The Vedic Tradition, also known as Sanathana Dharma (the eternal road), Hinduism or Brahmanism (although these terms could observe certain variations, they refer in their widest sense to the same Spiritual Tradition), is the most ancient of God’s manifestations known by humanity.
Often slanted by the limited religious boundaries and wrong human approaches, the Vedic Tradition is erected today like the original source of all beliefs, even of the very later Christianity, and it is manifested, after millenniums, as the purest and powerful flowing of the Divine Consciousness in the planet.
Understanding that Sanathana Dharma is a notion of Spirituality that transcends all humanly organized religion and that at the moment of Great Transformation the human being should understand the Divine Unit through all religions and spiritual paths, and coming closer to the deep, complete and exact perception of God that is offered by the Vedas will not do more than just to wake up in the soul of each being the most beautiful vision of God, Who reflected himself in these old Sacred Texts, and, at the same time, granting humanity the exact form of being reflected as the perfect image of the Creative Father.
To approach with accuracy to the Vedic Spirituality it is necessary to understand, first of all, the conception of God like One, the All. This One is All-pervading, and it is conceived as "All that Is", meaning that in "His Being" Creation has taken place.
Therefore, Vedas assure that Creation is only one Father's aspect, being the other the Great Non-manifested aspect: Nothingness, from where everything arises and to where everything will return, which is defined according to the Vedas and Puranas using negative statements, as… "It is not this, neither that." The Great Non-Manifested aspect is known as ParamBrahman (beyond Brahma); and the One "Created", that is to say, already being part of Creation, is known as Brahma, the Neutral Principle, that One which doesn't have qualities, the Being's manifestation amidst the Not Being, the source of crystallization of the Non-manifested One.
There is not in the consciousness of Hindu faith the idea of many Gods competing for a Cosmic Supremacy. A single God exists who develops different types of activity associated to different levels of Light's vibration and at different levels of manifestation of His Consciousness.
There is not in the consciousness of Hindu faith the idea of many Gods competing for a Cosmic Supremacy. A single God exists who develops different types of activity associated to different levels of Light's vibration and at different levels of manifestation of His Consciousness.
These different activity levels complement each other; they project and develop a Unique Divine Plan. The Vedic Spirituality expresses the Absolute God in four aspects or fundamental types of activity, (just as it is expressed by occult Western Traditions) associated to the relativity of Cosmic Space-time that in turn define the development of the Evolutionary Cycles or Kalpas: Creator, Preserver, Illuminator and Destructive.
Besides the four manifestation aspects, the Supreme Consciousness, from the Absolute One, projects the Fundamental Principle of Polarity, through which the Primordial Force is expressed.
The Cosmic Principle of Polarity is present in all the planes of consciousness and can be approached under the perception of Active-Passive, Giver-Receiver, Force-Form and Masculine-Feminine.
All aspect of the Supreme Consciousness’ activity is manifested in the Creation into the two qualities of Polarity. This way, the idea of a Masculine God that prevails in West is elevated in the Vedic Tradition towards a perception of the Supreme Consciousness as Neutral, manifesting itself into the two polar principles. That conception, fundamental for the Existence, is known as Shiva-Shakti Principle.
Each manifestation of the Great Non-Manifested One in the Creation can possess two fundamental qualities: an aspect of Will, projection, liberated Force, Cosmic, Masculine Emanation that is the Creative Father, Lord Shiva in its highest conception; or it is manifested as its Absolute Complement, denominated Shakti, which is the receptive manifestation or feminine Emanation produced by Will, the Divine Aspect that gives Form to the liberated Force, the Great Divine Mother.
We have the principles of Force and Form as absolute complements, which will present, in the different levels of Creation, different vibratory qualities, but always responding to the Principles of the Absolute One.
Each one of these activities, both the four aspects and the polarities, define the different Spheres of Manifestation of God's Consciousness, and each one of these Spheres of Manifestation are defined by different names and they are given life into different Deities, which are described with different qualities.
The Father, Lord Shiva, for example, is the Creator-destructive one. Vishnu and His avatars are the Cosmic Preservers; Brahma, maybe erroneously considered as the Creator, is in fact the Primordial Manifestation, the One without qualities, the Source that receives from the Non-Manifested One.
