Debater Ramchandra’s question.
Debater Ramchandra’s question.
Suvrat said:-
Among those debaters was one Harishchandra with a sensitive heart; he was convinced of an Avatar of Shri Harieven in the Kali age. 1.
Even Narupant accepted his argument with great faith; Ramchandra skilled in arguing and counter-arguing, said to him 2.
O great sage, we believe what you have said because you are dedicated to the Guru and are a speaker of truth and interested in our weal. 3.
Even in the Skanda-puran, there is the statement that the Guru is Brahman, the Guru is Vishnu and the guru is Maheshvar. 4.
But if there’s the Avatar in all the four ages, why is he called ‘Triyug in the Purans etc. 5.
O learned one, please dispel this doubt of mine; I do not see any other person capable of doing this. 6.
Thus questioned by that debater, that highly talented sage, knowing the secrets of all the scriptures, answered. 7.
Muktanand’s answer.
Muktanand said:-
O Brahmin, the faith that the guru is God is superimposed on him by the pupils; it is just like the faith of a Pativrata that her husband is God; it is not literally true. 8.
I am talking of the Avatar of Vishnu himself even in the Kali age on the earth for the spiritual well-being of those souls who resort to him. 9.
As for the view that having the name Triyug, he (i.e. Vishnu) has no birth in the Kali age, I have to say the following – Please listen. 10.
The word Yug means a pair; the word Bhag (God’s prowess’) stands for the three pairs (of His prowess’); it is for this reason that He is designated Triyug. 11.
Only He is called Bhagvan because He knows of creation and dissolution (of the universe), of the earthly life and destiny of the souls, of their knowledge and ignorance. 12.
[And there is one more explanation for His being called Triyug.] In the Krita age, all the people being absorbed in meditation, there was no sacrifice to God as Narayan; therefore He is called Triyug. 13.
And the meaning of the word Yug may be taken as it is commonly accepted (i.e. a large period of time); but there also are internal Yugs. 14.
The Yugs are of two kinds – external and internal; the external ones are well-known; it is with them that the transactions in the world take place. 15.
I shall explain to you all the four internal Yugs; these were explained by the son of Badarayan (i.e. the sage Shuka) to king Parikshit. 16.
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are the qualities seen in an individual; impelled by time, these work in the soul. 17.
In Krita Yug, sattva dominates the mind, the intellect and the senses; in this yug, an individual is interested in knowledge and penance. 18.
In Treta Yug, people are interested in performing rituals for the fulfillment of their desires; the individual here is dominated by rajas, o clever one. 19.
In the Dvapar Yug, the individual is dominated by rajas and tamas; in this yug, rituals for the fulfillment of desires (are tainted) with greed, dissatisfaction, pride, hypocrisy and envy. 20.
The Kali Yug is dominated by Tamas; here wiliness, falsehood, idleness, sleep, violence, despondency, sorrow, ignorance, fear and helplessness hold sway. 21.
On the basis of these clear characteristics of the various Yugs as explained by Shuka, one should examine which yug is prevalent in ‘ones own heart.’ 22.
When the Kali yug prevails in one’s heart, there will not be Shri Hariin it even if in the external (world) there is the Satya yug. 23.
When the Satya yug prevails in one’s heart, there exists (the opportunity of) the Darshan of Hari, though outside Kali yug may prevail. One should have no doubt about this. 24.
The external Kali is not able to hurt Shri Harieven a little because He is the cause of all the Yugs. 25.
The Lord of truth, He is capable of encouraging Dharma even in the external Kali Yug, because He is the Supreme Ruler. 26.
O good one, the Veda describes Him as the death of death; therefore one should not entertain any doubt about fear from the Kali age to Hari. 27.
Even Bhishma said in the Mahabharat to king Yudhistir: ‘The king is the cause of time, the time is not the cause of the king. 28.
If there is strength in a king to move the time even though he is a human, why should people doubt it in God? 29.
He is the Lord of all; therefore it is not proper for you to doubt his incarnation in the Kali (age) only on the basis of the Triyug concept. 30.
A seeker of liberation should understand the meaning of Triyug in this way; he should not take the atheist’s view that there is no Shri Hariin the Kali age. 31.
It is for this that Prahlad , speaking about God being Triyug, said that in the Kali age He is latent; he did not say that (He) is not (in that age). 32.
