Why did Krishna choose?...

[c.smith]

Hare Krishna!
A burning question if you will. Why did Krishna choose Vishnu out of the Hindu trinity for his incarnations as opposed to Shiva or Brahma?

[devotee]

Namaste Smith,

Why did Krishna choose Vishnu out of the Hindu trinity for his incarnations as opposed to Shiva or Brahma?

Your question is wrong because it is turned upside down ! Krishna didn't choose to be incarnation of Vishnu. Vishnu chose to incarnate as Krishna.

OM

[kd gupta]

Hare Krishna!
A burning question if you will. Why did Krishna choose Vishnu out of the Hindu trinity for his incarnations as opposed to Shiva or Brahma?

Only vishnu gets time to incarnate , while shiva and bramha always are busy in their killing and producing jobs, poor chaps .

[c.smith]

Thank-you for the replies. I look forward to more to help clarify (in my small mind) what seems to be my latest confusion. I got my definition from two ISKCON preachers who I would like to assume are correct (for ISKCON at least).

So to continue, would Krishna not be Brahman, the actual Godhead?

To put it in the form of an organizational chart:

Krishna--> Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva--> Other Gods and the incarnations/avatars.

Just trying to make sense of it all.

Hare Krishna!

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam Gupta ji

Only vishnu gets time to incarnate

From his busy schedule of maintaining and preserving, yes

Jai Shree Krishna

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam c.smith

Thank-you for the replies. I look forward to more to help clarify (in my small mind) what seems to be my latest confusion. I got my definition from two ISKCON preachers who I would like to assume are correct (for ISKCON at least).

So to continue, would Krishna not be Brahman, the actual Godhead?

To put it in the form of an organizational chart:

Krishna--> Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva--> Other Gods and the incarnations/avatars.

Just trying to make sense of it all.

Hare Krishna!

Most Hindus unlike Iskcon see no difference between Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, what to speak of Krishna viz Vishnu.

It is true though Bhakta of Krishna see him as supreme Brahman just as Devotee of Ram or devotee Shiva or Devotee of Maa would.

Jai Shree Krishna

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté devotee (et.al)

Your question is wrong because it is turned upside down ! Krishna didn't choose to be incarnation of Vishnu. Vishnu chose to incarnate as Krishna.
OM

Let me ask, since we have an inquiry about viṣṇu.

We know maha-viṣṇu remains lying, resting on ananta , and from His navel comes brahma. It is brahma that is tasked with creation…. why so? Why does maha-viṣṇu not just do this work ? Why task it to another?

Do we have some ideas regarding this matter?


praṇām

[devotee]

Namaste Yajvan ji,

We know maha-viṣṇu remains lying, resting on ananta , and from His navel comes brahma. It is brahma that is tasked with creation�. why so? Why does maha-viṣṇu not just do this work ? Why task it to another?

Do we have some ideas resgarding this matter?

IMHO,

Maha-Vishnu is all-pervading and in fact everything who Himself manifests as the trinity. So, this All-pervading, source of all, Maha-Vishnu is peaceful, the True Nature of the Self. It is not that He is assigning this task to "another" ... He is doing it in a different form with a different nature.

We can see this from this perspective too :

The creator is basically to decide the whole organisation of creation, its time period, rules of nature & keeps a record of how the other beings are doing etc. etc. which itself is a gigantic task. He is creating this world & the Maya. So that justifies the post of the first among the trinity, i.e. Brahmaa.

So, from management point of view, it is better that someone else should take care of its sustenance ... who will support people in living their life in this world in a better way & also show them the way out of this Maya .... which is again a huge task. And that calls for a separate authority within Trinity i.e. Vishnu.

Creator and sustainer, having the heart of a mother & father, would never like to destroy what they have created and nourished with their "efforts" ... so there is a need of a separate Godhead to destroy everything when the time comes. So, that justifies the post of Lord Shiva !

I think the justification is strong enough for finance to concur with the proposal !

OM

[atanu]

hariḥ oṁ
Namasté devotee (et.al)
Let me ask, since we have an inquiry about viṣṇu.
We know maha-viṣṇu remains lying, resting on ananta , and from His navel comes brahma. It is brahma that is tasked with creation…. why so? Why does maha-viṣṇu not just do this work ? Why task it to another?
Do we have some ideas regarding this matter?
praṇām

Namaste yajvanji,

A nice question. The following is the understanding here, though it is a bit off from the subject of the thread.

Mostly we understand scripture from the angle of Purusha --a man and/or Stree a woman, as if occupying a finite space. This is the anAdi mistake.

The un-nameable, undiscernible, Truth, which may be called Sada Shiva or para Shiva or Maha Vishnu or Maha Narayana etc. etc., is one single infinite being. When no internal difference exists within it, it is as if not a being nor a non-being.