From this point, then it is possible to approach the dynamic form in which the Absolute God is presented in the Vedic Tradition, understanding that Oneness, that Absolute Being, develops its different qualities into the manifestation, thus producing the possibility to define it by its type of activity. This extraordinary mystery is offered in the Vedic-Hindu Spirituality through countless stories and epic poems, where each Deity (Cosmic Activity of God) is expressed through a deep symbolism, maybe incomprehensible to those no initiated, but extraordinarily reveling for those who have taken for themselves the Light's Adventure.
GANESHA
In the Vedic Tradition, Ganesha, the God-elephant, develops a type of activity of fundamental God inside the aspects of the Cosmic Game.
He is usually represented having a boy's body and a head of elephant, which very appropriately symbolizes His light activity : Ganesha represents the Soul's nascent contact in evolution with the Divine Force, and is symbolized then as a boy that hopes to grow and learn, for it, the "human knowledge", far from the Divine one, has to be transformed through Wisdom, and this is symbolized in the change of heads, since Ganesha is created with human head, being the elephant head symbol of the Divine Wisdom won through Faith and Sacrifice of the inferior aspects (these comments are enlarged in the later narrations).
Ganesha means "the boss of the Ganas", being “Ganas” the Hosts or Armies of Lord Shiva.
The God-elephant is known by many names, all them relating to His powers and Cosmic deeds (see 108 names of Ganesha), and as all the Vedic Deities, it possesses a vehicle or Vahana, in this case a mouse, symbolizing the elusive and difficult form of the mind that finally, being able to scare the elephant in a first instance, when He realizes his biggest force and intelligence, He dominates it easily.
It is said that Ganesha was who wrote the Mahabharata, the Great Epic poem of Lord Krishna, Avatar of Vishnu, dictated by the wise Vyasa.
Ganesha is the oldest son of Shiva and Parvati, in other words, the son of the Masculine Creative Principle with the Feminine Principle giver of form. It operates as Divine activity in the astral etheric planes, in other words, the immediately superior planes to the physical plane.
He is usually represented having four arms, each one symbolizing the elements that make the material Plane and the dominion over them.
Ganesha is the Great Controller of the foundations of the physical plane in universal terms by handling of Tattwas (elements), and He is the regulator of karma or each being's unconscious activity, for that reason he is called the destroyer of obstacles. In fact, Ganesha is not only the destroyer of obstacles, but that one who regulates the Soul's work with its contents of darkness according to its own capacity and resolution, placing to the face of consciousness the aspects that the soul is prepared to heal, being then the Divine activity that regulates our first transit and contact with the Samskaras.
In the true spiritual path, the contact with the sphere that Ganesha governs is the first and fundamental step of initiation, and it is a fact that all being in search of Light opens his transit towards the Father for his mediation.
For this reason, it has been derived the popular practice of offering ceremonies to Ganesha at the moment of undertaking new projects, like beginning business or new stages in the life. There is not activity in India, so much spiritual as civil that doesn't begin with an invocation to God-Ganesha. Associated to the prosperity and to the success, He is invoked to reach material achievements; although what previously described is a deep-rooted practice, it is requested to devotees and conscious initiates the deep spiritual understanding of Ganesha's activity, so that avoid distracting His purpose and emanation.
According to a teaching received and emanated by ShaktianandaMa from Ganesha's very consciousness, there are good reasons to affirm that the activity represented by the God-elephant is not associated to projects of the beings at their more human level, but to the Soul's in its search of God, this way, it is important to generate contact with this energy when our spiritual purposes are clear and firm, and in any event, when a project to develop in the physical plane has a determinant spiritual importance.
There are several sacred narrations that tell about Ganesha and His birth, two of them are the most diffused ones:
The first one, narrated in the Bramhavairvarta Purana, refers to Parvati wanting fervently to have a son after her marriage with Shiva. Because of Her desire, Shiva suggests the realization of Panyakavrata, the adoration to the God Vishnu that extends during one year. Parvati carried out the ceremony at the Ganges' shore with the attendance of Sanat Kumara as a priest. Product of their Faith, a son was granted to them. All the Gods came to congratulate Shiva and Parvati, among them Shani (Saturn), who didn't dare to look directly at the boy, since his look was impregnated by a curse that his wife had uttered on him because of ignoring her to meditate upon Vishnu.
Parvati didn't give importance to the arguments of Shani and allowed him to look at her son, assuming that whatever might happen, it would be the Father's purpose. When Shani looked at Ganesha, his head came off and flew to the sky of Vishnu, its original substance. Durga (Parvati), taking Her son's body on Her hands, hurtled onto the floor crying.
Vishnu rode on Garuda and flew towards river Pushpabhadra; he removed the head to an elephant and united it to the body of Ganesha. From that moment Ganesha possesses an elephant head.
