Miscellaneous - Religion   

Purpose of avatars

CHENNAI: Lord Narayana, of His own volition, took many avatars to save us. Though ten of His avatars are usually spoken of, He took many more. Krishna tells Arjuna that His avatars cannot be counted. His avatar as Lord Rama was to show the importance of ‘anushtanams,’ His avatar as Krishna was for ‘anubhavam,’ said Kidambi Narayanan in a discourse.

In the Rama avatar, He performs ‘aradhana’ for the idol of Lord Ranganatha, the day before His ‘pattabhishekam.’ But when He is told the ‘pattabhishekam’ will not take place and that He is to go to the forest, He accepts that too willingly. The Ramayana is about karma yoga. When Vibheeshana refuses to perform the last rites for Ravana, Rama says that if Vibheeshana refuses, He (Rama) will do them Himself. Thus Rama set for us an example through His strict adherence to ‘karmanushtanam.’ It is no longer easy for us to brush aside ‘karmanushtanam’ as being unnecessary, when we find that Rama Himself was a strict adherent.

The Krishna avatar was for ‘anubhava.’ One day Narada went to Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha and said: “Go to Nandagopa’s place. There is an abundance of butter there, which you will enjoy eating.” And the Lord took the Krishna avatar. Of course, there was a deeper purpose to the avatar. It was to demonstrate His qualities such as ‘saulabhya,’ ‘souseelya’ and ‘vaatsalya’ that He took the avatar.

Ranganatha was worshipped by none other than Rama, and yet it is Krishna who is recalled in the context of Ranganatha, who is referred to fondly as ‘Peria Perumal’ — literally the Big One.

Once a disciple approached Parasara Bhattar and asked why Ranganatha was so well built. Bhattar replied that He, as Krishna, had stolen butter and eaten it. That was why He was stout.

In both avatars of Rama and Krishna, the Lord demonstrated His ‘kalyana gunas.’ But instead of letting their thoughts dwell on Him, people carry on with their lives. They do not even realise that He is in control of things. God took avatars, out of His desire to save us, and demonstrated to the world His ‘kalyana gunas.’

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