"O Keshava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a gigantic boar! All glories to You! The earth, which had become immersed in the Garbhodaka Ocean at the bottom of the universe, sits fixed upon the tip of Your tusk like a spot upon the moon." (Dasavatara Stotram 3 of Jaya deva Goswami)vasati dasana-sikhare dharani tava lagna
sasini kalanka-kaleva nimagna
keshava dhrta-sukara-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Prabhupäda: ...lifted
the world when it was submerged within the water of Garbhodaka Ocean. The
universe which we are seeing, it is only half. The other half is filled
with water, and in that water is Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu
lying. So one demon, Hiraëyäkña, he pushed this earthly
planet within that water, and Lord Kåñëa delivered this
earthly planet from water in the shape of a boar. So that auspicious day
is today, Varäha-dvadaçé. This is called Varäha-dvadasi.
So on this day it is better to sing, to glorify the different incarnations
of Lord within this universe. The first incarnation is the fish form.
So these prayers
were offered by Jayadeva Gosvämé. One Vaiñëava
poet advented about seven hundred years before Lord Caitanya’s appearance.
He was a great devotee, and his specific poetry, Géta-govinda, is
very famous all over the world. Géta- govinda. Géta-govinda
is the subject matter of Kåñëa playing on flute about
Rädhäräëé. That is the subject matter of Géta-govinda.
The same poet, Jayadeva Gosvämé, has offered this prayer, pralaya-payodhi-jale-dhåtavän
asi vedam. He says, “My dear Lord, when there was devastation within this
universe, everything was filled with water. At that time You saved the
Vedas, stacked in a boat. And you held the boat from being drowned in the
water, in the shape of a big fish.” This fish first of all was caught in
the waterpot just like a small fish. Then it enlarged, and the fish was
kept in a bigger water reservoir. In this way the fish was increasing.
Then the fish informed that “Devastation is coming. You just save all the
Vedas on a boat, and I shall protect it.” So Jayadeva Gosvämé
is offering prayer, “My Lord, You saved the Vedas when there was devastation
in the shape of a fish.”
The next is
Kürmävatära. There was churning of the ocean. One side
all the demigods and one side all the demons. And the churning rod was
a great hill called Mandara-pärvata. And the resting place was on
the back of the Lord appeared as a tortoise. So he’s offering his prayer
that “You appeared as a tortoise just to become the resting place. And
this happened because You were feeling some itching sensation on Your back.
So You accepted this big rod, Mandara Hill, to itch, as the itching instrument.”
Then the next
incarnation is this Varäha, boar or hog. He delivered this earthly
planet by the tusk, and He kept the whole world on His tusk. We can just
imagine how big He appeared. And the world at that time appeared just like
the moon disc with some marks on it. So keçava dhåta-varäha-çaréra.
He says, “My dear Lord, You have appeared as the great boar. So let me
offer my respectful obeisances unto You.”
The fourth
incarnation is Nåsiàhadeva. Nåsiàhadeva appeared
to save Prahläda Mahäräja, who was five-years-old boy and
he was being tortured by his atheistic father. So He appeared from the
pillar of the palace as a half-man, half-lion. Because this Hiraëyakaçipu
took benediction from Brahmä that he’ll not be killed by any man or
any animal. So the Lord appeared neither man nor animal. This is the difference
between the Lord’s intelligence and our intelligence. We are thinking that
we can cheat the Lord by our intelligence, but the Lord is more intelligent
than us. This Hiraëyakaçipu wanted to cheat Brahmä by
indirect definition. First of all he wanted to become immortal. Brahmä
said, “That is not possible because even I am not immortal. Nobody in this
material world is immortal. That is not possible.” So Hiraëyakaçipu,
the demon... The demons are very intelligent. He thought that “Round about
way I shall become immortal.” He prayed to Brahmä that “Please give
me the benediction that I shall not be killed by any man or any animal.”
Brahmä said, “Yes, that is all right.” “I shall not be killed in the
sky, on the water or on land.” Brahmä said, “Oh yes.” “I shall not
be killed by any man-made weapons.” “That’s all right.” In this way he
utilized his intelligence in so many ways just to come to the conclusion
of being immortal. But the Lord is so cunning that He kept intact all the
benediction given by Brahmä, still he was killed. He said that “I’ll
not be killed either during daytime or night.” Brahmä said “Yes.”
So he was killed just in the evening, just in the junction of day and night.
You cannot say it is day or night. He took the benediction that “I shall
not be killed in the sky, on the water, on the land.” So he was killed
on His lap. He took the benediction that “I shall not be killed by any
man-made or any God-made weapons.” That was given, “All right.” So he was
killed by the nails. In this way, all the benedictions were kept intact,
still he was killed. Similarly, we may make plan, we may make very advancement
in scientific knowledge, but the killing process of nature will be there.
Nobody can escape. By our intelligence we cannot escape. The four principles
of material existence means birth, death, old age and disease. We can manufacture
many medicines, many weapons, many means, many methods, but you cannot
escape these four principles of material existence, however great you may
be. That was proved by Hiraëyakaçipu. Hiraëyakaçipu
was one of the stalwart materialistic and he wanted to live forever, enjoy,
but he also could not live. Everything was finished.