The second narration is found in the Shiva Purana:
Parvati was taking a bath, she took oil and ointments, and mixed them up with the impurities that came off her body, and from there the figure of a boy arose to which she gave life by dewing it with water from Ganges River.
Parvati requested the boy Ganesha to guard the door from any trespasser that wanted to bother her while she took a bath. At some time, Shiva wanted to enter to the bathroom and Ganesha, not recognizing Shiva, impeded him to enter. So, Lord Shankara cut the head of Ganesha without knowing that he was his son. When finding out that it had been Parvati who gave the order to Ganesha, and that Ganesha was his son, Shiva bitterly cried and asked his Ganas to bring the first head they found, so, they brought the head of an Elephant that slept beside a river and Shiva placed it onto his son's body, resuscitating him.
The extraordinary symbolism of these narrations places upon Ganesha the activity and cosmic regulation of the etheric mold of the dense planes (created by pure substances and the impurities product of duality) that at some point, after being created, won't recognize its Creator, as a result of the accumulation of darkness (Karma). Only by the powerful Force of Light of the Creative Father's spheres, all that exists in the densest worlds will be transformed and heightened (change of heads), and by this way transformed into an exact regulator of the Primordial Force of Light.
When Parvati saw her decapitated son, her pain was so immense that, after resuscitating him, Shiva promised her that always, in all ceremony carried out to invoke any deity, the invocation and reverence to Ganesha would always be made at first.
HANUMAN
Immersed in that extraordinary epic poem, the story of the biggest devotee of Sri Ramah is told, who with His faith and devotion was able to face the most terrible forces and to whom Sri Ramah, showing infinite recognition, exalted as His dearest disciple: Sri Hanuman.
The extraordinary feats carried out by the King of the Vanaras (monkeys) in helping Sri Ramah are the most valuable jewels of devotion and spiritual force that are known in sacred literature associated to the Vedic tradition.
Hanuman, well-known as the God-monkey, is fervently revered in the whole India. Many Sages have wondered why Hanuman holds on devotees so extraordinary attraction and the answer is shown by itself: Hanuman is the most powerful example of surrendering and Bhakti towards the Guru, of sacred and virtuous obedience to whom has been revealed as an incarnated presence of God. His bravery and courage are determined by Faith and Love, and that high vibration that hides behind these concepts (Faith and Love) are impregnated in Hanuman and they are shown in a conclusive way, so that for centuries and millenniums all the beings have in Him the highest vision of the Being's virtues.
Hanuman, according to Ramayana, is Son of Vayú and Anjana, a female Vanar (of the race of monkeys), and He meets with His Dear Sri Ramah when Sita, the Prince Raghu's wife, is kidnapped by Ravana, the King of the Asuras of Lanka. The deeds of Hanuman in helping Ramah to rescue Sita are absolutely beautiful and powerful. Their powers are described as the highest Yogic Siddhis, being able to move from one place to another breaking the physical laws of space-time, controlling the elements and His own constitution, which was expanded or diminished by His Will.
Bellow, some verses about Hanuman written by the Wise Tulsidas in the XVII Century are shown:
I bow to the Son of the Wind, Fire that burns the forest of demons, rainy cloud of wisdom.
Oh Hanuman, Sri Ramah, that one of immense heart, the one that sustains the bow, lives in you.
For this world you are Ramah, For the demons you are Fire, You are the great Jewel in the Necklace of Ramayana.
Son of the Wind, I bow to you. Wherever the Name of Ramah is recited, you go there and bow. Your eyes fill up with tears of Love.
Son of the Wind, Destroyer of demons, I bow to you.
The saga of Hanuman next to Ramah is part of Ramayana. Nevertheless, in the other Great Vedic Epic poem called Mahabharata, Arjuna, the Prince of the Lunar Race, carries in his banner the image of Hanuman.
In esoteric terms, Hanuman represents the victory of the mystic virtues over the rational mind, demonstrating to man that only settling down in the frequency of Faith and Love vibration the Being reaches its higher state. The ownership of Hanuman to a seemingly less important race symbolically exposes the need of taking the being towards its purest manifestations that nothing has to do with the complexities of intellect and rationality, the big traps to overcome in the spiritual path, even more in the western collective mind.
