A new feature in the Purāṇic
trivikrama
story is that it is said to be not the first of Viṣṇu’s deeds: it had been preceded by salvific actions in the forms of the
matsya, Kūrma, varāha
, and
nṛsiṇha avatāras.
42
The Epics and Purāṇas introduce a historical dimension: the Viṣṇu of the Vedas was a cosmic, a-historical being – the Viṣṇu of Epics and Purāṇas is a saviour who enters human history. A typical feature of purāṇic Viṣṇu mythology is also that the enemies vanquished in battles are not destroyed but only punished for a short time or even given
mukti
by Viṣṇu: as Viṣṇu appears repeatedly as saviour, so the enemy also appears repeatedly in various forms and incarnations.
43
The Epic still calls Viṣṇu
Upendra
in several places, the younger brother of Indra. But it also makes clear that the younger has grown stronger than the older and wields more power. Indra comes to Viṣṇu with the request to be taught the right religion.
44
Viṣṇu is still called the “slayer of the
asuras;’
especially the “slayer of Madhu” – a demon who according to the
Mahābhārata
originated from the dirt of Viṣṇu’s own ears.
45
Among the “thousand names of Viṣṇu” are still found his Vedic attributes, but the emphasis is clearly more on the
avatāras
than on the Vedic Viṣṇu himself.
VI
ṢṆ
U-NĀRĀYA
Ṇ
U
Nārāyaṇa – in Vedic literature the name of a
ṛṣi
46
–
is one of the most popular names of Viṣṇu in Epic and Purāṇic literature. Often mentioned together with Nārā, Nārā and Nārāyaṇa are variously identified with Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu, or with Vāsudeva and Arjuna. Much of Viṣṇu mythology is recounted under the name of Nārāyaṇa.
It is not easy to reconstruct the Nārāyaṇa religion prior to its fusion with Vaiṣṇavism. L. B. Keny
47
connects Nārāyaṇa with Dravidian and ultimately with Indus civilization sources. The connection of Nārāyaṇa with water is given in a
śloka
of the
Mahābhārata.
48
Nārā
is connected with Dravidian
nara / nira –
water;
ay
in Tamil means “to lie in a place”;
an
is a masculine termination in Dravidian languages. According to B. G. Bhandarkar, Nārāyaṇa has a cosmic significance: it is a name for the waters as the abode of the primeval germ and the resting place of the
nāras.
49
The identification of Nārāyaṇa with the
paramātman
must have taken place quite early and Nārāyaṇa was worshiped as the Supreme God before Vāsudeva was identified with him.
50
The famous Nārāyanīniya section of the
Śāntiparvan
51
is the earliest and longest account of the Nārāyaṇa religion. Nārāyaṇa is introduced as one of the four sons of Dharma: the others are Nārā, Hari, and Kṛṣṇa. Nārāyaṇa has a “twofold nature.” In the first one Nārāyaṇa and Nārā undergo severe
tapasya
at Bādarī, where Nārada visits them. But the “original nature” of Nārāyaṇa dwells in the “White Island”
(Śvetadvīpa)
to which Nārada repairs.
Many scholars have attempted to solve the mystery of the
Śveta-dvīpa,
52
described as lying to the North and inhabited by a god-like race of men who worshiped Nārāyaṇa as “the god of gods.” Even if we have to leave the riddle of
Śveta-dvīpa
unsolved we can consider the account given of the kings’ devotion as a summary of the tenets of early Vaiṣṇavism.
53
Its main elements are
ahiṃsā, bhakti
to Janardana, the omnipresence of God, and the idea that everything by right belongs to him. There is mention of the
Sātvata
and
Pāñcarātra
ritual. Food is offered to Nārāyaṇa. Nārāyaṇa in
Śvetadvīpa
is identified with Hari. Then “the invisible Nārāyaṇa left the
ṛṣis
and proceeded to a place not known to them.” The
ṛṣis
are ordered to preach and spread the Nārāyaṇa religion. The whole section dealing with Nārāyaṇa shows so many inconsistencies, repetitions, and interpolations that we must consider it the result of a combination of several separate Nārāyaṇa traditions.
