Pralaya-payodhi-jale …

Jaya Jagannatha ! Vaikuntha Ekadashi greetings to all!

After my series on Jagannatha Ashtakam, I wish to throw some light on the concept of Dashavatar as given in Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam.  The stanzas are very popular among Odishi Dancers. Its recital accompanied by dance is (used to be?) a part of daily ritual of Lord Jaganatha before his Sayana-Arati. 

What is so different about Jaydeva’s Dashavatara?

Yes it is different. According to the ancient sages Lord Vishnu descends onto earth from time to time taking various avatars. Out of his so many avatars ten are thought to be important. Sage Parashara, in his Brihat Parashara Hora Sashtra, has linked each of the avatars of Vishnu to a particular planet in the astrological scheme of planets. 

However, in Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, the ten avatars are not of Maha Vishnu. According to him Keshava or  Lord Krishna took those avatars.  Then a question comes as to who replaces Krishna avatar in Jaydeva’s scheme?

But first things first

प्रलयपयोधिजले धृतवानसि वेदम् । 

विहितवहित्रचरित्रमखेदम्॥

केशवाधृतमीनशरीर जयजगदीशहरे॥ १-१

When the world turns into an ocean during the pralaya

Like a ship that gives shelter to a drowning man

O Keshava, you take Matshya avatar – the body of a fish

To rescue the vedas from destructions

O Hari, O Jagadeesh – the Lord of the Universe, may you be victorious!

Many questions may arise. Of course the first one is – why did Jaydeva choose to describe the avatars as those of Krishna? If he did so, what is the avatar that replaces Krishna in his scheme? What is pralaya? Why does Krishna save only the vedas during the pralaya? What about the strange coincidence of the sequence of the avatars with that of the Darwinian theory of evolution? Why does the all-powerful God need our wishes to be victorious? 

I will definitely attempt to answer these questions in the coming days. Before that, in order to familiarize yourself with some of the concepts indicated in this stanza, you may visit the following articles:

Gita Govindam – the ultimate romance

of time and place

The photo given here at the top is that of the deity at Vedanarayana Temple, Nagalapuram, Andhra Pradesh. It is perhaps one of the very few temples where Shri Vishnu in his Matsya Avatar is the principal deity. 

By the way the Matsya Avatar is linked to the planet Ketu – according to Rishi Parashara.