It is said that Hanuman thoroughly knew the Sacred Writings, the Shastras and the Vedas themselves, but it is far-away of the knowledge of inferior mind, being located in the highest notion of Superior Mind as receptor of Divine Emanations. Hanuman is the great conqueror of ego, and is also, as it is reflected by His deeds, the great protector of devotees against the dark forces. In fact, prayers are offered to Him especially for protection and care.
The connection with the God-monkey is especially powerful for those that have reached the Divine understanding of surrendering to God through the Master, and His emanation protects the beings from negative energies in the astral and mental planes.
He is known by the names of Pavanasut (son of the wind) and Bajarangabali (incarnation of the thunder), among others. He is usually represented knelt in pure Bhakti in front of Ramah, Sita and Laxman or with His chest open, so that, the faces of Sita and Ramah are seen in it, holding a mallet in His hands.
SRI LAKSHMI
Sri Lakshmi is the Shakti of Vishnu, the Preserver Manifestation of the Divine Mother and the energy behind the forms. She is the Divine Energy that represents the consummation of the Creative act in the Kingdom, the Light's Manifestation in the physical planes. In reference to Humanity, She is the energy that sustains Mother Earth.
Lakshmi represents the Nadir of the Circuit of the Creation.
Vishnu is the Manifestation of the Saving Conscience, the Preserver linked to the solar irradiation, mediator between the Father and its Kingdom. For that reason Vishnu and Lakshmi are consorts or complements, and it has been this way since the beginning of Creation.
In Cosmic terms, Lakshmi is also the perfection to which evolution aspires in the material planes, and that perfection is only possible if the irradiation of Vishnu absolutely descends on Her. Lakshmi is receptor and giver of form, Vishnu is the emanation of the radiant Sun, messenger of the Great Father, Lord Shiva, who baths the earth and fertiles it.
Every time that an Avatar of Vishnu has taken human form, Sri Lakshmi accompanies him. Ramah and Sita, Krishna and Rada, are examples of this cosmic conjunction. In the Hindu Tradition Lakshmi represents Fortune, Grace and Prosperity in the material planes, since she is the Energy that governs in those levels.
The story of Sri Lakshmi's birth is very significant in its symbology and cosmic esoterism. In the Vedic Tradition it is talked about an episode of infinite esoteric implications that is placed in the birth of the Universe, called Samudramanthana (beating of the milk ocean), where the immense forces of duality took form and defined their roles.
A partition of the ocean was made, and existing peace between Light's Forces and those of the darkness, each one got its part. Vishnu began to extract of the immense ocean the most beautiful elements, in number of 14, among them, Surabhi, the cow of the abundance emerged; Chandra (the Moon) that was taken by Shiva to adorn its head; Airavata, the winged elephant that was taken by Indra as its Vehicle. Inside this creative flowing, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune and Beauty, was the last one in emerging from the ocean, being taken by Vishnu like his wife.
The Goddess is usually represented with four arms, emerging from a Lotus flower, element of great symbolism inside the Hindu spirituality, since it represents the beauty and the Light that emerges from dense spaces.
Lakshmi is usually worshiped in India next to Vishnu, and she is eventually represented next to Him over Garuda, the Eagle.
SARASWATI
The Goddess Saraswati is the consort or Shakti of Brahma, the One without qualities. She is the Goddess of Wisdom and Mother of the Vedas. Saraswati is revered under two forms: that of Goddess of Wisdom and protector of Arts, and like one of the three Sacred rivers of the Hindu spirituality, in fact, the river Saraswati is named in the Vedas and in the two fundamental epic poems, Ramayana and Mahabharata.
As activity of the Supreme Conscience, Saraswati is the receptor Sphere (feminine) of Superior Knowledge, differing clearly of any notion of rational knowledge. This Superior Wisdom only descends on beings that have reached the levels of Intuition, which is in fact the manifestation of Knowledge without mediation of mind. All the Arts and the man's creative tasks imply different levels of intuitive work. Saraswati is usually represented sustaining in her arms a zither sitting on a lotus. Other images show her with four arms, in one on the right side she offers a flower to Brahma, in the other one She sustains a Book; on the left side She presents a RudraMala (Sacred Necklace of Shiva) and a Damaru (cosmic drum).
As it is noticed, the right side possesses symbology associated to the activity of Brahma and the left one to the activity of Shiva, this can be understood as Brahma being a Neutral Principle, the first manifestation sphere, and Shiva, being the Primordial Sphere of Divine Force (masculine Principle), as an active reflection of Brahma.
