Yadhavaabhyudhaya is the story of Krishna Avathaara retold by Vedanta Desika with a beautiful poetic flavor steeped in Bhakthi.
Swamy Desika has written devotional hymns on all the archaavathaas – the deities of all the vaishnavite shrines but none of the forms of Lord Narayana seems to be more dear to him as His incarnation as Lord Krishna.
Yadhavaabhyudhaya is an epic which seems to be an elongated version of Gopala Vimsathi (another work in 20 verses by the same author.) Both these works start with the same verse, Both are rich in poetic skill and intellectual excellence.
Vasudeva was the refuge of the good as Lord Vishnu is for the world’ sea is for gems and sun is for light.
This implies that he was the sole resort of the good as the earth was burden with unrighteous kings for whose destruction the Lord descended in the form of Krishna. Even though born of a royal family Vasudeva was intent on attaining mukthi and was not interested in the worldly possessions and became content with whatever came to him of its own accord. Vasudeva got married to Devaki (the cousin sister of Kamsa) whom he loved very much, but Kamsa hearing the aerial declaration that the eighth son of Devaki will be his killer. Kamsa thus put them both in prison.
In the mean while the devas were approached by Bhoodevi who entreated them to relieve her of her burden of adharma perpetuated by the unrighteous kings, who oppressed her like giant mountains.then they all approached Lord Narayana along with Brahma and with Bhoodevi in front and started praying to Him.
The devas praised the Lord thus;
1. He is thrivedimadhya dheeptha, shines on the three Vedas because He is vedavedya, known through the Vedas.
2. He is Thridhaama, having three abodes namely Vaikunta, which is his Paramapadha Supreme abode, the milky ocean and the surya mandala, disc of the sun, He is described in the Upanishad as Suryamandala Madhya varthi.
3. He has five weapons Panchatrethayah, Shankha Chakra Gasdha sharanga and Khadga, the conch disc mace bow and sword respectively.
4. He is Baahyaanthara havirbhuja takes the external offerings in the uajna and also internal in the form of self which is offered in devotion and He as varadha bestows His grace.
5. His power is independent ananya adheena mahima and unlimited whereas that of other gods are in his control paraadheena vaibhava and hence limited. Devas beseech Him to protect them as he is dhayaa dheena vihara, overwhelmed with mercy as shown in the choice of the acts like his killing Ravana. The poetic skill in the work can be seen in the words used namely ananyaa dheena, svaadheena and dhayadheena.
6. The lord is the ocean of mercy dhayaambhudhi in which his gunas jnana, bala, aisvarya, shakthi, tejas and virya are the ratnas gems and the waves are His vyuhas and vibhavas. The six attributes, knowledge, might, sovereignty, power, glory and valiance are called bhagas and hence the name bhagvan. The vyuhas are His manifestations as vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradhyumna and Anirudhdha and the Vibhavas are His incarnations. These are metaphorically described as the waves while the gunas are the precious gems which are said to be in the ocean.
7. The glory of the Lord cannot be ascertained from the Vedas even because they are His creation and they are compared to the travelers who even after travelling from morning till evening are unable to reach the destination, namely to describe Him.
8. He puts on different costumes and comes down as incarnations like an actor and he acts according to the role he assumes. This amuses the Wise who see him act like a subordinate a supplicant and obedient son to his own children and dependents. He is the one who apportions the result of Karmas to the individuals and it is all his leela which watches the seeds of karma so that it brings forth the sprouts of results, karmaphala Desika says that this is true with all beings. Brahmaadhisthamba paryantham, from the four faced brahma down to the blade of grass as every thing is His creation only.
9. He shines in the hearts of the pure in his full splendor and like the chintamani fulfills all their wishes. Chintamani is a precious gem which is supposed to grant all wishes of the possessor.
10. To those who have become fatigued by travelling in the desert of samsara the devotion of the Lord serves as a welcome river. Flowing with the nectar of His mercy in which they plunge and enjoy its coolness.
11. He is the boat that helps those who are caught in the whirlpool of sin to cross over to the other side.
12. He is unparalleled, limitless and the cause of the universe. Himself uncaused. He is denoted by Pranava the essence of Vedas and the raft of rescue from the sea of samsara. Those who seek refuge in Him alone, depend only on Him for their redemption and do not adopt any other means except devotion to Him. Like the chataka bird which lives only on rain drops. Not seeking any other source of water.
