Shobharam puts his question to Muktanand, Who is your Guru among the ten Avatars.
Shobharam puts his question to Muktanand, Who is your Guru among the ten Avatars.
Shobharam said:-
O great sage, what you have said is right; it has dispelled a great old doubt of ours arising out of the word Triyug. 1.
I would like to put another question to you; I must express my doubt because it is said that a skeptical soul perishes. 2.
All people say that the Lord’s incarnations are only ten; even scholars hold this view, not the ignorant ones. 3.
You have said that your Guru Swami Sahajanand is at present the incarnation of Vishnu on the earth. What is his name (as an avatar) ? 4
O beloved of the Lord, this much is my question; you will do well to answer it now. 5.
Muktanand’s Answer.
Questioned in this way by that scholar in a quiet debating tone, that devotee of the Lord gave him an answer approved by the scriptures. 6.
Muktanand said:-
O reverential one, there is no rule that the incarnations should be only ten, because God is in control of everything and He is independent. 7.
There are several statements (of sages) to controvert the view of those who hold that the incarnations are only ten. The number of the births of God is not specified in any great scripture. 8.
In the Harivamsh the king Janmejaya asked how many incarnations (of the Lord) were there and Vaishampayan answered him (thus) 9.
Prajapati avers that the incarnations of Vishnu, the permanent Lord of sacrifice and Lord of the gods have been in thousands; there is no doubt about it. In the future as well, there will be thousands of His incarnations. 10 -11.
For the well-being of the gods and the mortals, and to guide the people, the Soul of all the beings is born as per His mission. 12.
O Arjun, whenever Dharma deteriorates and Adharma upsurges, then the Lord is born for the re-establishment of Dharma. 13.
Even in the Shrimad Bhagavata, some earlier incarnations of the Lord are mentioned and then indeed it says that they are innumerable. 14.
As thousands of streams flow out of a great lake so does the incarnations of the Lord, the ocean of Sattva are in thousands, ‘O Brahmins.’ 15.
This is said in the first Skanda (of the Bhagavata); in the second (Skanda) God Brahman speaks of several incarnations and then says the following. 16.
I do not know the limit (of your greatness); how can these sages (Sanak etc.) born before (a particular incarnation of you) know it? Even the primeval god Shesh with hundreds of heads and singing of your virtues has not known it up-till now. 17.
While praising Krishna in the tenth skanda, it was reiterated by Brahman; (there) he explained the purpose of incarnations and the Lord’s invisibility by the evil doers. 18.
O great one, ‘O Lord, ‘O supreme soul, who in the three worlds understands your greatness? You are the Lord of yoga and with your cosmic power (Maya) you play anytime, anywhere and in any manner, expanding your exploits. Who is capable of knowing that all ? 19.
Krishna himself has spoken to King Muchukund about His infinite incarnations; I shall quote those (relevant) three verses. 20.
O king, your births, exploits and names are in thousands; since they are innumerable, even I cannot enumerate them. 21.
Perhaps somebody may count in numerous lives, the particles of dust on the earth, but nobody can count my incarnations, exploits and names. 22.
O sinless one, even the great sages, enumerating my lives and works in the past, in the present and in the future, will not reach the conclusion (of their task). 23.
Even in the Bhagavad Gita, the same Lord said to Arjun – ‘Innumerable lives of me and of you have passed’. 24.
It is not that I was not before; nor is it that these kings were not before; it is also not that hereafter all of us will not be there. 25.
On the strength of these powerful statements in hundreds, the delimitation of the Lord’s incarnations to a limited number is emphatically refuted. 26.
Therefore, a seeker of liberation should not be deluded that the incarnations are only ten and should resort to the Lord in his present incarnation with an assured heart. 27.
Without (the succor of) Shri HariHimself, the great ignorance born out of innumerable births will never perish; therefore, he is to be resorted to. 28.
The knowledge of Brahman will not lead to liberation without actually visualizing Shri HariHimself. This is what Vallabhacharya has said in (his commentary) Subodhini (on the Bhagavata). 29.
Krishna has steered the devotees through mundane existence; it is clear therefore that the mundane existence of the devotees comes to an end (through actually visualizing Him). 30.
As long as the actual fire in the outside (world) does not enter inside wood, it is not able to ignite the latent fire in it. 31.
In the same way, as long as the omniscient Vishnu does not manifest Himself and permeate everything, there is no dissolution of all (ignorance). 32.
