Can Some one explain the quadruple expansions of Lord vishnu ie Sankarshana, Aniruddha, pradumna and vasudeva please let me know their purpose of manifestation? I have very limited knowledge in this.
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Can Some one explain the quadruple expansions of Lord vishnu ie Sankarshana, Aniruddha, pradumna and vasudeva please let me know their purpose of manifestation? I have very limited knowledge in this.
According to Sri Ranga Ramanuja Muni's commentary on mAndUkya upaniShad, each of the four forms presides over one of the four states of consciousness of the jIvAtma - the waking state (Aniruddha), the dream state (Pradyumna), the state of deep sleep (Sankarshana), and the fourth state that is none of these (Vaasudeva). Since the entire upaniShad is expanding on the meaning of OM, the commentator appears to be likening each of the bhagavad-vyuhas to A-kAra, U-kAra, and M-kAra of the word OM (AUM).Quote:
Originally Posted by Achintya beda abheda
I'm sure there are plenty of other explanations also. I seem to recall a Gaudiya Vaishnava author explaining the chatur-vyuhas in relation to sambandha, abhideya, and prayojana, but I can't remember when or where I read that. Maybe in Bhagavat-sandarbha?
I also remember a Dvaita list commentator once explaining that each of the chatur-vyuha forms is a partial representation of the powers of the previous one. They are all Naaraayana, but in each form expressing only a portion of His total shaktis.
hope this helps,
philosoraptor
Thank you so much... i didnt have the knowledge inthis now i get an idea about this.. thks a lot:-)
Dear Friend,
The "quadruple expansions of Sri Maha Vishnu" is beautifully described in many sacred scriptures....
Although the root information is not clearly available,in the limited scripts we have, as to why there is a quadruple expansion,
there are quite a number of recent references available...
the great Mahaatma Bheeshma uses the name "Chaturaatma"[139] in the Divine Sri Vishnu Sahasranama....which
can very roughly be translated as quadruple expansion of the Paramaatma...
One of the major things that people usually tend to ignore blissfully is the fact that Sri Parameshwara manifests Himself
in different planetary systems at different times only to maintain Dharma...whatever He does during those
Divine Manifestations are nothing but His Divine Leelas which is extremely difficult for us to even comprehend...
so with the main objective being protection of Dharma, destruction of Adharma and those who are doing Adharma,
Sri Vaasudeva manifests in His Four Divine forms....
Because we are today left with only a small chunk of scriptures, which has actually more information regarding the recent events
[Treta Yuga and Dwapara Yuga which preceded our Kali Yuga] we have only good information regarding the quadruple expansions
of Sri Maha Vishnu in these two yugas in detail...that does not mean He did not have these expansions earlier...the only fact
is we are unfortunate to have being born in Kali Yuga, and hence do not have the data...
While Puaranas and other scripts are not so clear regarding the description of the origin of this quadruple expansions , some of the
popularly acknowledged points are that
- Sri Maha Vishnu as an Avatar, as the prominent one, is present
- Adi Shesha or that Divine Serpent on which Sri Maha Vishnu rests is present as an amsha [instance]
- Sudharshana or that Divine Chakra is also present as an amsha [instance]
- Panchajanya or that Divine Conch is also present as an amsha [instance]
one can also find many other interpretations from different scripts....and these are such things where every interpretation may be correct or
every interpretation may be wrong...so lets not get into that part....
According to Puaranas, in Tretha Yuga, the "quadruple expansions of Sri Maha Vishnu" are
Sri Rama and His brothers Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrughna
While many actually know that Sri Rama killed Ravana and Kumbhakarana, seldom people know regarding the other
demons and adharmis killed by Lakshmana, Bharatha and Kshatrugna....
here Sri Rama[Avatar of Sri Maha Vishnu], Lakshmana [Amsha of Adi Shesha], Bharatha [Amsha of Sudharshana]
and Shatrughna [Amsha of Paanchajanya] form the quadruple expansions...
In Dwapara Yuga, the "quadruple expansions of Sri Maha Vishnu" are
Sri Krishna[Avatar of Sri Maha Vishnu], His brother Sankarshana[Balarama] [Amsha of Adi Shesha], His son Pradhyumna[not very clear as
Srimad Bhagavatam also introduces Pradhyumna as a reincarnation of Kaama or Manmatha...] and His grandson Anirudha [not very clear whose Amsha he was]
Again seldom people know regarding the other demons and adharmis killed by Sankarshana, Pradhyumna and Anirudha
Ofcourse there are many interlinked things told about the the "quadruple expansions of Sri Maha Vishnu" and because this is
in the Vishishtadvaita thread, its worth mentioning here about the great Aacharya, Sri Raamanuja....
It is strongly believed by all Vishishtadvaita followers that Sri Ramanuja is the Amsha-reincarnation of Lakshmana and
hence the name Rama - anuja ....anuja roughly means younger[ brother ] and hence the name Rama anuja
means younger brother of Sri Rama or in other words an Amsha of Lakshmana who is an Amsha of Adi Shesha...