It is said that the Goddess Saraswati dwells in the Earth next to men, but her true home is the Sphere of Brahma or BrahmaLoka. This makes a deep sense when one understands that Primordial Wisdom emerges from the Non-Manifested One and the first receiver of that Cosmic Wisdom is Brahma; nevertheless, that Wisdom is impregnated in men's soul, only waiting to be unveiled through spiritual work. For that reason, another form of representing the Goddess is with a feather, a recipient of ink and leaves in front of her, symbolizing Wisdom and its transmission to men.
The zither that She usually holds makes Her to have special linking to music, as expression of Vibration of the Eighth Superiors of Consciousness. A very significant image shows Saraswati accompanied by a swan, vehicle of God Brahma.
BRAHMA
Brahma is the first Aspect of the Hindu Trinity.
Being considered as the Creator in the most common and exoteric approach, it is not this type of cosmic activity the one that more suitably expressed the infinite and primordial dynamics of God Brahma.
A real approach to the sphere of activity represented on His behalf considers Brahma as the First of the Creation, the Sphere of Supreme Consciousness that spills from the Non-manifested One. In fact, the history of creation narrates that after the destruction of the Universe, Shiva and Vishnu fell into a dream or deep meditation, and the Great Emptiness or Primordial Waters floated in the Great One (as mentioned in the Vedas). When the Infinite Will of the ParamBrahman is activated, Brahma, the One, the Great Manifestation of All, emerges in a lotus from the Primordial Waters, as the First Manifestation of the Absolute Non-manifested aspect.
In the Atharva-Veda it can be read: "All Gods are in Brahma like cows are in a stable. At the beginning Brahma was this Universe. He created the Gods. Having created the Gods He placed them in different worlds."
God Brahma is usually represented with four heads, a very similar aspect to the form that it is described in the Hebrew Kabala, the vast face of Kether (the Crown).
Myths mentioned that Brahma, cutting a part of His own body, created a Goddess named Shatarupa (a face with a hundred beauties), also known as Gayatri, Vach, Saraswati and Savitri, among others. At the moment that Brahma observed this Goddess, He fell in love with her and He could never remove his look from her. Shatarupa felt embarrassed and tried to escape from Brahma's look, moving towards different directions; because of this Brahma created the heads that allowed Him to observe Shatarupa at all moment.
Brahma's vehicle (Vahana) is the Swan, symbol of Knowledge, and it is said that it is the Father of the four Kumaras, Cosmic Beings coming from the highest spheres to serve the planet, being Sanat Kumara the regent of this hierarchy.
The Vedic sages establish a double activity in Brahma that is pertinent to approach for a higher understanding. Brahma, according to these sages, refers us to a Masculine Principle, very similar to the Father's Activity, Lord Shiva, and Brahm (without "a" at the end) refers at the Neutral Principle or First Principle. This consideration could deserve a deep approach for its development. Nevertheless, the vision of Brahma as the Neutral Principle without qualities is the most precise to understand the different activities of God.
Few Hindu temples exists at the moment consecrated to the activity of Brahma. This can be due to their level of activity and consciousness are difficult to comprehen by the human collective. It is narrated in several passages of Writings how Brahma grants Kindness and Grace to the Asuras (demons) that then put Humanity and Gods in risk. Obviously, it is spoken here of a fundamental Cosmic Principle of balance of tensions between Light and Darkness, without which the Universe would disintegrate. Brahma exists beyond that what humanly speaking we understand as good and evil. For this reason, His activity is complex to the human spiritual consciousness.
KARTIKEYA (SKANDA)
Kartikeya is the God of war, the Commander of the Army of Gods. He is who directs the Light's Forces against the Asuras that threaten the cosmic stability. In almost all the narrations puranic He is considered son of Lord Shiva and Parvati; therefore, brother of Ganesha. Nevertheless, the stories about his origin are varied, all them of course, symbolizing the participation or the dynamics of confluence of God's different Spheres of Activity to generate the one represented by Skanda.
One of most appreciated histories is narrated in Shiva Purana: The demon Taraka, an ambitious and oppressive being, carried out hard austerities that forced Brahma to grant him any gift that he wanted. The petition of this asura was that nobody could kill him, except a son of Mahadeva (Lord Shiva). After obtaining this gift, Taraka became arrogant and he ended up exercising domain over the three worlds, expelling Gods from their habitations.
In the middle of these circumstances, the Wise Narada prophesied that the Marriage of Shankara-Shiva with the Goddess Parvati would be the way to give entrance to the Liberator of the world who would return the peace and liberate Earth from the tortures under which Taraka subjected it. After many useless efforts on behalf of Gods like Kama (god of love) and their consort Rati (the desire) to prepare Shiva towards marriage, only the austerities of Parvati and her burning love and devotion were able to propitiate Mahadeva, who consented to marry.
