Periya Vachan Pillai: The Lord is accessible and friendly to His creatures (Saulabhyam, Saushilyam)

In the last several posts, we have seen about the immense potency and glory of the Supreme God, Narayana. His greatness is clearly evident from the fact that He is (1) The Supreme Cause and Creator who dwells both within and beyond the realm of the created universes. (2) The ultimate controller who has at His mercy every being from Lord Brahma to a blade of grass. This can make one wonder: can we, the powerless beings inhabiting a tiny planet in this universe ever approach Him with love, knowing His greatness? If the Lord be compared to the sun, are we not like fireflies? What would happen to a firefly if it approaches the sun? Won't it get burned to ashes?

In response to the above, our timeless Vedic Sanatana Dharma and our Acharyas say the following: The truth is that Lord Vasudeva is very merciful, compassionate, and gentle to His creatures, if we approach Him with true devotional reverence and love. He cares for each one of us like a mother is concerned with the well-being of every child of hers. In order that He is approachable to us, He takes various pleasing forms that facilitate reverential worship and adoration on our part. He is not like the blazing sun to His devotees, though He is omnipotent. He appears in this world in the form of adorable avatAr-s like Rama and Krishna, to bless His devotees. Even for those like us, who did not have the good fortune to live in those ancient times when we could see the Lord in the form of Rama and Krishna directly, He takes various forms as arcA-mUrtis (temple deities) -- forms such as Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam, Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati, Lord Jagannath of Puri, Lord of Udupi, Lord of Dwaraka etc. His quality of being easily accessible in those forms to His creatures is known as saulabhyam, and His willingness to manifest Himself "as one among us" is known as saushIlyam.

In a previous post, we discussed about Azhwars and their works -- the ancient Tamil poet-saints who rendered the hard-to-understand Sanskrit Vedas in simple Tamil as the Divya Prabandha. Sri Periya Vachan Pillai (periya-vAccAn-piLLai) is a great Acharya who belonged to the Ramanuja school. His greatest gift to humanity are his commentaries on the Divya Prabandha, the Tamil Veda. Since we are going to begin this new chapter on the Lord's saulabhyam and saushIlyam, we begin with the following invocation to Acharya Periya Vachan Pillai:

shriimatkRSNasamAhvAya namo yAmunasUnave

yatkaTAkSaikalakSyANAM sUlpaH shriidharaH sadA

Translation:

"Salutations to Sri Periya Vachan Pillai, the son of yAmuna, and to whose followers (those who are the target of his grace), Lord Sridhara is easily obtained."

Swami Nammazhwar is one of the greatest among Azhwars. He is counted as the fifth of the twelve Azhwars. Another appellation of him in Tamil goes as "vEdam tamizh seyda mARan" (the one who translated the Vedas in Tamil). This is because Nammazhwar's four works, tiruviruttam, tiruvAsiriyam, periya-tiruvandAdi, and tiruvAimozhi are compared to the four Vedas -- Rig, Yajur, Atharva, and
Sama. All these four works are hymnal in nature, and have the nature of overwhelming the sincere reader with emotional outpourings of bhakti (devotion) and love for the Lord, while at the same time explaining complex philosophical concepts.

Nammazhwar was also a great devotee of the Lord, and showed particular involvement in the Lord's avatAr as Krishna. He has said in his works: "for me, Lord Krishna alone is food, water, and everything" ("uNNum sORu, parugum nIr, tinnum veRRilai ellAm kaNNan"). Swami Ramanujacharya's Srivaishnava tradition, to this day, revere Swami Nammazhwar as "kRSNa-tRSNA-tattvam", which means one who always had "tRSNA" (thirst) for "kRSNa" (Lord Krishna). Sri U. Ve. Velukkudi Krishnan Swami, a great modern-day orator who gives discourses on Vedic Sanatana Dharma says thus in his Tamil discourse on "Eight and Nine types of Devotion" ^[1] --

"If one were asked to draw a picture of Lord Krishna, one knows how to do it. However, if one were asked to draw a picture of Krishna Bhakti (Devotion to Lord Krishna) how would one do it? The answer is very simple -- draw a picture of Nammazhwar, for he is not just a person with devotion, he is devotion personified."

