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Re: The religious meaning of ``Jagannatha''
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To: soc-religion-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: The religious meaning of ``Jagannatha''
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From: dchakrav@netserv.unmc.edu (Dhruba Chakravarti)
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Date: 21 Jan 1996 22:54:02 -0600
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
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References: <4d72sq$8de@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4df335$6b9@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4dks93$khi@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4dnea9$pt3@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4dpeuh$moa@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
GOPAL Ganapathiraju Sree Ramana (gopal@ecf.toronto.edu) wrote:
: now the questions:
: ================
: if this story is right, is this not about jagannath?
: if so, is krishna not vishnu?
Dear Friends:
I do not believe that Sri Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. His
own statements will reveal that. I would like to post something on the
significance of the ratha yatra, that should be useful in determination
of the question of Jagannatha, but first, I want to share some material
form my old posts all over again.
Chaturbhuja Krishna?
I believe that in the Visvarupa-darshana-yoga of the Srimad Bhagavad
Gita, Arjuna asked Sri Krishna to show him a four-armed form, but Sri
Krishna showed his two-armed form. This is evident from the following
verses:
Kiritinam gadinam chakrahastamicchAmi tvam drastumaham tathoiva.
Tenoiva rupena chaturbhujena, sahasrabAho bhava visvamurte. 11.46
Arjuna said-
(O SahasrabAhu! I would like to see you as before, wearing kirit and
holding gada and chakra. Show me your four-armed form.)
Sanjaya narrated-
Ityarjunam vAsudevastathoktA, svakam rupam darshayamasa bhuyah.
AshvAsayamAsa cha bhitamenam, bhutva punah soumyavapurmahAtmA. 11.50
Sanjaya said-
(Having said thus to Ajuna, VAsudeva showed him is own form (svakam
rupam), and comforted him by getting back to his pleasant form.)
Please note here that Sanjaya did not say four-armed. Arjuna said next:
Arjuna said-
Dristvedam mAnusham rupam tava soumyam JanArdana.
IdAnimasmi samvrittah sachetah prakritim gatah. 11.51
(O pleasant JanArdana! Seeing you in human form I am once again collected
and at my usual self.)
A four armed human form does not seem appropriate, and as the son of
Vasudeva, Sri Krishna looked like just another human. Clearly, both Sanjaya
and Arjuna report a two-armed form of Krishna here.
It appears that the reason many Vaisnava narrators insisted on a
Chaturbhuja Krishna might be related to the fond notion that Sri Krishna
is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu! But was He ?
My reading of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita tells me that Sri Krishna was
Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva together and more. Why else would Arjuna see
the three of them in Him?
PashyAmi DevAnstava Deva dehe, sarbAnstathA bhutavisheshasanghAn
BrahmAnam Isham KamalAsanastham Rishimscha sarbAn uragAnscha divyAn. 11.15
Arjuna said:
(O Deva! In your body (Tava dehe) I see (pashyami) all Devatas (sarban
Devan), and (tatha) classes of beings (bhutavisheshasanghan) hallowed
sages (divyan Rishim) and (cha) all serpents (sarban uragan) and (Lord) Brahma
(Brahmanam), (Lord) Mahesvara (Isham) and (Lord) Vishnu (kamalasanastham
- on Whom is seated Brahma (Kamalasan: seated on the lotus)).
I should say that I have seen some translations say the last part really
meansthat "Iswar Brahma sitting on the Lotus flower", while some others
suggest that "Isham" is Lord Shiva but "Kamalasanastham" merely qualifies Lord
Brahma.One of Lord Brahma's names is Kamalasan, and many Puranic pictures
depict Him seated on a lotus stuck onto Lord Vishnu's nabhi, therefore, it
seems reasonable that "Kamalasanstham" is Lord Vishnu. Unless Arjuna saw Lord
Brahma seated on a lotus flower floating in space, the presence of Lord
Vishnu would be expected there!
We really do not need to depend on Arjuna's description. Sri Krishna
Himself gives more clues that help resolve this issue. For that, let us
turn to chapter 10 of the SBG.
Hanta te kathaishyami divya hyatmavibhutayah
Pradhanyatah Kurushreshtha nastyanto bistarasya me. 10:19
Sri Bhagavan said:
(All right (hanta), I will tell you (kathaishyami) the major
(pradhanyatah) divine manifestations of mine (divya Atmabibhutayah).
Kurushrestha! My mainfestations (Me vibhutinam) are inumerable in
expressions (bistarasya antah na hi asti).
Then He says that He is Vishnu among Adityas (10:21) and Shankar among
Rudras (10:23). And they are just two of His main manifestations. Let
us look at the verses:
Adityanamaham Vishnurjyotisham rabiranshuman
Marichirmarutamasmi nakshatranamaham Shashi. 10:21
(I am (Aham) Vishnu among Adityas (Adiityanam Vishnuh), the radiant Rabi
(Rabiranshuman) among the light-givers (Jyotisham). Me it is (Asmi) Marichi
among the Maruts and the Moon (Shashi) among the stars.)
Rudranam Shankaraschasmi vittesho yaksharakshasam
Vasunam pavakashchasmi Meruh shikharinamaham. 10.23
(It is I (Asmi) who is Shankara among the Rudras, Kuber (Vittesh) amonf
Yaksha-Rakshas. I am Pavak among Vasus and Meru among mountains.)
This chapter has 19 verses that list Sri Krishna's various manifestations
(Vibhutis). In verse 10:40, He says that His manifestations are indeed
innumerable, and that was his 'short' list.
With best reagards,
Dhruba.
