Dear Sri Ananthapadmanabhan - Thanks for the point by point explanation. I agree that direct incarnation needs the a great devotee capable of attracting the lord like prahalad. It also makes sense in one way that the lord could come "wrapped", for want of a better term. Best Regards Rajaram V. k ananthapadmanabhan <krisanantha@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Dear Venkatramani, Dwelling over these points might get you some clarity. 1. Avatara hi asankhyeyah - Essentially many avatars, not just ten 2. Swamy Desikan refers to about 30 avatars in his Rahsya Traya Saram. Pancharatra samhita lists 39. The ten we know commonly are the major ones 3. Many are auxiliary avatars; the lord does anupravesha (entry into the designated person's soul). 4. The Gautama Buddha as we know, is NOT considered to be one of the ten major avatars. However there is a reference to an Adi Buddha as an auxiliary avatar. Here the idea is that Baghavan deliberately lead the evil ones on the path of such Kudrushti mathams as part of their Karmic cycle. 5. On the question of Tri Yuga- He incarnates in the tri yugas & in the Kali his incarnation could be a "wrapped one". That probably explains "Channah Kalou". This view is reinforced by the fact that our Azhwars themselves are said to have played such roles . 6. As regards decline of Dharma, pls note that it is not a ?sufficient condition? warranting his direct presence. Prahlada like Bagavathas are required. Thanks, Ananthapadmanabhan Rajaram Venkataramani <v_raja_ram@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Dear Sri Ananthapadmanabhan - Thanks you. My question are 1) Why is the lord called tri yuga in Srimad Bhagavatham when there is kalki and buddha avatar ? 2) What does channa kalau mean ? There are avataras and the lord himself promises to appear in every yuga whenever there is a decline in dharma and a need to protect sadhus from followers of adharma. Best Regards Rajaram V. k ananthapadmanabhan <krisanantha@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Dear Sri Rajaram I too have wondered like you. When one looks around & gets a feel for the level of moral decadence & degeneration such a question is very natural. Being ignorant of our shastras & their powerful interpretations, I had the opportunity to discus this with certain enlightened people of our sampradayam. I am stating below their considered view Bagavan has sadhu paritranam as the compelling reason for an avataram. Destroying evil forces is an incidental agenda & not the primary reason for his avataram. So he needs Bagavathas of the caliber of Prahalada. When such bagavatas are in danger he most certainly incarnates. Thanks, Ananthapadmanabhan tatachar@xxxxxxx wrote: Dear Sriman Rajaram, The secret of avatara is clearly stated in Chapter 4 of Bhagavadgita in the first few verses. Here there are no number, form, or space limitation. Avatra happens when the balance between dharma and adharma is tilted more towards adharma: yada dharmasya ghlAnir hi (Dharma over shadowed) abhi yada abdharmasya utthAnam bhavati (Adharma triumphs). Taken this way, avatara is happening more or less all the time. In the face of adharma, better sense prevails, some great soul raises to protect the humanity from imminent danger. These are the leaders we celebrate. Just the major ones are recognized and celebrated (like the dashavatarams). Just remember dharma and adharma ever co-exist, mutually competing (paraspara kalaham). Whichever wins brings the out come in that situation. All our puranas and sampradayams are nothing but built in safety valves. Sometimes these valves themselves create problems as they get corrupted and wrong priorities are set for whatever reason (we all have tens of examples for this). That is when religious reformation takes place to re-establish truth (dharma) and slay corrupted traditions and thoughts (Ramanujacharya had to walk out of his wife who was preoccupied with caste superiority). These reformers are avatarams. Where is the question of time and number limitation? I think puranams should not be taken as the whole pramanams. They are more contextual. That is why they are not prasthana trayams. If you read Mahabharata, each hero in a given context is described as the best and the greatest. That is all true. But if you look at the whole fewer heroes stick out. That is why only a small part of Mahabharatham is a prasthana trayam. Just ask how many great sons, daughters and parents are there in this world? Answer will be in billions! Are they wrong? No. Are they right? No. Please bare this in mind while reading Puranams. You should not get stuck on one phrase here and there. That will cause confusion, worse yet you miss the higher truth. If you get a chance, watch or read Joseph Campbell and the power of Myth with Bill Moyers. It helped me, it may help you too. With that, I am able to better appreciate our sanatana dharmam. dAsan K.S. tAtAchAr Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT --------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. --------------------------------- Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday! Yahoo! Netrospective: 100 Moments of the Web __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com --------------------------------- Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday! Yahoo! 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