By perturbation of this being, which is of the nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda, through its inherent shakti, variegation happens as per its will. Its thought is the Moon, the Mind (Soma-Bhutatma), wherefrom all Gods and all other so-called beings emerge. Even the Sun is from this Mind -- thus the Sun is called the grandson. The Truth's nature is Sat-Chid-Ananda --not a creator. But it is the substratum of all that seems to happen. Creation is the movement of joy of pure Mind.

Reading Maitrayana Brahmaya U. makes me visualise in the following fashion. (Visualisation is always wrong).

There is ParamAtma (un-nameble but is called by many names but actually is the secret Hridaya) and there is Bhutatma (Soma). Bhutatma, when under Tamas, is an infinite black beast (made of nothing as if), not knowing anything. This is the Tamasic stage of the deep sleep. The shakti within stirs and it goes into subtle variegation. Then this infinite beast wakes up shaking its mane and all that. At this stage, the sages are extremely fearful of this thousand headed beast made of fire. They offer Rudriyam. It being pacified thus, it becomes Agni-Vishnu - the Divine Universe. Still, those who do not know it as divine (ignorant like me) are fearful of its manifold cruel ways. By killings, by cruelty, by injustice -- everything is as if cruel of this beast of fire, which we see as the Universe. They should offer Rudriyam, which is known to be the food of this fierce infinite headed animal called Visva-Rudra. On pacifying it with food, it becomes Visva-Visnu. We know it as agni-vaisvanaro. It is God.

Rig Veda Book 10 TRITA APTYA


SUKTA 1

1. High and vast the Fire stood in front of the dawns; issuing out of the darkness he came with the Light: Fire, a perfect body of brilliant lustre, filled out at his very birth all the worlds.

2. Thou art the child born from earth and heaven, the child beautiful carried in the growths of earth; an infant many-hued, thou goest forth crying aloud from the mothers around the nights and the darknesses.

3. Vishnu knowing rightly the supreme plane of this Fire, born in his vastness, guards the third (plane); when in his mouth they have poured the milk (of the cow), conscious they shine here towards his own home.

4. Hence the mothers who bear that draught come with their food to thee, and thou growest by the food: to them the same, but other in their forms, thou comest (returnest) again, then art thou Priest of the call in human beings.

5. The Priest of the call of the pilgrim-rite with his many- hued chariot, in the brilliant ray of intuition of sacrifice on sacrifice, Fire the guest of man who takes to himself the half of each god in might and glory.

6. Putting on robes, putting on forms, Fire in the navel-centre of the earth is born a ruddy flame, in the seat of Revelation. O King, as the Priest set in front sacrifice to the gods.
7. Ever, O Fire, thou hast stretched out earth and heaven, as their son thou hast built up thy father and mother: O ever young, journey towards the gods who desire thee; then bring them to us, O forceful Flame!

------------

RV Book 5 VASUSHRUTA


SUKTA 3

1. Thou art Varuna, O Fire, when thou art born, thou becomest Mitra when thou blazest high; in thee are all the gods, O son of Force (shakti putra), thou art Indra for the mortal giver.

2. O holder of the self law, thou becomest Aryaman when thou bearest the secret name of the Virgins; they reveal thee with the Rays as Mitra firmly founded when thou makest of one mind the Lord of the house and the Spouse.
3. For the glory of thee, O Rudra, the life powers make bright thy birth into a richly manifold beauty. When that highest step [[The supreme plane of the three.]] of Vishnu is founded within (Hridaya), thou guardest by it the secret name of the Ray cows.

Manifoldness does not allow revelation of the single entity, which resides in the Hridaya. It is one Truth which is THE BEING, which is the Universe and all beings (these in truth cannot be called beings, since their beingness is from the THE BEING). The shantam heart of this infinite beast is called Maha Vishnu or Sada Shiva, the unchanging immortal Atma, called Prabhu.

Prabhu is advaita, but it appears to become two: a Self of Intelligence and a Self of Life Force.

Om Namah Shivaya

[Bimal Banerjee]

Dear Mr. Smith,Thanks for your question but do you think we should entangle ourselves in such type of issues when Hinduism and Hindus are receeding with every passing day. Yes, we were 100% a thousand years back not only in this sub-continent but also in Afghanistan and Indonesia and we have almost been wiped out of these areas. Mr. Smith, kindly think of ways and means how this oldest religion on earth can survive and expand. Otherwise, the day will not be very far off when there will be no Hindu left to answer any question of yours.With best regards,Yours sincerely,Bimal Banerjeebimalbanerjee@gmail.com