Past the time, any son was not born in the Marriage of Mahadeva and Parvati, issue that afflicted Gods. God Agni was presented then before Shiva, and through his mediation, carrying the seed that Mahadeva gave him, he let it drop into the Ganges, from where it arose, a boy "as beautiful as the moon and shinning as the Sun, who was named Agnibhuva (prodeced by Agni), Kartikeya, Skanda, Subramanyan, etc.
An interesting passage of the narration can help to capture the true cosmic dimension of that that here is exposed: "It happened that the six Krittikas (the Pleiades) came to the Ganges to take a bath, and upon seeing the boy each of them called him son of mine, offering him their chest. Then, the creature developed six heads and was fed from the six". From this myth it comes off the name of Kartikeya and the conclusion that the Sphere of Activity that this God represents is under the Emanation or in connection with the Pleiades.
In the time a confrontation took place where Kartikeya defeated the demon Taraka and he reestablished the cosmic order.
Then, Kartikeya is erected as the God of war, but not in a negative sense, but representing the Divine Sphere that must, through decisive, direct and powerful action, dissolve any manifesto of darkness that seeks to disturb the Divine Plan. Of course, this activity should be observed in an universal sense, but it should also be captured in the perspective of the Soul's work, where the Forces of Light develop battles for conquering darkness that can produce the necessary healing wounds.
The complete narration about the wars carried out by Kartikeya against the asuras can be appreciated deeply in the Skanda Purana.
VISHNÚ
Vishnu is known as the second aspect of the Trimurti or Hindu triad, accompanying Brahma and Lord Shiva. Having in Brahma the One Primordial, the Source of Creation, and in Shiva the Creator-Regent-Destructive Father; the activity of Vishnu is that of the Great Preserver of the Universe.
The name Vishnu comes from the root "vish" meaning "that who extends in all directions" and "to pervade."
Vishnu is the aspect of God that penetrates in Creation and sustains it. He is the great equilibrador of the Forces in tension that give the universe the possibility to exist. It should also be approached as the Mediator among God (Father Lord Shiva) and His Creation: the sphere of Vishnu is the Beauty of creation taking form, but in perfect connection with the Generating Spheres (Brahma, Shiva - Shakti).
It is the Sphere that the universe's soul sustains in perfect connection with the Divine Plan and the one that, according to what Krishna tells Arjuna in the Gita: "Every time that wickedness gains force, that Dharma gets lost, then men get confused before the Father's Light, every time that they need me, I return the Light to Earth again."
Therefore, the aspect of Preserver that makes Vishnu’s activity into an Unfathomable and Divine Game, have taken Human form through the history of this planet.
Every time that the balance between Light and Darkness is perturbed, being guided towards unconsciousness, "The Father sends his Son", to be born among the men, to again offer humanity the Light that has misled by acting as an incarnated receiver of the Divine Force. In different moments, fundamentally in the changes of eras, the presence of Vishnu’s avatars (incarnations of this Sphere of God) have been able to sustain the Plan for the Earth.
In the Writings, fundamentally in the Puranas, ten incarnations of Vishnu are mentioned; the ten presences are named, to later refer us to the most important ones for this era.
The Incarnations of Vishnu:
• The Avatar Matsya (fish).
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The Avatar Kurma (turtle).
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The Avatar Varaha (wild boar).
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The Avatar Nrishinga (the lion-man).
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The Avatar Vamana (the midget).
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RAMA
The characteristics of the cosmic game that the Creative Father develops in our planet are a lot older, beautiful and powerful of that we can imagine, unless we have already risked our soul towards the cosmic epic poems that determined the Light's presence and God's Love on Earth in an indelible way, bequeathing to humanity the highest principles in the Consciousness of God and of His Divine Plan. Humanity has in the Ramayana the oldest reference of the Aryan Races that according to absolutely overwhelming sources, were the origin of Light's Manifestos in the Planet in this Evolutionary Cycle.
The Aryans based their life and transit for the Planet on the oldest Vedas (the Emanated writings from the very Father's Consciousness, Lord Shiva, to the Sages and Aryan Priests more than 10000 years ago), where the highest visions of God were captured on Humanity
The Ramayana tells the saga of Sri Ramah, the seventh Avatar of Vishnu, the Great Cosmic Preserver that embodied as Prince of the Solar Race, of the Raghú Lineage, to return to Earth and the Universe the balance of the Forces in tension generated by darkness, represented in the demon Ravana, King from Lanka.