13. Like the sun that wakes up from sleep the Lord wakes up the jivas from sleep of ignorance. Hence the devas entreated him to dispel their calamity like the sun destroys the darkness because kamsa and others have risen like comets to create disturbances in the world.
Thus entreated by the devas Bhagwan appeared before them out of mercy. Desika here gives a beautiful description of the Lord.
The devas saw him reclined on the couch of Adisesha, like a rain bearing cloud, dark in hue on a white cloud of autumn. Adisesha is supposed to be white in colour and sitting on him the Lord presented a picture of a dark cloud on the top of a white cloud, which is a rare occurrence. This simile is an indication of the wonder the devas experienced on seeing the Lord before them.
The Lord was accompanied by Sridevi with lotus in her hand implying His aisvarya, the mastery over the universe. The epithet Lakshmipathi denotes the supreme power combined with mercy of the Lord. He was adorned with ornaments which were Sukumara, slender and not heavy sukhasparsa soft of touch on His body and not rough like sweet smelling flowers suganshibhih prasoonaih iva and well suited to his gunas, the infinitely auspicious qualities. His form is a garden of his gunas and the ornaments are like the flowers in the garden. Every part of the body vying with each other in beauty excelled that of his ornaments and stole the hearts of all beings. The ornaments were beautified by him. The weapons he was wielding namely the disc bow mace etc were proclaiming his natural qualities like valour, power, and so on and seemed to forecast the victory of the devas. With his form created by himself. He shone like a sapphire rising out of the sea of his own splendor.
Along with the Lord came Garuda, who is the embodiment of Vedas. Srutiroopa and covered with the fragrance of the feet of the Lord. Being his carrier signifying the impending war with the asuras. The Vedas call garuda “Suparno asi garutman triurththe sirah” garuda with powerful wings has veda as his head.
The Lord thus presented a picture of a sun who never sets, a moon who never wanes and an ocean of nectar which has no bounds to devas. He was shining in His glory which excelled the Sun, was source of joy in His cool mercy, which never diminishes and he was like everlasting nectar to the devas in showering his grace. By seeing him thus the eyes of the devas became fruitful and the Lord reassured themwith his abhayahasta showing His hand in a gesture of protection and by his smile that destroys evil by the mere sight of it.
Devas thus appeal to the lord.
The devas started to tell the Lord that rakshasas whowere extinguished previously by Him like moths by the fire, have come back to earth in the form of kshathriyas and the earth is suffering by their misdeeds and if the Lord does not intervene the earth will be submerged into the sea not being able to bear their weight.
They pray to him to direct His merciful glances towards them the glances of the Lord are prabhadha subhaga attractive. He just being awakened from his yoga nidra smera accompanied with his charming smile prasanna pleasing sheethala cooling with love and they are like the waves of the sea of his mercy drpakpdhanava dhoormibhih.
Imagining the Lord thus is enough to send a devotee to ecstasy. With these words the devas concluded their entreaty asking the Lord to forgive them for their impudence in informing Him the reason of their approaching him as though he did not know every thing, being the antharyami indweller of all.
Then Bhoodevi bowded down to Him who was vowed to protect His dependents along with the devas and informed Him of her plight. Desika describes her as being beautiful like the maya of the lord. The earth assuming the form of an exemplary damsel. Vanithaarath narupini. Of slender waist and large eyes thanumadhyaa visaalakshi, is compared to the enchanting maya of the Lord.
The whole universe constituted of the five elements is the product of prakrthi known as the maya of the lord.
The Lord replied to them in a voice that echoed the sound of His Panchajanya. He re assured them by saying that those who follow His command will never come to harm.
The Lord then promised that he will descend to earth as an incarnation to lessen the burden of the earth by destroying the evil kshathriyas and will establish dharma. He asked them to take birth as kings to partake the result of his deeds. So saying the Lord awaited the right time to enter the garba of devaki. To be born as Krishna. Thus the one in whom the entire world resided came to reside in devaki.
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