om bRH`myae nmH........

DHARm IS ETERNALLY
 PROTECTED & MAINTAINED BY
 viSHANu-Daev

All the entities in creation from brahmaa-dev (one of the primary god trinity of brahmaa-vishnu and shiv) to an atom is the manifestation of brhmah. brhmah is unmanifested. brhmah through his shaktio (powers) of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence pervades, animates, sustains all that is created.  brhmah also gives laya (dissolution back into the creator) to all created. laya is the repeated cycles of birth and death or pralay at the end of 4.32 billion year creation cylce when everything is dissolves back into brahmaa-dev or mahaa-pralay at the end of 3.11 trillion year creation cycle when everything including brahmaa-dev is dissolved back into brhmah.....

The sustenance of all created is based on DHARm. DHARm is the operating system which makes all creations co-exist in harmony. DHARm operates conforming to the cosmic and universal laws called ritt and is guided by satya (truth). DHARm enables and empowers all creations to coexist harmoniously and without injuring one another. DHARm is like Microsoft operating system. No computer can operate without an operating system; so is DHARm's role in creation. brhmah safeguards DHARm continuously and eternally. This safeguarding sometimes needs for brhmah to manifest directly in the form of a creation....such  manifestation is called an avtaar. brhmah takes an avataar through visnu-dev whose function is to safeguard DHARm when it is threatened to destruction....which could mean destruction of the universe....aDHARm is opposite of DHARm. aDHARm destroys creation as creation looses harmonious co-existence and starts hurting one another.

In shreemad bhagvad giitaa shree krishna-bhagvaan says to arjun in slok 4.7 and 4.8:

“ Oh bhaarat (arjun)! Whenever DHARm declines and aDHARm predominates then, I manifest Myself  for the protection of good and for the destruction of the wicked and for the firm re-establishment of DHARm. I am born in yug after yug.”

According to above, brhmah, who is normally unmanifest,  manifest itself on this earth as an avataar (incarnation) of vishnu-dev. brhmah takes an avataar when aDHARmik activities by creations including humans reach a point where it is about to destroy DHARm and harm or destroy the creation in turn. brhmah knows when to take an avataar as brhmah is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. However, usually so many in creation, including devo and devio, request brhmah's help through vishnu-dev to either preserve or maintain or re-establish DHARm in the universe. This help is rendered through three manifestations of vishnu-dev:

1. avataar which has full shktio of vishnu-dev;
2. aavesh-avataar which has shktio (powers) of vishnu-dev for a limited time;
3. ansh-avataar which have partial shktio of vishnu-dev.

In the present 4-yug veDik time cycle of creation lasting 4.32 million years  there has already been nine principal avataar of vishnu-dev. The tenth principal avataar of vishnu-dev is forecast towards the end of the present kali-yug. 

The 9 avataar of vishnu in the order they were manifested are as follows. The 10th avataar forecast is alos listed: 

1. matsya-avataar (avataar in the form of fish to save mnu from universal flood)

2. kurma-avtaar (avataar in the form of tortoise to regain the status lost by devo from asuraao)

3. varah-avataar (avataar in the form of boar to kill asuraa hirANyaaKSH who was hiding pRuthvi in the ocean)

4. narsinh-avataar (avataar in the form of half man and half lion to save vishnu-bhkt prHlaaD from being killed by his father the asuraa king HirANykshipu)

5. vaaman-avataar (avataar in the form of a human bRaaHmAN midget to expel asuraa king baali to paatal so that devo could get back the control of their status and domain)

6. parashu-raam-avataar (avataar in the form of a human bRaaHmAN to control KSHTRiy vARAN in pRuthvi-lok who were becoming aDHARmik)

7. raam-avataar (avataar in the form of a human KSHTRiy king to kill asuraa king raavan who was ruling with aDHARm and terror all the 3-lok)

8. krishna-avataar (avataar in the form of a human to lessen the burden of over-population of aDHaaARmik people in pRuthvi-lok)

9. buddha-avataar ((avataar in the form of a human Prince siddhartha gautam to safely remove people who were going against veD from affecting others) and 

10. kalki-avtaar ( (avataar in the form of a human who will kill all aDHARmik peoples in pRuthvi-lok who would become a majority at the end of the present kli-yug and to enable DHARmik peoples to establish DHARm in the following sty-yug)

There are several other secondary avataar of vishnu-dev = brhmah - some of which are: 

• four sanant kumar who are mind born sons of brahmaa-dev, 

• naarad-muni who is mind born son of brahmaa-dev,

• nar and naaraayan as muni and born as a brhmah's blessing to rishi markandey,

• kapilaa-muni as a philosopher of gnan (knowledge) and bhakti,

• dattaatrey-muni as the son of one of the first created sapta-rushi aatri, 

• yagna who replaced indra-dev for a time period, 

• rsabha-dev raajaa who was a teacher who demonstrated and defined the meaning of bhakti and tapas to humans who are in gruhastha a ashram. gruhastha aashram is one of the 4 periods in a human's life from the time one finishes studies and gets married to the time one finishes raising children -about 50 years old. The other three life aashram are: brahma-chaarya-aashram from birth to finish of studies; vanaspar-aashram from the end of gruhastha-aashram when one gives of all the obligations and duties of gruhastha-aashram to one's sons; and sanyaasi-aashram from the end of vanaspar-aashram to one dies during which one devotes time to bhakti and tapas and teaches others about ved and life.

