Lakṣmī Tantra Chapter 10—Three Types of God’s Avatāras
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2020-11-28

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Viśuddhi-cakra
Śakra: “I salute Thee, brought into being through the mighty efforts of the gods to churn the milky ocean, sister of the moon, of immortal origin. From Thy own lotus mouth have I heard all about thy modalities characterized by bhāva, the state of absolute existence. Now I want to know about Thy various incarnations characterized by bhavat (Being, i.e. Nārāyaṇa). O Ambujā, what are the forms of all those incarnations, avatāras of Viṣṇu, how many are They? Asking this, I pay Thee obeisance. O Thou, seated on the lotus, deign to tell me.” [10.1–3]
Śrī: Well Śakra, I shall enlighten you about all Viṣṇu’s modifications characterized by bhavat, disclosing Their number and nature. Brahman possesses the six divine attributes; is pure, flawless, undecaying, constant, all-powerful, possessed of all śaktis, undaunted and has transcendental knowledge. It was first manifested both as the possessor of Śakti and as the Śakti Herself. As the possessor of Śakti, Brahman exists as Nārāyaṇa the supreme God, and I am His, the omnipresent One’s ever-existent, omnipotent Śakti. To benefit the world, both of Us underwent various modifications and incarnations.” [10.4–9]
“In all God's manifestations and descents I become His body. Thus Śakti, the divine presence is manifest in all God's manifestations, including the Vyūhas. I have already told you about My different avatāras. Now listen to Me describe the modifications of Viṣṇu, the unmodifiable. In order to serve the world, the Lord of the world, who presides over and makes use of Me, His own Śakti—the great mysterious source Prakṛti—manifests Himself in three types of forms that are supra-phenomenal, matchless, and resplendent with inconceivable majesty: the absolute form; the Vyūha form; and the Vibhava- forms. Thus, to help His devotees, the glorious and all-pervasive God appears in various forms.” [10.10–11]
“He assumes a form that is incomparable, indefinable, supreme, refreshing to all and lovely as tens of thousands of full moons shining together. His two hands are held in the gesture of granting boons and promising protection; He is lotus-eyed, and on his hands appear lines representing the auspicious disc and conchshell; his legs are in the sthānaka posture; He is exquisitely beautiful, adorned with all six of His own attributes. He is erect with perfectly proportioned limbs, and has a uniformly handsome body, richly adorned with splendid ornaments. His traits such as acyuta etc. invariably surround him like a halo and are as white as a surging sea of nectar. This is said to be Viṣṇu’s supreme and most exalted two-armed form, representing His absolute manifestation. Sages who have achieved the goal of their meditation worship this form, belonging to the tūrya state, in their hearts.” [10.12–17]

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