O Brahmin; I shall clearly explain to you the meaning of ‘latent’ in this statement of Prahlad that in the Kali age Shri Hariis latent. 34.
It is the latency of Shri Harithat after manifesting His supreme splendor, He conceals it completely in a moment by human drama.’ (That is, he again resumes his role in the human form.) 35.
In the incarnation as Krishna, He first manifested to Devki and Vasudev His divine form and then concealed it by his human role. 36.
He showed to Yashoda His cosmic form and in a moment he again firmly assumed his role of (her) son. 37.
He showed to His abode (Vaikunth) to Nand and other cowherds and concealed it by again assuming His human role. 38.
He charmed (by His human form) even deities like Brahma and others when they were extolling Him for annihilating the demons in vanquishable to them. 39.
He showed His wonderful splendor to Akrur in the waters of the Yamuna and then concealed himself by assuming a human form. 40
Manifesting His splendor a thousand times in this way, the Lord, by means of His human roles, remained latent on the earth. 41
To get a clear picture of this, please listen to this couple of verses spoken by great sages knowing His form when they were on a pilgrimage to Kurukshetra. 42.
Obeisance to Lord Krishna of unlimited intelligence, the great God who conceals His greatness with His yogic Maya. 43.
Interested only in comforts, these Vrishni rulers do not bow to Him because He is covered by the curtain of Maya though He is the Lord of time. 44.
His concealing Himself is of His own will, since He is the lord of the world; it is not out of the fear of Kali; know this for certain, ‘O Brahmin.’ 45.
There is a reason for this; it is to delude the deceitful demons, (who are) hostile to dharma, who become strong in the Kali age. 46
In most cases demons move about on the earth in the human form in the Kali age to deceive the people; and they hide their real form. 47.
But to outwit them, the Lord conceals himself in a human form in the Kali age and becomes a pole of attraction (for his devotees). 48.
The concealed state of Krishna in the Kali age has been described in the Vayu Puran. Born in the human race, He moves about on the earth concealing (His real nature). 49.
O best among Brahmins, know the Lord assumes a human form in order to move about among humans and encouraged by Sandipani, He destroys the demons in the human form. 50.
There are also the demons, who, while concealing their true nature, cannot conceal their demonical qualities; in fact, they cannot remain concealed and therefore they are exposed. 51.
But the Lord is free and therefore He cannot be recognized by the demons anywhere even through His superhuman exploits. 52.
All the deeds of the Lord are indeed extraordinary but it is only the demons who are misguided by them and never the devotees. 53.
In the Brahma Puran His capacity to beguile the demons has been explained; Him being free from blemishes is also explained. I shall quote that statement. 54.
Appearance of ignorance, dependence, different actions, an ordinary body, and discarding the body – all these in Vishnu are for the beguilement of demons; these are never His shortcomings. Even in the Brahmand Puran this trait (of Vishnu) is mentioned. 55-56.
O great Brahmin, know that the devotees are not deluded and they see the Lord’s deeds without any mistake (about His true nature). 57.
For this reason, the demons like Kans and Jarasandh (moving) in haughty human form on the earth did not know Him and insulted Him. 58.
[The Bhagvad Gita says] ‘The ignorant, not knowing my supreme status as the great Lord of beings, humiliate me in my assumed human form. 59.
Entertaining vain hopes, indulging in futile activities, having false knowledge and possessing untrue hearts, they stay, resorting to an ignorant demonic nature. 60.
The wicked men, who are ignorant and do evil deeds, do not resort to me. With their knowledge stolen by Maya, they resort to a demonic state. 61.
Being born as demons in repeated births, those ignorant descend even to a lower state and never come to me. 62.
All this and much more was explained by Shri Harito Arjun in the Gita. It is for this reason, ‘O intelligent one, why there is no Shri Harion the earth in the philosophy of the Asuras (demons). 63.
Thus I have explained to you the meaning of the word Triyug. If you have any other doubt, please ask it to me. 64.
O king, Ramachandra heard this argument of Muktanand and stood silent but Shobharam, well-versed in the scriptures, expressed his doubt as follows- 65.
Thus ends the thirty sixth chapter entitled ‘Muktanand’s explanation of the concept of Triyug’ in the fourth Prakaran of Satsangijivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 36
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