• prathu raajaa who showed how a king could mix bhakti and kingship to the benefit of all. prathu was also the first human and a king to organize a country into villages and towns,

• dhanvantari who was born out of the churning of kshir-saagar (celestial ocean of milk) during vishnu's 2nd avataar as kurma (tortoise). dhanvantari was the proto-physician who gave humans the science of medicine for the first time, 

• mohini-murit, the only female avataar manifested to retrieve by seduction the amrut (nectar of immortality) from the asuraao during vishnu's 2nd avataar as kurma,

• vyaas-muni who split ved into 4 parts for the humans from shruti and with ganesh-daadaa as his scribe and was the author of purano and maha-bhaarat,

• bal-raam who was the brother of shree krishna-bhagvaan - which was the 8th avataar of vishnu-dev. 
  

In the present 4-yug creation cycle, the end of present kali-yug, which is the last of the yug in this mahaa-yug (a cycle of four yugo) is some 429,000 years away. The universe is in the 5104th  year of kali-yug in 2003 AD. kali-yug is the time span according to ved when DHARm has only one foot out of normal four to stand on and has thus reached its lowest strength. In the first of the four-yug in a mahaa-yug, which is satva-yug DHARm has four feet which means aDHARm is at its full strength and humans live by DHARm only. In the following tetra-yug, DHARm stands on three feet meaning, due to lessening strength of DHARm humans are becoming less DHaaARmik than in satya-yug. In the following dvaapara-yug, DHARm rests only on two feet, which means humans are living less and less by DHARm and more and more by aDHARm. In kali-yug the humans live mainly by aDHARm. The definition of living by aDHARm in kali-yug was predicted in vishnu puraan and the life style of aDHARm was described as follows:

“kali-yug is the age when society reaches a stage where 
 property gives rank and position of eminence to humans;
 possession of wealth becomes the only means of being sad-gun (virtuous) and performing sad-karma (virtuous deeds);
 kaam (passion in the form of  lust) is the only bond of union between husband and wife;
 a-satya (non-truth) the only means of success in life;  
 kaam (in the form of sex) the only means of enjoyment; and 
 when outer physicality of life is confused with inner spirituality based on DHARm. "

We can see that the above is just about true everywhere in the materialistic world. vishnu puran was compiled by vyaas-muni in dvaapar-yug.

The ten avataaro of vishnu-dev are described in detail in shreemad bhagvatam. shreemad bhagvatam is also called bhaagvat puraan. bhagvat puraan expounds some of the six schools interpreting ved philosophy such as samkya, yog, vedanata, etc. bhagvat puraan brings together the concepts of gnaan (knowledge) and bhakti (devotion) to brhmah in order to know one's aatmaa through self-knowledge. This in turn leads to the knowledge of brhmah and moksh (liberation from saMsaar). bhagvat puraan also contains in the eleventh canto entitled uddhava giitaa which is the last message of shree krishna given to his friend and attendant uddhava on the day of his departure from human form in the 9th avataar of vishnu-dev. uddhava giitaa simplifies a the essence of ved and dharma preached by shree krishna to arjun in shreemad bhagvad giitaa.

Celebration of vishnu-dev's dash-avataar is an all year round, life time and life to life affair of "Hindus" in bhaarat (India). The word "Hindu" has no meaning in sanskrit language or veD. But the world of this planet earth outside India one knows a "Hindu" as a bhaaratiya (Indian) who has a "religion" comparable to Christianity or Muslim or buddhism or Judaism or so many other "religions" of the planet earth and who does not eat meat and believes in innumerable gods and goddesses and worships all kinds of animals including cows, all kinds of trees and plants and all kinds of inanimate things. Well, the truth about the words "religion" and about "Hindu" can be understood by the knowledge of veD......... 

These celebrations of dash avataar and other "religious" celebrations of "Hindus" are to remind "Hindus" of brhmah, the creator of the universes. brhmah has infinite manifestations of brhmah-self in the form of the universes we know and do not know. We have been given various naam (name) and ruup (form) to brhmah's manifestations in the form of creation we see and do not see. 

..........om nmH our guru bRH`m....
.........om tat sat......om shaanti shaanti shaanti......

(This shastra-GNaan has been compiled by SRii chmpklaal Daajibhaai miisTRii from the gnaan left for the benefit of humanity by many rushio, munio and GNaanio in the naam (name) and ruup (form) of our creator, bRH`m in the form of shruti and smruti of veD knowledge left on this planet earth for all humankind. The mission of this presentation  is the continual development of ved offerings through Prajaapati Vishva Aashram Foundation on this web site as GNaan -daan.)

Posted: September, 2002