Then next
incarnation is Vämana,
the dwarf. Lord Vämana appeared before Bali Mahäräja. That
was also another cheating. Bali Mahäräja conquered all the universal
planets and the demigods were too much disturbed. So Vämana Mahäräja...
Vämanadeva went to Bali Mahäräja that “You give me some
alms. I am brähmaëa. I have come to beg from you.” So Bali Mahäräja
said, “Yes. I’ll give You.” So He wanted three feet land only. So by one
feet the whole universe was covered, upside, and another feet the other
half was covered. Then the third feet Bali Mahäräja said, “Yes,
now there is no place. Please keep Your feet on my head. Still my head
is there.” So Vämanadeva was very much pleased by the sacrifice of
Bali Mahäräja. He gave up everything for the Lord. So he is one
of the great authorities. Out of the twelve authorities, Bali Mahäräja
is one of the authorities because he sacrificed everything to satisfy the
Lord.
And next is
Paraçuräma.
Paraçuräma, twenty-one times He made a massacre propaganda
for killing all the kñatriya kings. The kñatriya kings were
very much dishonest at that time, so he killed them for twenty-one times.
They fled from here and there. And from the history of Mahäbhärata
it is understood, at that time some of the kñatriyas fled and took
shelter in the European side. And the Indo-European stock is from those
kñatriyas. That is history, inform..., historical information from
Mahäbhärata.
Then next
incarnation is Lord Räma.
So He fought with Rävaëa who had ten heads. So ... And the next
incarnation is Balaräma. Balaräma is the elder brother of Kåñëa.
He is incarnation of Saìkarñaëa, next expansion of Kåñëa.
So He was very white in complexion, and He was wearing blue garments, and
with His plow He was, sometimes He was angry with Yamunä River, and
He tried to dry up the Yamunä River. That description is given here.
And Yamunä, out of His fear, she agreed to the proposal of Balaräma.
And the next
incarnation is Lord Buddha.
Lord Buddha, He decried the Vedic principles. Therefore He is calculated
as atheist. Anyone who does not agree with the Vedic principles, he is
considered as atheist. Just like one who does not believe in the Bible,
they are called heathens, similarly, those who do not accept the Vedic
principles, they are called atheists. So Lord Buddha although incarnation
of Kåñëa, He said that “I do not believe in Vedas.” What
was the reason? The reason was to save the poor animals. At that time people
were sacrificing the poor animals under the plea of Vedic sacrifice. So
demonic persons, they want to do something under the protection of authority.
Just like a big lawyer takes the protection of the lawbook and he makes
the law unlawful. Similarly, the demons are so intelligent that they take
advantage of scriptural injunction and do all nonsense. So these things
were going on. In the name of Vedic sacrifice, they were killing animals
like anything. So Lord became very much compassionate these poor animals,
and He appeared as Lord Buddha, and His philosophy was nonviolence. His
philosophy was atheist because He said that “There is no God. This combination
of matter is a manifestation, and you dismantle the material elements,
there will be void and there will be no sense of pleasure and pain. That
is the nirväëa, ultimate goal of life.” That was His philosophy.
But actually His mission was to stop animal killing, to stop the men from
so much sinful activities. So Lord Buddha is also prayed herewith. So people
will be surprised that Lord Buddha is designated as atheist and still the
Vaiñëavas, they are offering their respectful prayers to Lord
Viñëu (Buddha). Why? Because the Vaiñëava knows
how the God is acting for His different purposes. Others, they do not know.
The next avatär incarnation
is Kalki.
That is yet to take place. Kalki avatära will appear at the end of
this age, Kali- yuga. The age of Kali-yuga, duration of this age is still
to be, I mean to say, fulfilled in 400,000’s of years. So at the end of
Kali, that means at the last stage, after about 400,000’s of years, the
incarnation of Kali will appear. That is predicted in the Vedic literatures,
as Lord Buddha’s appearance was also predicted in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
And Çrémad-Bhägavatam was compiled five thousand years
ago, and Lord Buddha appeared about 2,500 years ago. Therefore about Lord
Buddha’s appearance it is predicted that at the beginning of Kali-yuga
Lord Buddha will appear.
There was prediction,
and that has actually come to be true. Similarly, there is prediction about
Kalki avatära, and that will also come to be true. So at that time
Lord Kalki’s business will be simply to kill. No instruction. Just like...
In Bhagavad- gétä Lord Kåñëa gave instruction
in the shape of Bhagavad-gétä. But at the end of Kali-yuga,
people will be so much degraded that there is no more possibility to give
any instruction. They will not be able to understand even. At that time
the only weapon will be to kill them. And one who is killed by the Lord,
he also gets salvation. That is God’s all-merciful quality. Either He protects
or He kills, the result is the same. So that will be the last stage of
this Kali-yuga, and after that, again Satya-yuga, the age of religiosity,
will begin. These are the statements of Vedic literature. (end)
(His Divine Grace Srila .C. Bhatvedant wami Prabhupada)