BY: SUN STAFF
Jun 17, CANADA (SUN) —
Sri Krsna-sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
Anuccheda 89
1 That Lord Aniruddha is one of the caturvyuha expansions of Godhead is described in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.1.34):
“May I inquire whether Aniruddha is doing well? He is the fulfiller of all the desires of the pure devotees and has been considered from yore to be the cause of the Rg Veda, the creator of the mind and the fourth plenary expansion of Visnu.”*
2 The statement ‘sabda-yonim’ (Lord Aniruddha is the cause of the Rg Veda) in this verse is confirmed in the following statement of Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad (2.4.10):
“O Maitreyi, the Rg Veda is manifested from the breathing of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
The word ‘mano-mayam’ means ‘the creator of the mind’. Each member of the catur-vyuha expansions is the predominating Deity of one of the subtle elements. Lord Vasudeva is the Deity of the heart, Lord Sankarsana is the Deity of the false-ego, Lord Pradyumna is the deity of the intelligence, and Lord Aniruddha is the deity of the mind. Lord Aniruddha is worshipped within the mind, just as Lord Vasudeva is worshipped within the heart.
The word “sattvam” means “He who is situated in the transcendental stage of pure goodness.”
The word ‘turiyam’ (fourth) means that of the catur-vyuha expansions of the Lord, Lord Vasudeva is the first expansion, Lord Sankarsana the second, Lord Pradyumna the third, and Lord Aniruddha the fourth expansion.
Someone may raise the following objection: If Aniruddha is actually the Personality of Godhead, then why was He defeated in fighting with Banasura?
This objection may be answered by saying: By His own wish the Supreme Lord sometimes pretends to be a limited human being in His pastimes. There are many examples of His acting in this way in His appearance as Lord Ramacandra and in other incarnations also.
3 Lord Aniruddha is glorified in the following verses from the Brhat-sahasra-nama prayers of the Padma Purana:
“Lord Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, is the Supreme Brahman. He enchants the entire universe. He is the fourth member of the four catur-vyuha expansions of Godhead. He appears in four colours (white, red, yellow and black) in the four yugas (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali) to establish the principles of religion. He is the all-pervading Supersoul who remains in the hearts of the four kinds (those born from the womb, from eggs, seeds, or perspiration) of conditioned souls. From Him millions of living entities are manifest, and He is the shelter within whom everything rests.”
4 Aniruddha (who appeared as the son of Pradyumna) is therefore the original Maha-Aniruddha who remains in the spiritual sky. It is this Lord Aniruddha who stays on the waters of devastation at the time when the material universe is destroyed. The Lord’s expansion as the catur-vyuha purusa-incarnations within the material world is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.3.1):
“In the beginning of the creation, the Lord first expanded Himself as the universal form of the purusa -incarnation and manifested all the ingredients for the material creation.”*
Four catur-vyuha expansions (Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) are manifested in the spiritual world, and from these another series of catur-vyuha expansions is manifested within the material world.
5 That the Maha-Aniruddha who remains in the spiritual world appears within the material worlds in Lord Krsna’s family is confirmed in the following passage from Visnu-dharma Purana, Uttara-khanda, in the question of Vrajanabha and the answer of Markandeya Muni. Vrajanabha asked:
“At the end of each kalpa a small child always appears. Although I repeatedly see this child I do not know His identity. Please tell me who this child is, I am very eager to know the answer to this question.
6 Markandeya Muni replied:
“Although I myself am not free from the influence of the Lord’s illusory potency (maya), I have repeatedly seen the Personality of Godhead appear as a small child at the time of partial cosmic annihilation (kalpa-ksaya). That same form of the Personality of Godhead appears in Lord Krsna’s family as your father, Aniruddha. That your father Aniruddha is the Personality of Godhead is known to me without any doubt.”
7 In the Mahabharata, Bhisma-parva, in the instructions of Bhisma to Duryodhana, Lord Brahma’s arrival at Gandhamadana mountain at the beginning of Lord Krsna’s appearance in this material world is described. While Brahma was at Gandhamadana mountain he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead appear in his heart in the form of a small child. Brahma spoke the following words to the Supreme Lord who had thus appeared before him:
8 “O Lord Vasudeva, You expanded Yourself as Lord Sankarsana and He then expanded Himself as Lord Pradyumna. Lord Pradyumna expanded Himself as Lord Aniruddha, whom the sages know to be the eternal Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, and Lord Aniruddha created me, Brahma, the maintainer of the universe. O Lord, because I am thus created by You, I am certainly Your part and parcel.”
9 We may note that in this quotation, and also in the previously quoted verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (1.3.1) ‘jagrhe paurusam rupam’ (in the beginning of creation the Lord first expanded Himself as the universal form of the purusa incarnations) it has been clearly described that Lord Aniruddha is an expansion of Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna is not described in these verses as an incarnation of Lord Aniruddha.
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