A portrait of Krishna Bhakti

The Lord's avatar as Krishna is best-known for His approachability and gentleness, as He sported with the common village folk during His time as a child growing up in Gokul and Nandagram. It is therefore appropriate that our first look at the Lord's saulabhyam and saushIlyam should be from the words of none other than Nammazhwar. After contemplating on the lotus feet of the Azhwar, let us have a look at the following Thiruvaimozhi verse:

"pattuDai aDiyavarkku eLiyavan piRargaLukku ariya vittagan malarmagan virumbum nam arumperal aDigaL mattaRu kaDaiveNNey kaLavinil uraliDai AppuNDu ettiRam uralinODu iNaindirundu Engiya eLivE."

"பத்துடை யடியவர்க் கெளியவன் பிரர்களுக் கரிய வித்தகன் மலர்மகள் விரும்பும்நம் அரும்பெற லடிகள்  மத்தறுகடைவெண்ணெய் களவினி லுரலிடை யாப்புண்டு எத்திற முரலினோ டிணைந்திருந் தேங்கிய எளிவே."

(Thiruvaimozhi 1.3.1)

Translation:

"He (the Lord) is easily accessible to those who are devoted to Him, (but) is virtually inaccessible to others who are not devoted. He is truly amazing. He is liked by Mother Lakshmi who has the lotus as her birth-place, and is very hard to reach. Yet it is the same Lord who let himself be punished for stealing butter, by letting Himself be tied to a mortar. Moreover, He stayed tied to the mortar as if helpless. He is indeed easy to approach and attainable for His servants!"

We have to understand the above verse from Acharya Periya Vachan Pillai's own words. The Acharya has written a very elaborate commentary on Nammazhwar's Thiruvaimozhi, known as irupattinAlAyirap-paDi in the maNipravALa style of Tamil. Going through Periya Vachan Pillai's commentary to the verse quoted above (Thiruvaimozhi 1.3.1) is a great pleasure for the devotee. Let us simply follow and analyze the following extracts from the same: ^[2]

"முதற்பாட்டில் சௌலப்யத்தை உபதேசிக்கைக்காக அவதாரங்களை அனுசந்தித்தவர், தொடங்கின உபதேசத்தை மறந்து கிருஷ்ணாவதாரத்தில் நவநீதசௌர்யத்ரத்திலே தாமகப்பட்டு அழுந்துகிறார்."

Gist:

"Having forgotten that he took up the subject of the Lord's avatars to illustrate his gentle and approachable nature, Swami Nammazhwar immerses himself in the Lord's divine sportive act involving the stealing of butter, during his avatar as Krishna."

Lord Krishna's avatar is well-known to the world. The Lord blessed Devaki and Vasudeva by being born as their son inside the prison of the city of Mathura. He was the darling of His foster parents Yashodha and Nandagopa. He spent His childhood as a mischievous lad and mingled with common village folk. Lord Krishna used to steal butter and curd stored in the houses of cowherd folk, and the womenfolk used to complain to Yashodha about His mischief. Once Yashodha was extremely fed-up with all the complaints and decided to tie up Lord Krishna to a mortar (grinding stone) as a punishment for His mischief.

The Lord has performed many miraculous deeds as a child, but also let Himself be chastised by His foster parents for His mischief. However, there is no doubt that the village folk, in their hearts, used to love every part of their experience with little Krishna. Though He is the omnipotent creator and Lord of the entire Cosmos, He disguised Himself to bless the village folk in whose eyes He was just an adorable child.

