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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00097 May 2005

 
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               Sriman nArAyanAya namaha
               Sri krishnAya namaha
               Srimathe rAmAnujAya namaha
               Sri vedAntadesikAya namaha

It is interesting to learn that another school of vaishnavam has an
inverted concept of Sriman nArAyanA versus Sri Krishna. It is easy 
to develop a prema on the Bhagavan in one form and identify that 
form 
alone as the primary cause of all. That is how all the theistic 
religions try to distinguish themselves from the others. But taking 
one and the same form and its manifestations and inverting the 
historical
order of occurrence of its incarnations seems puzzling. 
In this context adiyen would like to add a few of my thoughts on the 
views of Gaudiya school from the north from the point of view of the 
Sri vaishnava school as well as the vedism of the south. 
This is in response to someone having asked me to examine what 
Gaudiya 
school has to say (through Brahma Samhita accepted by that school )
and provide my answers to a few questions.

One should understand that vEda vyAsA attempted to reinforce Sriman 
nArAyana consciousness through Sri krishnAvatAram.  The Vedic 
sampradAyam believes that the God does manifest occasionally on the 
earth to reestablish the dharma and root out adharma. The vedas 
portray various gods of ancient times, and the vedAntha unifies the 
God in Brahmam, and Sri Vaishnavas firmly believe, and even Adi 
Sankara 
opines, that it is sufficient to worship Sriman nArAyanA in our 
times, and identify Sriman nArAyanA as the protective power (vishnu) 
and satvic Lord capable of granting all the wishes in this life and 
providing the moksham eventually. This is the sum of all religious 
thought having a basis in the vedAntha. The schools that accept 
the vedas and upanishads should not question the primary conclusion
expressed here since all have strong foundation in the prAsthAna 
trayam and the significant basis in the Gita.  

When Sri Krishna portrays himself to Arjuna in a form that he can 
easily comprehend and not be afraid of, Sri Krishna portrays 
himself as Sri nArAyana with chakra, radiant kiritA, etc. 
He does not protray himself as the Sri Krishna playing the flute.  
The frightening form that Sri arjuna sees is not a terrible form of 
Krishna but the viswam and all the elements portrayed in the vedas 
and upanishads and the authoritative purAnas. Also many lilas of
Sri Krishna portray Him as superior to all the limited manifestations
such as Indra. And When Sri Krishna was born, his original rupam 
seen 
by Devaki was that of Sriman nArAyana as authentically portrayed 
in the vedam.  Thus Sri Bhagavad Gita, and other two in the 
prasthana 
trayam are properly interpreted by the Sri vaishnava sampradayam,
and this accommodates the vishnu doctrine without being too much in 
conflict with the vedas and vedanthA.  Other sampradayas that have 
taken Sri Bhagavatham, Gita and a few other minor works as their 
basis have only limited justification for their existence since any 
authentic Indian theistic vedic sampradAyam should consider the 
whole vedas, the itihAsAs, and the purAnas (including bhAgavatam), 
Gita and the brahma sutras and try to answer a few strong questions 
and try to establish themselves after resolving many conundrums 
posed 
by the knowledge starting with the vedas. Sri Vaishnava sampradAyam 
attempts to accomplish this difficult task and has resolved 
the difficulties by reinforcing the concrete tenets of Gita, 
vedas, and brahma sutras.  The brahma sutras provide a basis for 
taking the vedantha and its unitary belief in brahman as the material
and efficient cause of all; the Gita provides a basis for seeing 
Sri Krishna as the brahmam that manifests Itself as Sriman nArAyanA 
when Sri Arjuna wants a rupam that is not frightening; and the vedas 
and repeated incantations of  'Harihi Om' in it indicate that 
the protecter be invoked to safeguard all the great things we have.  

