In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Paraashara’s accord on Bhagawan’s important “Avataras” or “Incarnations” in this world. In this, we’ve already witnessed a couple of them, and now Sage Paraashara is at the verge of giving some detailed accords to the other important incarnations of Bhagawan. In the meanwhile, he had given us a small narration as to which are the “Poorna-Avataras” of Bhagawan Vishnu. The two important “Poorna-Avataras” are the “Rama-Avatara” and “Krishna-Avatara”. Now the important question comes here – Why are these two referred to as the “Poorna-Avataras”? What did Bhagawan do differently in these two Avataras, as compared to the other “Avataras”? In fact, we’ve witnessed a glimpse of the answer in yesterday’s episode itself, but it is worth expanding the answer further for our readers’ understanding.
In both these “Avataras”, like we’ve witnessed yesterday, Bhagawan was born as a normal human being and illustrated all the important aspects of “Dharma” that are described in the Vedas and Upanishads. It is to be noted by readers that both Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna did not invent any “Dharma” for the first time. All these important points are already present in our rice and vast Sanaatana Dharma literature, in the form of Vedas and the Vedantas. However, for common people like us in the future generations, it would be next to impossible to read, understand and comprehend these important points. We’ve to first of all understand that all these scriptural texts are either in Sanskrit or Tamil languages. Given today’s situation, many of us do not know the Sanskrit language itself. Even if some of us know it, Sanskrit is a bit of a complicated language and it’s usages and grammar makes it difficult for us to understand and comprehend our Vedic and Vedantic literature. Thus, language is the first barrier for all of us. More than the language part, if we look at the conceptual section of the Vedas and Vedantas, there are innumerable points which we might not be able to understand and comprehend, just because we might have not experienced certain things in our life.
We might witness the same level of difficulty in understanding certain concepts in science and technology too in today’s world, just because of the fact that we do not have any prior knowledge or understanding of the subject. Thus, if we’ve to explain science and technology to a person who has zero knowledge in both, how do we explain? We’ve to show some examples, illustrations, experiments, pictorial representations, graphical representations, diagrams, etc. isn’t it? Now let us apply the same logic to our Veda and Vedanta texts. There are innumerable concepts and logics that are well-explained in the texts, but lack proper illustrations. It is to give the specific illustrations required to justify the points that the Vedas and Vedanta convey, Bhagawan Himself has taken over the responsibility to incarnate in this world, and to set Himself as the role model. Thus we would see that in both these “Avataraas”, Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna had “walked the path” of “Dharma” as prescribed in the Vedas and the “Vedantas”. This is why we have this popular sloka to illustrate this point:
“Ithihaasa puraanaabhyaam vedam shoupabrahmayeth!
Vibheh kalpashruthaa vedaha maamayam praharshati!!”
The sloka clearly explains the point that if one goes into reading and understanding the Vedas, without going through the “Ithihaasas” and the “Puraanas”, the “Veda Mata” (Mother of all Vedas) starts getting jittery and scared! Why is the “Veda Mata” getting scared here? She gets scared because what if this person misunderstands the concepts in the Vedas and wrongly interprets them because of his lack of understanding. This is why, the knowledge of the “Ithihasas” and “Puraanas” are important for a spiritual seeker, before entering into the subject of Vedas and Upanishads. As all of us know by this time, the “Ithihasas” are the two important texts of “Shrimad Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”, illustrating all the life incidents of Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna respectively. Thus, since Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna have taken the onus upon themselves to illustrate to the world, all the key aspects of “Dharma” as narrated in the Vedas and Upanishads, these two “Avataras” are referred to as the “Poorna-Avataras” by Sage Paraashara.
Thus, from this point onwards, Sage Paraashara is also going to give a special focus on these two “Poorna-Avataras” in his own style, in all the upcoming “Amsas”. So for today, let us understand the significance of the two “Poorna-Avataras” of Bhagawan Vishnu. Of course, readers must also note here that just because we’re focusing on these two “Avataras”, we shouldn’t como to a conclusion that other incarnations of Bhagawan are not so important or insignificant. Every incarnation has its purpose behind it and we should always remember this in our minds as we move on further. We shall wait till the next episode to start witnessing Sage Paraashara’s further accords on the “Poorna-Avataras” and the narratives that lead up to them. Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 