Let us continue further with what Nammazhwar is saying in the Thiruvaimozhi verse: "The Lord is easily accessible to those who are devoted to Him." Does that mean only to those who worship Him by meditation, chanting, etc? Nay, says Periya Vachan Pillai:

"பக்தி சப்தத்தால் இங்கு பரபக்த்யாதிகளைச் சொல்லுகிரதன்று; பக்தியுபக்ரமமான அத்வேஷமாத்ரத்தைச் சொல்கிறது. தாழ்ந்தாரக்கு முகங்கோடுக்குமென்கிற குணப்ரகரணமாகையாலே (உடை) இம்மாத்ரத்தைக்  கனக்க உடைமையாகச் சொல்லுகிறது. 'விண்ணுளாரிலுஞ் சீரியர்' என்று இங்கே பகவதனுபவம் பண்ணுவாரை அவ்வருகாக நினைத்திருக்கும் பகவதபிப்ராயத்தாலே. (அடியவர்) - இதுவும் பகவதபிப்ராயத்தாலே. ஆனுகூல்ய லேசம் குவாலாயிருக்கை."

Gist:

"Nammazhwar is not using the term 'devotion' in the sense of ritual worship and deep heartfelt reverence/adoration. In this context, the simple act of resolving to not be antagonistic to the Lord is being meant. That simple resolution alone is the first step towards reaching sublime devotion. This is said in order to highlight that the Lord graces with compassion even people who are in the lowest strata. Thus, 'devotion' here means being full of non-animosity to the Lord."

Sri Periya Vachan Pillai then goes on: "The Lord offers Himself and nothing else, as a gift to those who are thus friendly to Him. Did He not speak to the monkey-king Sugriva, thus: 'Oh Sugriva! Of what use is rescuing Sita, if you suffer the slightest harm because of this quest of mine?' and showed His willingness to even abandon His beloved consort Lakshmi, who is ever at His service, for that monkey-king who was His acquaintance only for a few days? Did He not serve as a lowly messenger to the five Pandavas? Did He not serve as a lowly charioteer to Arjuna?"

Does this mean that the Lord offers Himself as a servant to even those who are antagonistic to Him such as Ravana, Kamsa, etc? Not at all, says the Acharya: "In dealing with Ravana etc., He does not let Himself be humbled." The Acharya then proceeds to say:

"(வித்தகன்) விஸ்மயநீயன். யசோதைக்கு பவ்யனாயிருக்கிற இருக்கிற இருப்பிலே யமளார்ஜுனர்க்கு அனபிபவனீயனாயிருக்கை."

Gist:

"He is astonishing. Even as he was bound by Yashodha, He showed to Yamala and Arjuna that He cannot be overpowered."

The Acharya, Sri Periya Vachan Pillai, recalls here an amazing incident involving little Lord Krishna. We saw above that Lord Krishna let Himself be punished by mother Yashodha for mischief. He was thus tied to a kind of grinding stone. Lord Krishna then slowly dragged the mortar along and went out of the residence of Nandagopa. He went in between two trees (named "Yamala" and "Arjuna") and the mortar got stuck in the gap. With great force, He continued to drag the mortar snapping up and uprooting the two trees. The Lord did this willingly, in order to redeem Nalakuvara and Manigriva who were cursed into taking the two trees as their bodily forms. Nalakuvara and Manigriva were the sons of Kubera who were cursed into this pitiable state by none other than sage Narada. The sage had also promised that the Supreme Lord alone will be able to relieve them from this plight. Fully aware of this, Lord Krishna uprooted the two trees with the mortar tied to His waist. Having thus been liberated by the Lord Himself, and fully aware that He alone was that little Krishna, they offered their obeisances to Him and returned to their abode. Thus the little Krishna showed that He was both (1) accessible and gentle to those like Yashodha who love Him, as well as (2) He has supreme transcendental miraculous powers that is capable of redeeming anyone from any sin. It is none other than Him who can display these two apparently contradictory facets in one go! Thus He is truly amazing and astonishing, says Sri Periya Vachan Pillai.