Enlightened in this way by Him, that scholar soon has his doubts dispelled. The three others also concluded that the Lord may be there (in his latest incarnation.) 33.
Then Chiman Rao also was convinced that Shri Harimight be present even in the Kaliyug. It was on the strength of these arguments (that he was so convinced). 34.
But still he had the doubt as to whether his (i.e. Muktanand’s) guru was an incarnation of Vishnu. Therefore, he put this question to that sage. 35.
Chiman Rao’s question to Muktanand.
O Sage, we accept (as true) your statement that there will be incarnations of Shri Harion the earth in the Kaliyug. 36.
But ‘O great sage, please explain to us by what extraordinary qualities and traits he is to be recognized with while moving about on the earth ? 37.
Please explain how to recognize the Lord who has neither lifted a mountain nor destroyed demons and still He is the Lord. 38.
Characteristics of Bhagwan in human form.
Muktanand’s answer.
Muktanand said:-
The Lord, though in human form, is knowable to the seekers of liberation by means of his superhuman actions as also by means of the qualities of his devotees. 39.
Those characteristics of the Lord were described by the (goddess) Earth to Dharma Prajapati in the hoary past. Those very extraordinary ones; I shall explain (them) to you. 40.
(They are) truth, purity, compassion, forgiveness, spirit of sacrifice, contentment, humility, peacefulness, restraint, penance, equal attitude to all, forbearance, detachment and knowledge. 41.
Erudition, renunciation, the power to control all, bravery, invisibility, prowess, memory, complete independence, skillfulness, beauty, courage and softness. 42.
Maturity, unassuming nature, character, mental agility, luminescence, physical strength, spiritual strength (Bhag), seriousness, steadiness, faith in the Vedas (Astikya), fame, nobleness and absence of egoism. 43.
In addition to these, there are also in the Lord other qualities such as interest in the welfare of the Brahmins and the welfare of those who resort to Him. Know that these are permanently in Him and these (qualities) are sought after in many ways by others. 44.
It his by His grace that even an ordinary individual can all of a sudden transcend the waking state, dream and deep sleep. 45.
He is the Lord who can impart control to the minds of those who resort to him - the mind which even Brahma and others find it difficult to control without constant vigilance. 46.
It is by His grace that even without practicing Ashtang yoga, men will immediately attain a stable condition (of concentration) on the real self.47.
He whose images can be seen only in abodes like Golok etc. is here in human form. He should be understood as the Lord. 48.
He indeed is to be known as Hari, the Lord whose devotees have vanquished (evil passions like) anger, greed, desire, pride and are impartial. 49.
Thus I have explained in brief the extra-ordinary characteristics of Shri Hariwhich are common to all His incarnations. 50.
All other exploits of the Lord are owing to His mission or indeed they may be for the devotees to sing and praise about; they are not indicative of Him being the (world’s) ruler. 51.
The Lord’s exploit like lifting the (mountain) Govardhan etc. are only to vanquish the pride of Indra and others; it is not indicative of His being the (world’s) ruler. 52.
Demons like Hiranyaksh and others lifted the earth with the mountains. Do they become God only for that reason? 53.
Therefore, the distinctive characteristic of the Lord is that he liberates souls from ignorance, and destroys the demons to protect the true Dharma. 54.
Two methods of destroying two types of Asuras.
The demons are of two kinds; one, those who are of terrible appearance and wield weapons; two, those who masquerade as Sadhus and indulge in evil deeds. 55.
Their annihilation (by God) is also of two kinds; by weapons or without weapons. The one involves beheading by a weapon; the other involves depriving them of their livelihood. 56.
The livelihood of the gods is their wealth of divine qualities (Daivi-sampat); this has been acknowledged by the noble-minded; (the livelihood) of the demons is their demonic qualities (Asurisampat); these both have been explained by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. 57.
Characteristics of Devi-Sampati. Qualities of godliness.
Fearlessness, purity of being, steadiness of attention on spiritual knowledge, generosity, restraint, sacrifice, study of the sacred texts, penance and humility. 58.
Non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, peacefulness, not slandering (others), pity for all beings, absence of greed, gentleness, (consciousness of) shame (for wrong-doing), non-fickleness. 59.
