Hore Krisna.
Dondo Pronam.
I would be highly oblized if any probhu or mataji please enlighten me about the detail tatwa of first four expansion of Lord Krisna,namely,
ANIRUDHYO, BALARAM, SANGKARSAN & PRODYUMNA.
i have learnt a few about them, but i want more to learn.
Your blessings are also earnestly solicited.
Hori Bol.
Replies
Jai Shri Krishna..
Vilasa Expansions
The first four expansions in the vilasa category (prabhava-vilasa) originate from Lord Balarama (vaibhava-prakasha). Prabhava manifestations are fully potent; vaibhava manifestations are partially potent. The four expansions Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are known as the catur- vyuha.Catur means “four,” and vyuha means “guard” or “arms.” These forms have four arms, and They guard the four directions of the material world. They reside in the spiritual world. Srila Prabhupada refers to Them as the aides-de-camp of Lord Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada explains: “The Lord in His different features (Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, and Sankarshana) maintains both the gross and subtle material elements of this world. As mentioned in Bhagavad-gita, the gross material elements are earth, water, fire, air, and ether, and the subtle material elements are mind, intelligence, and ego. All of them are controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha… . Lord Krishna, by His quadruple expansion (Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha), is the Lord of psychic action—namely thinking, feeling, willing, and acting.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.35-36, Purport)
From these first four expansions come other catur- vyuhas, known as vaibhava-vilasa. The months of the year and the markings of tilaka are named for these vaibhava-vilasa manifestations.
Hore Krisna.
Dondobot Pronam Manoj Probhu.
Thank you very much for eradicating a very little portion of my vast ignorance.
Please continue to enlighten me.
Horibol.
Jai Shri Krishna..
Prabhuji, you are always wrong in your assumptions! Please understand that it's you who has given me the opportunity to learn and at least given me the opportunity to vanquish a portion of my vast ignorance.
Dandavat Pranam..
HareKrishna,
(Caitanya Caritamrta 5:41. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's purport.)
"Sankaracarya says (verse 42.) that devotees think the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vasudeva, Sri Krsna, to be one, to be free from material qualities and to have a transcendental body full of bliss and eternal existence. He is the ultimate goal of the devotees, who believe that the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into four other eternal transcendental forms; Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. From Vasudeva, who is the primary expansion, come Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha in that order. Another name of Vasudeva is Paramatma, another name of Sankarsana is 'jiva' (the living entity), another name of Pradyumna is mind, and another name of Aniruddha is 'ahankara' (false ego). Among these expansions, Vasudeva is considered the origin of material nature. Therefore Sankaracarya says that Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha must be creations of that original cause.
"Great souls assert that Narayana, who is known as Paramatma, the Supersoul, is beyond material nature, and this is in accordance with the statements of the Vedic literature. Mayavadis also agree that Narayana can expand Himself in various forms. Sankara says that he does not attempt to argue that portion of the devotees' understanding, but he must protest the idea that Sankarsana is produced from Vasudeva, Pradyumna is produced from Sankarsana, and Aniruddha is produced from Pradyumna, for if Sankarsana is understood to represent the living entities created from the body of Vasudeva, the living entities would have to be non-eternal. The living entities are supposed to be freed from material contamination by engaging in prolonged temple worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, reading Vedic literature and performing 'yoga' and pious activities to attain the Supreme Lord. But if the living entities had been created from material nature at a certain point, they would be non-eternal and would have no chance to be liberated and associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When a cause is nullified, its results are nullified. In the Second Chapter of Vedanta-sutra, Acarya Vedavyasa has also refuted the conception that the living beings were ever born ('natma sruter nityatvac ca tabhyah'). Because there is no creation for the living entities, they must be eternal.
"Sankaracarya also says (verse 44.) that he cannot accept the devotees' idea that Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are equally as powerful as the absolute Personality of Godhead, full in the six opulences of knowledge, wealth, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation, and free from the flaw of generation at a certain point. Even if They are full expansions, the flaw of generation remains. Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, being distinct individual persons, cannot be One. Therefore if They are accepted as absolute, full and equal, there would have to be many Personalities of Godhead. But there is no need to accept that there are many Personalities of Godhead, because acceptance of one omnipotent God is sufficient for all purposes. The acceptance of more than one God is contradictory to the conclusion that Lord Vasudeva, the absolute Personality of Godhead, is one without a second. Even if we agree to accept that the quadruple forms of Godhead are all identical, we cannot avoid the incongruous flaw of non eternity. Unless we accept that there are some differences among the personalities, there is no meaning to the idea that Sankarsana is an expansion of Vasudeva, Pradyumna is an expansion of Sankarsana, and Aniruddha is an expansion of Pradyumna. There must be a distinction between cause and effect. For example, a pot is distinct from the earth from which it's made, and therefore we can ascertain that the earth is the cause and the pot is the effect. Without such distinctions, there is no meaning to cause and effect. Furthermore, the followers of the 'pancharatric' principles do not accept any differences in knowledge and qualities between Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The devotees accept all these expansions to be one, but why should they restrict oneness to these quadruple expansions? Certainly we should not do so, for all living entities, from Brahma to the insignificant ant, are expansions of Vasudeva, as accepted in all the 'srutis' and 'smrtis'. (Dangerous logic, but refuted earlier - JTCD.)