The Acharya then says: "The Azhwar is saying that the Lord is none other than the beloved of Mother Lakshmi who is praised in the Vedas as 'the Queen to all beings'. This shows His unparalleled greatness, and He shines with lordliness and compassion. Having thus described His glory, Sri Nammazhwar then tries to explain His gentleness and approachability by starting with His Krishna avatar, but ends up recollecting, enjoying, and swooning in the Lord's divine playful act of stealing butter." He details this further:

"அவாப்தஸமஸ்தகாமன் தனக்கு ஒரு குறையுண்டாய், அது நேர்கொடு நேர் கிடவாமையாலே களவிலேயிழிந்து, அது தலைக்கட்டப்பெறாதே, வாயது கையதாக அகப்பட்டு, கட்டுண்டு, அடியுண்டு நிற்கும் நிலையைச் சொல்லுகிறது"

Gist:

"This Lord, who does not have anything unfulfilled, who is complete and content by His divine nature as the Lord of all, the owner of the entire universe, does something diametrically opposite to it in this divine pastime. He gets into the business of stealing freshly-churned butter. Not only that, He (deliberately) pathetically fails in this act and gets caught red-handed. He then lets himself be tied with a rope and beaten up by Yashodha. This state of the Lord is described (by the Azhwar)."

The revered Acharya Sri Periya Vachan Pillai explains further. The gist I provide in English should be self-explanatory:

"(உரலினோடிணைந்திருந்து) உரல் மூச்சுவிடிலும் தான் மூச்சுவிடாதே அசிதவ்யாவ்ருத்தனாயிருந்தபடி (எங்கியவெளிவு) இந்த சுத்தனைக் கள்ளனென்று கட்டினால் பொறுக்கமாட்டாதே அழத்தொடங்குமே! அவள் "வாய்வாய்" என்றால் ஏறிட்ட த்வனி இழியவிடமாட்டாதே பயப்பட்டு நிற்கும். (எளிவு) சௌலப்யம். (எத்திறம்) இதென்னபடி! "यतो वाचो निवर्तन्ते" என்று வேதம் மீண்ட பரத்வத்தை எல்லைக்காணலாம்; இந்த சௌலப்யம் தரை காணவொண்ணாதாயிருந்ததீ! என்கிறார்."

Gist:

"Nammazhwar says that the Lord remained tied to the mortar in such a manner that, if the mortar had a life of its own, it would weep being unable to see the Purest One letting Himself be called a 'thief' and be punished like this! He was obedient to Yashodha, and (act as if He) was trembled by her command. What to say of this great act that shows His approachable nature! The Vedic scriptures say thus about His lordly potency: 'Failing to reach Him, speech and thought turn back'^[3]. It may even be possible to find a limit to His omnipotence, but it is certainly impossible to find a limit to His approachability and friendliness!"

Let us again offer our obeisances to the lotus feet of Nammazhwar, Sri Periya Vachan Pillai, and Supreme Lord Krishna.

(to be continued)

Tailpiece:

In addition to providing immense pleasure and awe to devotees, the sportive pastimes of Lord Krishna - His residence in the community of cowherds and His butter-stealing act, also convey a deep philosophical meaning. This is confirmed by the Vedas themselves. The Brahmabindu Upanishad (a.k.a. Amritabindu Upanishad) has been quoted by Sri Adi Shankara and other great Acharyas of the past. At the end of this Upanishad, we find the following statement ^[4]:

19. Of the cows of different colors, milk is of one color only. The wise man regards essential nature of the individual soul unto the milk, and the different beings as the cows.

20. Quite concealed in all beings dwells the Supreme Lord in His essential nature, as butter in milk; ever churn, O aspirant, with the mind as the churning rod!

21. With the churning rope of knowledge, one should see the Supreme Lord, just like fire is churned with a wooden rod. 'My Supersoul is that indivisible, immutable, and tranquil Brahman', so it is said.

22. In Whom reside all beings, and Who resides in all beings by virtue of His being the giver of grace to all – My Supersoul is that vAsudeva, the Supreme Being.

It may be recalled that "Vasudeva (vAsudeva)" is one of the names of Lord Krishna. It is then clear that "stealing the butter" conveys the idea that we, the individual souls, belong to the Lord and are His property. The Lord Himself will come and rescue our souls from the mire of materialistic life, like He stole the butter from the pots.