Three times
Śveta-dvīpa
is described. The last description contains a fairly detailed account of all the major points of Vaiṣṇavism. Very important is the description of the Nārāyaṇa revelation. It looks like a combination of features of the Vedic
puruṣa sūkta
and the Viṣṇu of the Purāṇas. In the course of this manifestation of Nārāyaṇa’s “original nature” we hear that the denizens of
Śvetadvīpa
are
Namyana-bhaktas
and
muktas
. Nārāyaṇa then identifies himself with Puruṣa, Vāsudeva, Śeṣa, Saṁkarṣaṇa, SanātKumāra, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Īśāna and Ksetrajñā, who are, it seems, emanations from Nārāyaṇa and of the same nature. The theology connected with this revelation is a mixture of theistic Sāṁkhya and Advaita Vedānta. The manifestations are declared to be his
māyā
while his real nature remains unknown. Nārāyaṇa is the sum total of all living beings and he is the
jīva
. Hiraṇyagarbha, Brahman, Rudra, Ādityas, and Vasus come from him.
After this account of Nārāyaṇa in the Śvetadvīpa we return with Nārada to Bādarī – and meet again the
ṛṣis
Nārā and Nārāyaṇa, who ask Nārada whether he has seen the supreme being. The Vedic motif of Viṣṇu
madhusūdana
is brought in; but strangely enough it is said that it was Nārāyaṇa as
hāyagriva
, the horse-head incarnation which does not appear in later
avatāra
systems at all, who killed Madhu and Kaiṭabha.
THE
AVATĀRAS
OF VI
ṢṆ
U
The
avatāra
doctrine of recent Vaiṣṇavism is the outcome of a long development and the product of the amalgamation of many cults and traditions. The fact that various important sources of Vaiṣṇavism have a varying number of
avatāras
reflects the growth of the
avatāra
doctrine. Sometimes different names are used strictly as synonyms for Viṣṇu, sometimes they are hypostatized and made
avatāras
of Viṣṇu; even the various Vedic epithets of Viṣṇu like Trivikrama, Kalanemighnā, Rāhujit, and so on, appear as separate and individual
avatāras
. Despite the terminological and theological differences in defining the exact nature and relationship of the
avatāras
, there is no doubt that in Vaiṣṇavism, especially in its soteriology, the
avatāras
play a most important role; in later Vaiṣṇavism Viṣṇu as Savior appears almost exclusively in his
avatāras
. The
avatāra
is almost by definition a “savior”
54
and Viṣṇu must, in order to appear as savior, assume an
avatāra.
55
The standard number of
avatāras
in later Vaiṣṇavism is ten. The
Mahābhārata
mentions in one place four, in another six, and in a third, ten
avatāras
. The
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
mentions in one place sixteen and in another, twenty-two
avatāras
. The largest number is met with in the
Pāñcarātra Āgamas:
the
Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitā
has no less than thirty-nine. The lists in
Mahābhārata, Āgamas
, and
Purāṇas
show also that the distinction between various degrees of manifestations –
vyūhas, vibhavas
, partial and complete
avatāras
, and so forth – which plays such a great role in the classic Vaiṣṇava theologies, is either absent or still fluid.
While Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, the most popular
avatāras
, will be dealt with at some length later, it is probably sufficient just to mention the other eight without going into much detail.
Matsya-avatāra
defeated the
asuras
who had stolen the Vedas and returned them to the Brahmans. As
Ekasrnga
he saved Manu from the flood!
Kūrma-avatāra
supported the mountain Mandara which was used by the gods to churn out
amṛta
from the milk ocean and gain immortality.
Varāka-avatāra
lifted the earth out from the waters into which she had sunk and thus saved her: then only
sṛṣṭi
– the “furnishing of the earth” and human history – begins.
Nṛsiṇha-avatāra
saved the
Viṣṇu-bhakta
Prahlāda from the persecutor Hiraṇyakaśipu, and at the same time the whole world, usurped by Hiraṇyakaśipu, the
asura-
king, from the demons. In the latter part it follows the old Vedic pattern of Viṣṇu mythology.
Vāmana-avatāra
defeated Bali, the demon-king, and regained the three worlds for the gods who had been exiled. Also the function of cleansing the world from its sins is attributed to him: from his feet arises the Gaṅgā.
Paraśurāma-avatāra
saved the Brahmans by annihilating the Ksatriyas.