Dasaratha, Rey de Ayodhya, tuvo cuatro hijos con tres de sus esposas, los nombres de los niños, ofrecidos a Dios por el Sabio Vasishta fueron Rama, Laxman, Baratha y Satrughna, seg{un cuenta la épica, cada uno de ellos encarnando las virtudes de uno de los Vedas.
Dasaratha, King of Ayodhya, had four children with three of his wives; the names of the children, offered to God by the Wise Vasishta were Ramah, Laxman, Baratha and Satrughna, according to the epic poetry, each one of them embodying the virtues of one of the Vedas.
Since very small, Ramah gave to his relatives samples of his Divinity, also, in a smaller level, to his three siblings who got prepared with their tutors in the Writings and the Vedic Teachings, fundamental for the future Reign.
Going for a walk one day through beautiful gardens, Ramah, already being an adolescent, meets Sita (incarnation of Lakshmi), the King's daughter and after a time and splendid celebrations, they marry. Due to unclear situations generated by Baratha's mother previous to the transference of the Reign on behalf of Dasaratha to his son Ramah, he and Sita, along with Laxman, are sent on exile during 14 years, with immense pain for their parents and citizens.
During that time, unconsciously triggering the cosmic mission that Ramah came to carry out, the asura Ravana kidnapped Sita making himself to pass for a beautiful deer, taking advantage that the two siblings were looking for food in the forest.
Ramah doesn't know what has happened, until finally, with the help from the race of the monkeys, and especially from its deeper devotee; Hanuman, finds Sita in Lanka, the Kingdom of Ravana. There begins a long and extraordinary battle that finishes with the death of Ravana and the return of Ramah and Sita along with Laxman and Hanuman to Ayodhya, where Baratha, after the King's Dasaratha death, had sustained the Kingdom awaiting the return of Ramah.
The presence of Ramah on Earth is located in the transit from the era of Tetra Yuga to Dwapara Yuga.
KRISHNA
Krishna (the dark one) is the eighth presence of Vishnu on Earth that came to preserve the cosmic balance in the transit from Dwapara Yuga to the current Era of Kali Yuga.
The coming of Krishna is narrated in all its splendor and cosmic depth in the epic Mahabharata, which together to Ramayana and the New Testament, are the most appreciated stories for those who assume Faith and the Universal Spirituality, since millenniums ago until today.
In Mahabharata is contained the most important and sacred spiritual treaty of the Tradition after the Vedas: Bhagavad-Gita. In Bhagavad-Gita, moments before the battle of Kurukshetra, Krishna instructs Arjuna in the highest spiritual truths that transcend beyond religion to become one of the most important legacies of instruction given to men by the Supreme Divinity.
It is said that Mahabharata was dictated to God Ganesha by the wise Vyasa, who closely lived the epic poem of the Pandavas, since he was his tutor or Guru.
The feats of Krishna and Arjuna form an epic poem, where in each passage of their lives and those of the Pandavas sibling, are exposed the most precise principles of Dharma.
Sri Krishna is the King Vasudeva's son, and his wife, Devaki, daughter of Devak, brother of King Ugrasena. The Clan of Vasudeva had conflicts with the neighboring Clan of Ugrasena, and the marriage between Vasudeva and Devaki is carried out to assure peace between the two clans.
It is said that the King Ugrasena's first son, named Kansa, was a wicked, cruel and dark being, and all feared him to become a threat for the peace of the Kingdom. The Wise Narada predicted that the eighth son of Devaki would be who would give death to Kansa.
When knowing the prophecy, Kansa decided to not only murder the eighth of Devaki’s children, but all the children that Devaki engendered.
Vasudeva proposed Kansa, in the face of such a danger, that he will not only give him the eighth son, but all the children of Devaki. For assuring that the agreement was going to be done, Kansa captured Vasudeva and Devaki, and killed the first seven children of the Queen. The eighth was saved by a relative of Vasudeva.
After a time, when the birth of the eighth son was quickly coming, Devaki had a vision of Lord Vishnu who told her that he himself would be born through her womb. Vasudeva, at the same time, received instructions from Vishnu to put away from Kansa the eighth son. The day of the birth, it stormily rained, and after the child's birth, the door of the prison cell miraculously opened up. Vasudea went out with his son and gave him to his friend Nanda and his wife Yashoda who raised him as his son far from the threat of Kansa. Nanda and Yashoda were shepherds, for that reason when praising Krishna he is called shepherd or shepherds' son.
