism, the ritualistic practices of the priesthood, and the popular conceptions regarding the Vedic deities who ensured worldly prosperity, but exercised little influence on the character of the individual.

Indra and Agni and other popular deities were not, however, excluded from the Pantheon, but were divested of their ancient splendor and shown to be subject to the sway of Brahma, their Lord and Creator; whose attributes they symbolized in their various spheres of activity. Vishnuites taught that Vishnu was Brahma, and Shivaites that Shiva was the supreme deity.

In this way, it would appear, the authors of the Puranas effected a compromise between immemorial beliefs and practices and the higher religious conceptions towards which the people were being gradually elevated.

Saiva View of evil: the real-life story of Appar (CE590-671)

When Buddhism and Jainism were on the ascent, it is said, that the Saiva Siddhantists worried about false doctrines and alien religions; a son of God was born in the name of Thirugnana Sambandar in Tamil Nadu to rid the country of Jainism and reintroduce Saivism, Vedism and Tamil culture. Think of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Buddhists and Jains actively converted the masses and spoke ill of Saivism. This recurring theme occurs in the songs of Nayanars.  Appar, originally a Hindu, became a Jain monk. He suffered abdominal pain and begged for Siva's help in alleviating the pain, which ceased. Immediately under the cover of darkness he left the Jain monastery to take refuge at the feet of Siva. The Saiva (formerly Jain Monk) saint was brought before the king upon the complaint of Jain monks  for changing his faith from Jainism to Saivism.  Jain King Mahendra Varman of Kanchi tortured him, but Appar was not affected, because of his faith in Siva and Mantra, Om Namasivaya.  The king of Paandinaadu was a converted Jain and his citizens converted to Jainism, except the queen and the chief minister. (The Pallavas were Jains and ruled Kanchipuram and Pataliputram.) After seeing the survival of Appar at his hands, the king became a devotee of Siva, destroyed the Jain Monastery and built a Siva Temple at Virattanam. Appar [CE 590-671], born in a farmer family in South Arcot, Tamil Nadu, is one of the Saiva saint-poets. He travels the length and breadth of India singing the glories of Siva. He receives vision of Siva and Sakti in Kailas. He is a humble devotee of Siva cleaning temples he visits. He, many years his senior,  is called Appar (father) by his contemporary child-poet, Sambandar.

Princely Vardhamana rejuvenated Jainism concept; the name Mahavira came about following his enlightenment in 600 B.C. Mahavira = Great hero. Latin Vir (virtue) and Sanskrit Vira connote virtue and heroism. It was a protest movement against animal sacrifice: Ahimsa (non-injury) is the central tenet of Jainism. (Puranas did not recommend animal sacrifices; instead, seeds older than three years, not capable of sprouting, were recommended for sacrificial use.) He opposed Yajna and Jnāna Margas, and he believed in Karma and Samsāra. Karma is a sticky stuff, as Vāsanā (perfume) that clings to the Jiva, weighs it down, and prevents it from moving up to Isatprāgbhara, which means “slightly tilted” dome or sphere. That is the supreme destination for the liberated Jivas. These Jivas (individual souls) stay down at various levels of existence ranging from matter, to plant, to ameba, to animal, to man according to the weight of Karma of the individual entity. As the Karmic load lightens, the bubble, the individual soul, rises from the lowest possible regions through intermediate zones to Isatprāgbhara, where supreme and splendid isolation (Kaivalya) is the norm. (All this sounds like distillation in a lab.) How is it possible that all these Jivas or monads gather on the crowded undersurface of this tilted dome or the cranial bone (its other name), which is whiter than milk, shinier than the most lustrous gold, and more translucent than a crystal, to enjoy a splendid isolation? It is not isolation in the ordinary sense. As the Jiva rises higher and higher from the lowest to the highest, it sheds the dissolved impurities (Karma); when it reaches the undersurface of the tilted dome, it is clear, translucent, and pure. The many-times-distilled and rising bubble undergoes isolation from all impurities: That is isolation from all dualities and impurities of the world such as pleasure and pain; love and hate; vagaries of life; the sights, the sounds, and the smells; and the limits of being matter, plant, animal and human. The conditioned, limited, and deficient knowledge of the human being stays behind and the Jiva in splendid isolation (from the impurities) is all awareness, all knowledge, all Truth, and all omniscience.

Mahavira (599 BCE- 527 BCE) recommends Mahavrata (Great vows--you remember the Great Vows we make every New Year) for the liberation of the soul:  renunciation of  1) killing, 2) untruths in all its forms, 3) greed, and 4) sexual pleasure, 5) attachments to living beings and inanimate things.  Though Mahavira was a prince, he wandered around and wore only one a loincloth for one year; when it was no longer wearable, he was walking the earth naked. He