Though Sri vaishnavAs worship Sriman nArAyAna as the sole object of 
desire, His avatAras are not discarded; the dasAvatAras and more are 
accepted as the physical expansions of the Lord and many a time the 
objects of our prema. In this context, the authentic vedic 
sampradAyam is also not left high and dry: we do not discard the 
vedas 
since in its core it is polytheistic. The vedas do form the core of
knowledge, and Sri vaishnavas would like to keep it as the basis of 
their knowledge.

Many a debate among the mimAmsakAs tried to resolve the meaning 
of polytheism in the vedas, and they have concluded 
that such multifarious worship is not needed, and hence one should 
put our faith in the brahmam(atAto brahmajigyAsA), 
sat (ekam sat vipra bahuta vadanti), and the Protector.  
In specific, the mimAmsAs have tried to identify what the brahmam 
closely corresponds to: is it indra, agni, sUrya, sOma, kuberA, 
yamA, varuna, etc. Here is the secret from the exegesis.
These deities are limited by karma and hence they have limited 
sovereignty. We are left to consider Siva or nArAyanA as possible 
limiting forms of the brahmam.  According to Scriptures Siva or 
Rudra 
terminate in chaturmukha who in turn is expressed by equivalent 
terms 
hiranyagarbha, prajApati, and svayambhu.  Only Sriman nArayana does 
not seem to terminate in other attributed limited manifestations. 
Thus it is proper to identify Sriman nArAyanA as the brahmam. 
This is the Isvara gyanA taught in the Sri vaishnava exegesis. 
In this context, we can deduce from the fact that Sri Krishna 
reduces his cosmic form to divine Sriman Narayana (as seen by 
Arjuna) 
and manifests himself as Arjuna's friend for a long time, 
and as the charioteer in the battlefield,  Sri Krishna does not 
come before Sriman nArAyana, but it is other way around.  At least
this is what mostly accepted in the vedic circles.

In this context, it is difficult for me to accept some tenets of 
Gaudiya vaishnavam. One of its followers provoked me specifically by
asking me to provide Sri vaishnavas' answers to the following:
1) Gayatri is manifested from flute of Sri Krishna.
2) divya mangala vigraha of the Lord is impersonal/formless brahman.
3) Above Sriman Narayana's Vaikuntha is Sri Krishna's Goloka. 
4) Shiva is transformation of Vishnu for the purpose of destruction.
5) Maha Vishnu or Narayana in ShirAbdi sayAnam a portion of 
   a portion of Krishna.

My answer to questions of this sort should be obvious to the reader
from what has been said so far and what remains to be said in the 
following.

The very purpose of mahAbharatam, Gita and rAmAyanA is to illustrate 
vedic concepts and to reinforce our faith in the protective aspect 
of the Lord manifested as Sri rAma and Sri krishna. Sri rAmAvatAram 
illustrates the upanishadic principles such as mAthru devo bhava, 
pithru devo bhava, AchArya devo bhava, satyam vada, dharman chara, 
etc. Sri rAmAvatAram also illustrates caranAgati and the power of 
Sri pAtukA. Thus Sri vaishnavas believe in the patukAs of the Lord 
(exemplified in the chatAri) as well as those of the achAryas. And
Sri vedAntha Desika chose Lord's pAdukas and wrote pAdukA sahasram to
win the competition started by a miscreant.  The role of 
mAhAbharatam 
is to demonstrate power of the Lord through Sri krishnAvatAram. 
( For illustrative purposes as well as to establish a dharma, 
krishnAvatAram was needed ). But some faithful reversed some roles 
by propounding contradictory thoughts through something titled as 
brahma samhita. But this literary freedom is contradictory to 
the main beliefs associated with krishnAvatAram.

For some it seems to be difficult to understand the order of the 
cosmic expansion portrayed in the Gita. But the vedam is clear. 
It says:
'nArAyanAya vidmahe vasudevAya dimahe tanno vishnu prachodAyAt'
And vedam also sees the Lord in colors of the opposite camps:
'rutagum satyam param brahma purusham **krishna pingalam**
Urdvaretam virubAksham viswa rUpAyavai namo namaha'.