Many are the stories that tell the Light of Sri Krishna, his confrontation with demons, the assumption of the Kingdom of Dwaraka after the exile from town and his inexpressible cosmic work helping the Pandavas siblings, mainly Arjuna, to establish the new Dharma for the planet.
The rivalry among the Pandavas siblings and their kindred Kauravas were developed since childhood and ended up with the exile of the five Pandavas and his wife Draupadi to the forest during 14 years, and then, after returning, the Great Battle of Kurukshetra took place, where Krishna guides Arjuna's car and instructs them moments before the battle.
The fight between the Pandavas and Kauravas is a historical reality and not less, also, a transcendent reality. Kurukshetra is the battle field of the Being's Light (Arjuna and the Pandavas) against the darkness (kauravas) housed in the soul as a consequence of experiencing the wheel of birth and death. The Battle is what all soul should carry out against its own darkness, having as guide and support the Great Cosmic Mediator, Lord Vishnu.
BUDDHA
Buddha was born in Kapilavastu, a Kingdom located in the foothills of Nepal's mountains. His Father, the King, was from the family of the Sakyas and belonged to the Clan of the Gautamas. His Mother was Mayadevi; daughter of King SupraBuddha. She belonged by birth to the Castrillas' lineage. He took his name of Sakya from his family and that of Gautama from his Clan. He was known as Siddhartha Gautama and already in his coming as The Buddha (the Illuminated Sakhyamuni).
His mother died when he was 7 years old, and his father trusted his wife's sister to take care of the Prince. The boy grew beautiful, and showing extraordinary capacities for the understanding of Writings, and soon, it is said, he knew more than what his teachers and tutors could teach him. The boy liked of getting into deep meditation in the density of the forest, issue that worried his Father who then proposed him to get married.
The chosen one was the beautiful Gopa, Princess of a near Kingdom. Neither marriage, less the other mundane pleasures, was able to distract the young Gautama from his meditation. In consecutive episodes happened in their walks outside the palace, story excessively well-known, the young was confronted with the strongest experiences in life: pain, aging, death, experiences that drove him to abandon him Kingdom, his family and his life of Castrilla, to be dedicated to look for Truth. The search took him to share with teachers and Brahmins who taught him their doctrines, not finding the future Buddha those answers that his Being yearned for.
Finally, understanding the direction of the true search, in the Valley of Ganges River, he sat down under a tree and exclaimed: "Illumination or death."
The process lived by Gautama until his Illumination is extraordinary and narrated in detail in several sacred texts, like Lalita Vistara.
Buddha taught his doctrine in constant pilgrimage through India, and generated important changes in developing manifestos of faith granted to humanity.
His history is quite well-known, only it will be said that his Teaching, emanated from the very Consciousness of Lord Shiva, settled down principles of Dharma that have been able to firmly establish in the Human Collective Consciousness. Buddhism, although had its origin in India, has been expanded to other countries for centuries, especially through the Emperor Ashoka, the Big One, converted into Buddhism after observing the awful results of the conquest battles.
Siddhartha Gautama is the ninth of Vishnu’s avatars and he was present about three thousand years before Jesus.
The doctrine of Buddha generated in a moment a very strong crisis in the basis of the Ancient Traditions, strongly facing the followers of the Teachings of Buddha with those that followed the Brahmin Tradition. His inclusion as part of the ten Avatars of Vishnu allowed that conflict and confusion ceased. It gave place to a totally peaceful coexistence between these doctrines, which are exactly the same thing regarding their origin and purpose.
FINAL COMMENT
In exoteric spirituality some confusion usually exists regarding the different Divine activities. Being the Avatars of Vishnu those who have had the biggest direct contact with Humanity during the Eras of Preservation. It has been generated a kind of diatribe in relation to the superiority of Vishnu over the other Gods, including Shiva. Not existing real place to "humanly" discuss about Divine aspects, the understanding that all the Spheres of Activity are equally sacred is the form to solve these dilemmas.
Now then, in terms of high understanding of the Cosmic Manifestos, the Consciousness of Shiva is the Conscience that governs the Universe, being the sphere of Vishnu governed by this Conscience, even more when the preservation eras have opened the way to the era of transformation, where Lord Shiva gets ready himself directly on the Plan, through Shiva's Avatars (Mahavatar Babaji).