Spiritedness, forgiveness, courage, purity, loyalty, absence of pride - these are the qualities, ‘O Arjun, of the one who is born (to inherit) the wealth of godliness. 60.
Characteristics of Asuri-Sampati.
Qualities of demonic nature.
O Arjun, the characteristics of the one who is born (to inherit) demonic nature, are the following - hypocrisy, pride, egoism, anger, harshness and ignorance. 61.
The fruits of the qualities of godliness is emancipation while that of demonic nature is bondage; ‘O Arjun, do not grieve; you are born (to inherit) the wealth of godliness. 62.
There are two (orders) of the creation of beings in this world - the godlike and the demonic; of these the godlike has been expatiated upon; ‘O Arjun, now listen to the demonic. 63.
Behaviour of people with Asuri-Sampati.
The demonic people do not recognize (the Dharma putting stress on) action and duty; nor do they recognize (the dharma inculcating) renunciation there is no purity, ethics, or truth in them. 64.
They maintain that the world is without a God, without support and without truth; that it (the world) is without coordination between its components; that its only purpose is self-indulgence. 65.
Embracing this view (of the world), those wicked ones with narrow understanding are bent upon (perpetrating) horrible acts for the destruction of the world. 66.
Craving for desires that are impossible to fulfill and full of hypocrisy, pride and haughtiness, they have false notions (of the world) out of ignorance and practice unholy rituals. 67.
They are obsessed with countless worries (for selfish gain) which may continue till the end of the world; their highest aim is self-indulgence and they are cock-sure that there is only this much (in life). 68.
Tied down by hundreds of snares of desire, and always prone to indulgence and anger, they seek to amass wealth through injustice for self-gratification. 69.
[This is always in their mind] I have attained this today; I will fulfill this desire (of mine); this is my wealth and that will also be in my possession. 70.
I have slain this enemy; I shall kill others also, I am the overlord, I am fit to enjoy and am accomplished, strong and happy. 71.
I am affluent; I belong to a high family; who else is like me? I shall offer sacrifice, donate and enjoy.’ In this way, they are misled by ignorance. 72.
They are misguided by numerous delusions in their minds and are trapped in snares of ignorance. Bound by the urge to indulgence of desire, they fall into unholy hell. 73.
Self-opinionated and haughty, and full of pride on account their wealth and status, they offer sacrifices (which are so only in name) devoid of rites only out their hypocrisy. 74.
Resorting to egoism, force, pride, desire and anger, they hate me out of envy, (not knowing that) I am in there and others’ selves. 75.
In this way Krishna explained to Arjun divine and demonic qualities and their consequences. 76.
Muktanand’s answer continues.
When weapon–wielding demons rise on the earth and resort to misdeeds, the Lord manifests Himself with weapons in hands and annihilates them. 77.
When these (demons) put on an ascetic’s garb and resort to misdeeds, then the Lord, without any weapon, destroys them by taking away their livelihood based on desires, anger etc. 78.
When, as a result of Hari’s prowess, their demonic wealth is destroyed, their demonic nature also perishes and godly characteristics start manifesting (in them). 79.
And other people too, struck with wonder, describe them to be so, that is, these are new and god-given; these are not their former selves. 80.
The Lord, establishing true piety on the earth by any means whatsoever, soon frees all those who resort to him.’ 81.
He should always be resorted to by humans because even great sinners attain spiritual well-being by resorting to him. 82.
And our preceptor, with all the traits and characteristics of God is present here; therefore I call him God; (I do not do so) out of reverence. 83.
As a result of resorting to him, thousands of men bent upon doing misdeeds, have been freed from demonic actions and they are well known in the world. 84.
And it is actually perceived by all that here men in hundreds and thousands go into spiritual trance (Samadhi) without practicing Yoga. 85.
It is also perceived by his devotees and sometimes even by non-devotees that at the time of their death His attendants come to fetch them (to heaven). 86.
It is therefore the knowledgeable people who determine that He indeed is God. If there is any doubt about this, please ask. I am here to answer. 87.
Suvrat said:-
On hearing this speech of that sage, those all with doubts had them dispelled from their hearts. They rejected their earlier view (about the Lord’s incarnation in Kaliyug), bowed to him and understood that He, whom they had heard to be Vishnu is indeed so. 88.
Thus ends the thirty seventh chapter entitled ‘Muktanand’s explanation of the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Kaliyug’ in the fourth Prakaran of Satsangijivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 37
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