Balarāma-avatāra
is remembered for killing Pralamba and other demons.
Kalki-avatāra
is the only one to come in the future: he is the eschatological manifestation of Viṣṇu as liberator of the world from Kali and all his evil influences.
Besides these some others figure prominently in Vaiṣṇava scriptures and are still worshiped today by smaller groups of devotees.
We have already mentioned
Hāya-griva-avatāra
. The
Mahābhārata
says that “this of all forms, endued with puissance, is celebrated as the most ancient.”
56
Rsi Paramesti sees him in the great ocean in the northeast. He originates when Brahmā invokes Viṣṇu to help him retrieve the Vedas from the
asuras
Madhu and Kaiṭabha, who had stolen them. He recites the Vedic
mantras
loudly and correctly so that the
asuras
become frightened and drop the Vedas. Later the two
asuras
return and see Aniruddha sleeping upon the snake. They prepare for battle to recover the Vedas. “It was thus that Nārāyaṇa, having assumed the form equipped with the horse-head slew the two Dānavas Madhu and Kaiṭabha ... Once more, however, he assumed the same form for the cause of making the religion of
pravrtti
to flow in the universe.”
Kapila is very often mentioned in the epic and the Purāṇas as an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu. In the
Mahābhārata
“Kapila is authoritative in all philosophical matters and his name covers every sort of doctrine. He is in fact the only founder of a philosophical system known to the epic.”
57
He is the oldest, the supreme seer, identical with Agni, Śiva, Viṣṇu. But already the
Śāntiparvan
contains a Brāhmaṇic attack on Kapila – later orthodox Vedānta will classify him as a heretic. The
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
has a lengthy account of Viṣṇu taking the form of Kapila through Devahutī.
58
According to Brahmā’s announcement he comes “to tear up the roots of
karma
through the instrumentality of sastraic knowledge and realization.” The Sāṁkhya system, then, is described as a means to liberation.
A
swan-avatāra
plays an important role in the
Bhāgavatam
. His teaching, however, is but Sāṁkhya-Yoga and nothing else is added.
Dattātreya occurs in the
Mahābhārata
and in several
Purāṇas
as an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu: he grants boons to Arjuna and he teaches the
sādhyas
. The essence of his teaching is patience, non-violence, and friendliness. Vyāsa, the compiler of the
Mahābhārata
and the
Purāṇas
, is often called an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu and identified with Kṛṣṇa Dvaipayana and Nārāyaṇa. He teaches a way of salvation and preserves for humankind Viṣṇu’s revelations.
Nārada himself is sometimes mentioned as a separate
avatāra
. Prthu, the first king on earth, is considered by some an
avatāra
.
Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, is also counted among the
avatāras
of Viṣṇu. Healing – liberating from disease and pain – is a salvific activity of Viṣṇu.
Ṛṣabha – otherwise known as a heretic, belonging to the Jaina Digambara sect – is considered as an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu in the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
59
The
Mahābhārata
knows several Ṛṣabhas – one is a
nāga
from Dhrtarastra’s clan who died in Janamejaya’s snake sacrifice. Another is a
rākṣasa
. The third one is an old ascetic – probably the Ṛṣabha whom the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
is referring to. There is also a Ṛṣabha Dānava or Daitya. This latter may reflect the Brahmans’ excommunication of the Jaina saint. In the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
the
Ṛṣabha-avatāra’s
function is “the preservation of
dharma.”
He was the father of Bharata and held up an example of life in all the four
āśramas
. “He taught the ignorant by his own example the duties that had been forgotten.” Toward the end of his life he became a wandering ascetic, representing the
unmatta
type of saint. He died by entering voluntarily into a forest fire. “This
avatāra
of the Lord was intended to give a lesson in the art of liberating oneself to those who are steeped in the quality of
rajas.”
60
Buddha appears in some places as an
avatāra;
also Dhruva, Dadhibhakta, and others, who are worshiped as saints.
In later Vaiṣṇava theology the
vyūhas
are distinguished from the
avatāras
– every
vyūha
is also given a salvific function, which represents part of Viṣṇu’s cosmic function. Later sects have their own ideas regarding
avatāras
– very often they worship the
guru
or the
dcdrya
of their own school or sect as an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu. This practice is continued even today.