yajvan
19 February 2007, 09:49 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~
Namaste,
Does anyone have knowledge of avatar's being defined in the shastra's before the Puranas or the Mahabharata?
[Agnideva, please note item 7, this answers a question you had regarding Indra and visnu last week].
We usally think of the dasa-avatara of Visnu , yet there are 25 I believe… If we look to the Srimad Bhagavatam purana, Twenty-two avatars of Vishnu are called out:
1. Catursana - The Four Sons of Brahma or the 4 kumara's Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-Kumara who is also called Skanda . Jai Skandaye namaha! The remover of knots from the heart.
2. Varaha -The boar
3. Narada -The Traveling Sage
4. Nara-Narayana - The Twins; some even say they are Arjuna and Krsna!
5. Kapila - the wise philosopher
6. Dattatreya - Combined Avatar of the trimurthi
7. Yajna- Vishnu temporarily taking the role of Indra (divine mind)
8. Rishabha- Father of Bharata
9. Prithu - King who made earth beautiful and attractive
10. Matsya -The Fish
11. Kurma -The Tortoise
12. Dhanvantari -Father of Ayurveda
13. Mohini -(Beautiful/Charming Woman - ( I know little of her)
14. Narasimha -The Man-Lion; very devoted to is followers
15. Vamana- The Dwarf - yet is able to pace out creation in 3 steps
16. Parasurama - Rama with an Axe ; remover of injustice of the kasatriya (3 times!)
17. Vyasa - Ved Vyasa and composer of the Mahabrahata and organizer of the Vedas, preparing for Kali yuga
18. Ramachandra- The King of Ayodhya, and Brahm, the perfect man/leader ( Jai Sri Ram!)
19. Balarama -Krishna's Elder Brother
20. Krishna - (The Cowherder, Keshava and son of Vasudeva: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya; The Universal Self, the Fountainhead of all
21. Buddha -The Middle Way, some call the reformer
22. Kalki-The Destroyer - yet to come in Kali yuga
Besides these, another three avatars are described later on in the text as follows and I knowe little about them:
23. Prshnigarbha -Born to Prshni
24. Hayagriva - The Horse
25. Hamsa -The Swan
This makes 25, yet, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is also listed as an avatar and recognized by the Vaishnava tradition.
pranams, and Hari Om Tad Sat
~~~~~
Namaste,
Does anyone have knowledge of avatar's being defined in the shastra's before the Puranas or the Mahabharata?
[Agnideva, please note item 7, this answers a question you had regarding Indra and visnu last week].
We usally think of the dasa-avatara of Visnu , yet there are 25 I believe… If we look to the Srimad Bhagavatam purana, Twenty-two avatars of Vishnu are called out:
1. Catursana - The Four Sons of Brahma or the 4 kumara's Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-Kumara who is also called Skanda . Jai Skandaye namaha! The remover of knots from the heart.
2. Varaha -The boar
3. Narada -The Traveling Sage
4. Nara-Narayana - The Twins; some even say they are Arjuna and Krsna!
5. Kapila - the wise philosopher
6. Dattatreya - Combined Avatar of the trimurthi
7. Yajna- Vishnu temporarily taking the role of Indra (divine mind)
8. Rishabha- Father of Bharata
9. Prithu - King who made earth beautiful and attractive
10. Matsya -The Fish
11. Kurma -The Tortoise
12. Dhanvantari -Father of Ayurveda
13. Mohini -(Beautiful/Charming Woman - ( I know little of her)
14. Narasimha -The Man-Lion; very devoted to is followers
15. Vamana- The Dwarf - yet is able to pace out creation in 3 steps
16. Parasurama - Rama with an Axe ; remover of injustice of the kasatriya (3 times!)
17. Vyasa - Ved Vyasa and composer of the Mahabrahata and organizer of the Vedas, preparing for Kali yuga
18. Ramachandra- The King of Ayodhya, and Brahm, the perfect man/leader ( Jai Sri Ram!)
19. Balarama -Krishna's Elder Brother
20. Krishna - (The Cowherder, Keshava and son of Vasudeva: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya; The Universal Self, the Fountainhead of all
21. Buddha -The Middle Way, some call the reformer
22. Kalki-The Destroyer - yet to come in Kali yuga
Besides these, another three avatars are described later on in the text as follows and I knowe little about them:
23. Prshnigarbha -Born to Prshni
24. Hayagriva - The Horse
25. Hamsa -The Swan
This makes 25, yet, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is also listed as an avatar and recognized by the Vaishnava tradition.
pranams, and Hari Om Tad Sat