"Sankarsana, the second expansion, is Vasudeva's personal expansion for pastimes, and since He is the reservoir of all living entities, He is sometimes called 'Jiva'. The beauty of Sankarsana is more than that of innumerable full moons radiating light beams. He is worshipable as the principle of ego. He has invested Anantadeva with all the potencies of sustenance. For the dissolution of the creation, He also exhibits Himself as the Supersoul in Rudra, irreligiosity, 'ahi' (the snake), 'antaka' (death) and the demons.
"In commenting on the forty-second verse of the Vedanta-sutra, Sripad Sankaracarya has claimed that Sankarsana is Jiva, the ordinary living entity, but there is no evidence in any Vedic scripture that devotees of the Lord have ever said that Sankarsana is an ordinary living entity. He is an infallible plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Visnu category, and He is beyond the creation of material nature. He is the original source of the living entities. The Upanishads declare, 'nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam': 'He is the supreme living entity among all the living entities.' Therefore He is 'vibhu-caitanya', the greatest. He is directly the cause of the cosmic manifestation and the infinitesimal living beings. He is the infinite living entity, and ordinary living entities are infinitesimal. Therefore He is never to be considered an ordinary living being, for that would be against the conclusion of the authorized scriptures.
"Sripad Ramanujacarya has also refuted the arguments of Sankara in his own commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, which is known as the Sri-Bhasya: 'Sripad Sankaracarya has tried to equate the Pancharatras with the philosophy of the atheist Kapila, and thus he has tried to prove that the Pancharatras contradict the Vedic injunctions. The Pancharatras state that the personality of 'Jiva' called Sankarsana has emerged from Vasudeva, the supreme cause of all causes, that Pradyumna, the mind, has come from Sankarsana, and that Aniruddha, the ego, has come from Pradyumna. But one cannot say that the living entity ('Jiva') takes birth or is created, for such a statement is against the injunction of the Vedas. As stated in the Katha Upanishad (2:18.), living entities, as individual spiritual souls, can have neither birth nor death. All Vedic literature declares that the living entities are eternal. Therefore when it is said that Sankarsana is 'Jivah', this indicates that He is the predominating Deity of the living entities.
"That the Lord can manifest Himself before His devotees by His inconceivable power is not against the teaching of the Pancharatra. Since Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are actually the predominating Deities of all living entities, the total mind, and the total ego, the descriptions of Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha as 'Jiva', mind and ego are never contradictory to the statements of the scriptures. These names identify these Deities, just as the terms 'sky' and 'light' sometimes identify the Absolute Brahman.
"The scriptures completely deny the birth or production of the living entity. In the Parama-samhita it is described that material nature, which is used for others' purposes, is factually inert and always subject to transformation. The field of material nature is the arena of the activities of fruitive actors and since the material field is externally related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is also eternal. In every samhita, the Jiva (living entity) has been accepted as eternal, and in the Pancharatra the birth of the 'Jiva' is completely denied. Anything that is produced must also be annihilated. Therefore if we accept the birth of the living entity, we also have to accept his annihilation. But since the Vedic literatures say that the living entity is eternal, one should not think the living being to be produced at a certain time. In the beginning of the Parama-samhita it is definitely stated that the face of material nature is constantly changeable. Therefore beginning, annihilation and all such terms are applicable only in the material nature. Considering all these points, one should understand that Sankaracarya's statement that Sankarsana is born as a 'Jiva' is completely against the Vedic statements.
"Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are all changeless, transcendental plenary expansions of the Supreme Lord who have no relation to the material modes. The Sankarsana form in the second quadruple is not only a representation of Balarama but also the original cause of the Causal Ocean, where Karanodakasayi Visnu lies asleep, breathing out the seeds of innumerable universes.
"In the spiritual sky there is a spiritual creative energy technically called 'suddha-sattva', which is a pure spiritual energy that sustains all the Vaikuntha planets with the full opulences of knowledge, wealth, prowess, etc. All these actions of 'suddha-sattva' display the potencies of Maha-Sankarsana, who is the ultimate reservoir of all individual living entities who are suffering in the material world. When the cosmic creation is annihilated, the living entities, who are indestructible by nature, rest in the body of Maha-Sankarsana. Sankarsana is therefore sometimes called the total 'Jiva'. As spiritual sparks, the living entities have the tendency to be inactive in the association of material energy, just as sparks of a fire have the tendency to be extinguished as soon as they leave the fire. The spiritual nature of the living being can be rekindled, however, in association with the Supreme Being. Because the living beingcan appear either in matter or in spirit, the 'Jiva' is called the marginal potency. Sankarsana is the origin of Karana Visnu, who is the original form who creates the universes, and that Sankarsana is but a plenary expansion of Sri Nityananda Rama. .
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Hore Krisna,
Dondobot pronam Gaur Gadhadhar Probhu.
Thank you very much for your kind help. Your writing is very much beneficial to me.
Hori Bol.