Acknowledgements:

• http://acharya.org/ for providing the invocatory verse on Sri Periya Vachan Pillai.
• http://www.maransdog.com/ and Sri Vaishnava Sri for the free download of Thiruvaimozhi and its various commentaries.
• Humanity is permanently indebted to two great Vedic Srivaishnava scholars of the twentieth century: Puttur Sri U. Ve. Krishnaswamy Iyengar, and Kanchi Sri P. B. Annangaracharya Swamy. I used only their Tamil commentaries, available for free download here.
• We are also indebted to Sri U. Ve. Velukkudi Krishnan Swami for his wonderful discourses on Bhakti and Sanatana Dharma that he has been giving in various branches of the media (TV, Internet, the Music Store, etc.). This article is greatly inspired by Swami's discourse on Bhakti.

Notes:

[1] This quote is from Sri U. Ve. Velukkudi Krishnan Swami's Tamil discourse titled "Ashta Vidha Bhakti - Nava Vidha Bhakti" series in his "Bhakti" audio CD. The mp3 audio CD can be purchased from here or here.

[2] The transcription given here is different from that of the original document downloadable for free here, as the latter uses Tamil Grantha characters not available in universal fonts.

[3] Taittiriya Upanishad, II.iv.1

[4] Translation courtesy: Sri Vishnu Chitta Vijayam, Sri U. Ve. Krishnaswamy Iyengar, Vol. 1 Part 2. The verses quoted from the Brahmabindu (Amritabindu) Upanishad can be found here.

Read more >>

The Lord of Guruvayur, Narayaneeyam, and Cosmic Manifestation

Guruvayur is a sacred pilgrimage center in the state of Kerala in South India. There is a very famous temple dedicated to Lord Krishna here. According to the traditional history of this temple, this is the spot where Lord Siva is said to have instructed the Rudra Gita, a song that glorifies Sriman Narayana -- the Lord of even great Lords like Brahma, Siva, and Indra. The deity of this temple is said to have been in possession of Lord Krishna during His stay in Dwaraka, which he then gave to a disciple named Uddhava before voluntarily disappearing from this world after fulfilling the mission of His avatar. But since a deluge followed the ascent of Lord Krishna back to His spiritual realm, the idol had to be eventually salvaged by Brihaspati (bRhaspati, also known as guru),  the devata in charge of the planet Jupiter, with the help of his disciple Vayu (vAyu) who is in charge of the one of the elements of nature- the wind. Ultimately, they were guided by Lord Siva, and hence it was installed at the present location - Guruvayur. The name Guruvayur comes from the combination guru + vAyu (the devatas who installed the deity of Lord Krishna) and the word oor which means "place" in the South Indian languages Malayalam and Tamil. Here, the deity form of Lord Krishna is known affectionately as guruvAyUrappan - the Lord of Guruvayur.

Little Lord Krishna, the deity of Guruvayur

Bhagavata  Purana (srImad bhAgavata purANa, srImad bhAgavatam, or simply bhAgavatam) is a divine revelation compiled by Sri Veda Vyasa Maharishi, consisting of 18,000 verses. The book extols devotion to Supreme Lord Hari, and is praised by both scholars and the lay as "the essence of all Vedic literature". Sri Narayana Bhattathiri (nArAyaNa bhaTTatiri) was a great devotee of Lord Krishna who belonged to the 16th Century. He identified with the Advaita school of Vedanta. When he was once inflicted with a severe illness Sri Bhattathiri prayed to the Lord of Guruvayur. The devotional outpourings came in the form of a 1000-verse summary of the contents of the Bhagavata Purana, known as "Narayaneeyam" (nArAyaNIyam).