Srimad Bhagavatam would amplify this Sriman nArAyanA-Sri vAsudevA 
aspect by mentioning the same concept in two different ways 
as follows:

nArAyana parA vedA devA nArAyanAngajAha
nArAyana parA lokA nArAyana para makhaha
nArAyana paro yogo nArAyAna param tapaha
nArAyana param gyanam nArAyana para gatihi (Bhagavatam: 2:5.15-16)

vAsudeva parA vedA vasudeva parA makhaha 
vAsudeva parA yogA vasudeva parah kriyaha
vAsudeva param gyAnam vAsudeva param tapaha
vAsudeva paro dharmo vasudeva para gatihi  (Bhagavatam: 1:2.28-29)

Srimad Bhagavatam sees the Lord both as Sriman nArAyana and as 
Sri vAsudeva -- in equal breath -- just like the vedam would. 
The rishi does not extend this word play by mentioning Sri Krishna
in the same fashion. Is Sri Krishna the Sri vAsudeva we are talking 
about? The main vedam does not talk about this explicitly; but the
upanishads, purAnAs and bhAgavatam are clear about this. In fact
Sri Krishna gAyatri from the tripAd mahAnArAyanopanishad 
can be stated as:
"dAmodarAya vidmahe vAsudevAya dimahi tanna krishna prachchodayAt.'
Sri vAsudevA is identified with the creator mentioned 
in the Purusha sukhtam and nArAyana sukhtam by the following 
slokam in Bhagavatam:

paSyantyado rupam adabhra cakshushA 
sahasra padoru bhujAnanAdbhutam
sahasra mUrdha SravanAkshi nAsikam 
sahasra maulyambara kuNdallollasat (Bhagavatam 1:3.4)

The vedic obsession with sahasra sIrsha purusha is evident here 
as well. Moreover, Sri Krishna is portrayed as purAvatAram 
in the following slokam:

rushayo manavo deVa manu putra mahaujasah
kalAh sarve harereva sa prajapatayah smritAha
ete camSa kalAh pumsaha krishnas tu bhagavAn svayam
indrari vyAkulam lokam mridayanti yuge yuge (Bhagavatam 1:3.27-28)

Thus when performing hArati to Sri Krishna we say 
'itam vishnur vichakrame tretA nitate patam samuta masya bAgum sure'.

However it is mentioned no where in the purAnAs or vedas that 
Sriman nArAyana is an expansion of Sri Krishna.

Coming to the minor points, the slokas from the Bhagavatam
can be interpreted as follows: it illustrates the KrishnAvatAram 
as purnAvatAram while comparing the mortals and demigods with 
various auspicious amsams of the Lord.  And Bhagavatam unequivocally 
says 'Krishnas tu bhagavAn svayam' - Sri Krishna is sAkshAt 
Bhagavan ( Sriman nArAyana and Sri vAsudeva ).  The slokam does not 
say the opposite - 'Sri vAsudeva is sakshat Krishna.'

Moreover we can straightforwardly interpret that the veda 
and the gayatri mantram embedded in it are about the Lord. 
When we get past the internal inconsistencies of the vedAs, 
and see all the multifarious demigods in it as all refering to any 
one of the sahasra lakshanAs of the Lord, we can take the vedas as 
the unitary knowledge revealing Sriman nArayAna and Sri vAsudeva 
in its core.  Sri mahAbhAratam, Gita, and Srimad bhAgavatam 
illustrate the purnAvatram of the Lord in the form of Sri Krishna. 
So the order of cosmic expansion is clear. Many other discordant 
interpretations of other schools of vaishnavam can be easily 
disposed of simply as faith or as unnecessary inversion of 
facts taught in the vedas and purAnAs.  But their faith in 
Sri Krishna is respectable since He is certainly the purnAvatAram 
we have admired and worshipped for several millenia.

                    deva na: subamAtanotu

dAsan
V. Varadarajan






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