Lord Krishna's abode at Guruvayur, Kerala

In the last several posts, we have been dealing with the subject of the threefold acts of creation, sustenance, and destruction by Lord Narayana. We shall now wind up this discussion with relevant verses from Narayaneeyam which summarize the Lord's threefold activity. Let us now look at the following slokas-

vyakta-avyaktam-idaM na ki~ncit-abhavat prAk prAkRta-prakSaye

        mAyAyAM guNa-sAmya-ruddha-vikRtau tvayi-AgatAyAM layam     |

no mRtyuH-ca tat-AmRtaM ca sama-bhUnnohno na rAtreH sthitiH

        tatra-ekaH-tvam-ashiSyathAH kila para-Ananda-prakAsha-AtmanA    ||

(Narayaneeyam, 5:1)

Translation:

"When the earlier great deluge occurred, the world was nonexistent and mAyA (the primordial seed of material existence) was merged in Thy (Lord Krishna's) Supreme Form indiscernible in any way. There was no life or death and no day or night. Only Thy brilliant form of Supreme Bliss existed."

In a previous post, we saw that, according to Vedic Sanatana Dharma, the universe is created, sustained, and re-absorbed by Lord Hari. This entire process is repeated in a cyclical manner. At the end of each cycle, there is a period known as mahApraLaya ("great deluge") when the entire material universe exists without name and form in a subtle, indescribable manner. In another post, we saw that this indescribable matter is described as "avyakta" in the Vedic scriptures. The Narayaneeyam verse that we just saw above confirms these scriptural statements. It describes the dissolved state of the material universe during this great deluge, before the universe was created by Lord Hari as it exists today.

Lord Manu, the author of Manu-Smriti also confirms that the material universe existed in a very subtle, indiscernible form during the cosmic night:

This (universe) existed in the shape of Darkness, unperceived, destitute of distinctive marks, unattainable by reasoning, unknowable, wholly immersed, as it were, in deep sleep.

(Manu Smriti, I.5)

Manu Bhagavan then proceeds to describe the brilliance of the Lord as He shone during the great deluge, in the manner agreed by the above Narayaneeyam verse:

He who can be perceived by the internal organ (alone), who is subtle, indiscernible, and eternal, who contains all created beings and is inconceivable, shone forth of his own (will).

(Manu Smriti, I.7)

One may ask thus-- "When it is said in scripture that 'the universe did not exist', does it mean that the Lord created everything out of nothing"? Not at all, says Sri Narayana Bhattathiri in the next verse:

kAlaH karma guNAH-ca jIvanivahA vishvaM ca  kArye vibho!

         cilliilAratimeyuSi tvayi tadA nirliinatAmAyayuH                                    |

teSAM na-eva vadanti-asatvamayi bhOH-shakti-AtmanA 

         no cet kiM gagana-prasUna-sadRshAM bhUyo bhavet-sambhavaH        ||

(Narayaneeyam, 5:2)

Translation:

"Oh Lord ! At that point of time everything in the Universe viz. Kala (time), Karma (action), Guna (mood), the Jivathmas (individual souls ) all lay merged in Thy supreme form. But they were never nonexistent or imaginary like flowers of the sky. They were ensconced in Thee and re-emerged after the deluge."

For how long did this state last, and how did creation begin? Narayana Bhattathiri answers this for us thus:

evam-ca dvi-parArdha-kAla-vigatAvIkSAM sisRkSAtmikAM

        bibhrANe tvayi cukSubhe tribhuvanIbhAvAya mAyA svayam            |

mAyAtaH khalu kAla-shaktiH-akhila-adRSTaM svabhAvo-api ca

        prAdurbhUya guNAn vikAsya vidadhuH-tasyAH sahAya-kriyAm     ||

(Narayaneeyam, 5:3)

Translation:

This state lasted for one hundred Brahma-years. Then with the desire for creation Thou activated the mAyA (primordial matter) with a single glance and the evolution of the three worlds began. From the mAyA came "kAla-shakti", the hidden resultant karmA (the balance of good and bad deeds committed in the past) of individual souls and their svabhAvas (inborn dispositions). From these evolved the guNas (qualities/natures) and helped mAyA to manifest as the universe.

Hence, Sri Bhattathiri says that all the cosmic forces that maintain orderliness and justice in the universe were activated by Lord Vishnu by a single glance of his eyes. One hundred Brahma-years is the lifetime of one Brahma (four-faced deva), and is approximately equal to 310 Trillion human years. In the past, innumerable Brahmas have lived through their full tenures, and more will continue to do so. Fifty Brahma-years is known as a parArdha in Vedic cosmology. In other words, after the lifetime of every Brahma, the universe enters into another cosmic deluge lasting for 100 Brahma-years, but actually there is no Brahma during this time.

The next verse (5:4) of the Narayaneeyam describes Supreme Lord Narayana as the witness to the entire process of creation, and that he is not enveloped by mAyA, the cause of delusion and suffering in the material universe. Everything in this universe is ordained by the Lord, according to the principles of dharma (justice) and karma (past good/bad deeds).

Under the Lord's ordinance, primordial matter then evolved into the principle known as mahAn, then into aha"nkAra (ego-principle). The ego-principle further got divided into the three modes: sAttvika (goodness), rAjasa (passion), and tAmasa (ignorance). From the tAmasa ego-principle, the principles behind the five modes of perception (tanmAtra-s) -- sabda, sparsha, rUpa, rasa, and gandha (sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell), as well as the five material elements -- space, wind, fire, water, and earth, came into existance one after the other in an interleaved manner. This creation is described in the following Narayaneeyam verse:

shabdAd vyoma tataH sasarjitha vibho! sparshaM tato mArutam

        tasmAd rUpamato maho-athaH-ca rasaM toyaM ca gandhaM mahIm        |

evam mAdhava! pUrva-pUrva-kalanAd-AdyAdadharmAnvitaM

        bhUtagrAmamimaM tvayeva bhagavan! prAkAshayaH-tAmasAt               ||

(Narayaneeyam, 5:8)

Translation:

"From sound (sabda) Thou created the space (AkAsha). From that came touch (sparsha); from which air (vAyu) was born; from that came the visual form (rUpa); from visual form came fire (agni); from fire came taste (rasa); then came water (Apa) from taste; from water came smell (gandha) and from smell earth (prithvI) was formed. Thus Oh Lord Madhava ! Thou caused the group of elements to manifest from tamasa egoism with each one of them having the qualities of those created prior to them and hence all of them being interconnected."

In the Causal Ocean, the Supreme Lord first separates the qualities of the material elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) by His glance. 

 Thanks: www.glimpseofkrishna.com.  Copyrighted image and caption reproduced with permission of the artist Smt. Madhavapriya Devi

The above creation process by Lord Vishnu is known as samaSTi sRSTi or "aggregate creation" in English. The samaSTi sRSTi process continues further until four-faced Brahma deva is created by the Supreme Lord Narayana from the Divine Lotus springing from His navel. After that, the Lord ordains Brahma to be the agent for the next stage in creation known as vyaSTi sRSTi or "individual creation". It is then that Lord Brahma, under the instructions of the Lord, proceeds to create other beings -- from devas, gandharvas, angels, elves, demons, men, animals, down to plants, and further down to simplest single-cell organisms.

We close the discussion of Lord Hari's relation to the cosmos and His creation, which we have been running for weeks, with the following excellent summary given by Sri Adi Shankaracharya in his introductory chapter to his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita:

"sa Adi-kartA nArAyaNAkhyo viSNUH... sa ca bhagavAn jnAna-aishvarya-shakti-bala-vIrya-tejobhiH sadA sampannas triguNAtmikAm vaiSNavIm svAm mAyAm mUla-prakRtim vashIkrtya, ajo-avyayo bhUtAnAm Ishvaro nitya-shuddha-buddha-mukta svabhAvaH"

 (Adi Sankara's Introduction 

to Bhagavad Gita)

Translation:

"Lord Vishnu (all-pervading), known as Narayana, is the primordial creator... The Lord, possessed of infinite knowledge, supremacy, power, strength, might, and vigor, controls the mAyA -- belonging to Him as Vishnu -- the primordial matter that is the first cause composed of the three natures (goodness, passion, and ignorance). The Lord is unborn and indestructible, and is by nature Eternal, Pure, Intelligent, and Free."

So far, we have explored the greatness and supremacy (paratva) of the Lord. Starting with the next post, we will start exploring his other great aspect, namely His compassion and accessibility (saulabhya) to all of His creatures.

Read more >>