“The father and the mother of this gratifying world,
Know, is the soul of the word,[51] and the sublime wisdom.”
By Vishnu is meant his attribute of divine love, and also the universal soul; and they give the name of Avátar to the spirit derived from the soul of the first heaven; in which sense they have said: “Avátars are rays issuing from Vishnu’s essence.”
But these sectaries do not mean that the identical spirit of Rám, on the dissolution of its connection with his body, becomes attached to the body of Krishna; for they themselves assert that Parsurám (the sixth Avátar) is immortal, and his body everlasting.
When Rámachandra became incarnate, he encountered the other; and Parsurám, having posted himself on the road with hostile intentions, Rámachandra said: “Thou art a Brahman and I a Chettri: it is incumbent on me to show thee respect:” then applying the horn of his bow to Parsurám’s foot, he deprived him of all power. When Parsurám who is now along with his wife in the heavens, enrolled among the stars: he was the instructor of Rama, and brought him to the knowledge of himself; and his counsels to Ráma have been collected by the Rishi Valmiki in the History of Ráma, called the Ramáyana, and the name of Jog-Vashishta, given to them, which they call Indrazaharájóg Vashishta.[54] Some parts of these tales were selected by a Brahman of Kashmir, and afterwards translated into Persian by Mulla Muhammed, a Súfí. To resume: Ráma, on hearing this expression from Parsurám, said: “My arrow, however, errs not:” he then discharged some arrows which have become the janitors of paradise, and do not permit Parsurám to enter therein. This parable proves that they are by no means taken for Avátars of Naryáan; as, although Pursurám and Rám were two Avátárs of Vishnu, yet they knew not each other. Again, it is an established maxim among philosophers, that one soul cannot be united in one place with two distinct bodies. Besides, it is certain that they give the name “Avatárs of Naráyan” to the souls which emanate from the universal soul; and that they call Naráyan the soul of the empyreal, or the fourth heaven. As to their assertions that Naráyan is God, found himself destitute of strength, he asked his name, and on learning that it was Ramachandra, he was greatly astonished, and said: “Has Rámachandra’s Avátar taken place?” and Rámachandra having replied “Certainly,” Parsurám said: “My blow is not mortal, I have taken away thy understanding.” On this account it happened that Rámachandra possessed not intelligence in his essence, and was unacquainted with his true state, wherefore they style him the Mudgha, or stupid Avátar.[52]
Vasishta, one of the Rishies,[53] or “holy sages,” and their acknowledging his Avátars as God, and their saying that the Almighty has deigned to appear under certain forms, all this means that a Naráyan is the same with the universal soul, which the Súfees entitle “the life of God.” As life is an attribute of the Almighty, and the perfection of attributes constitutes his holy essence, consequently the souls which emanate from the universal soul, or that of the empyreal heaven, which is the life of God, know themselves, and acquire the ornaments of pure faith and good works; and also, on being liberated from body, they become identified with the universal soul, which is Vishnu, or the life of God, agreeably to this saying: “He who knows his own soul, knows God:” that is, he becomes God.
As to their acknowledging the fish, tortoise, and boar to be incarnations of the divinity, by this they mean, that all beings are rays emanating from the essence of the Almighty, and that no degradation results to him therefrom, according to this narration of the Mir Sáíd Sharif, of Jarjan (Georgia).
As a Súfí and rhetorician were one day disputing, the latter said: “I feel pain at the idea of a God who manifests himself in a dog or hog:” to which the Súfee replied: “I appeal from the God who displays not himself in the dog.” On this, all present exclaimed: “One of these two must be an infidel.” A man of enlightened piety drew near, and showing them the exact import of these expressions, said: “According to the belief of the rhetorician, the dignity of God is impaired by his manifesting himself in the dog; he is therefore distressed at the idea of a God thus deficient. But, according to the Súfee, the non-appearance of God in that animal would be a diminution of his dignity, he therefore appeals against a God deficient in this point: consequently, neither of them is an infidel.” So that, in fact, the Súfís and these sectaries entertain the same opinions.
The author of this work once said to Shídósh: “We may affirm that by the fish is meant the lord, or conservative angel, of water;” as, according to their mythology, a demon having taken the Vedas under that element, was pursued and slain by Vishnu, and the Vedas brought back: thus their mention of a fish originated from its inseparable connection with water. By the tortoise is meant the lord, or conservative angel, of earth; as their mythology relates, that the Avátar of the tortoise occurred for the purpose of the earth being supported on its back, as is actually the case; they have also especially mentioned the tortoise, as it is both a land and aquatic creature, and that after water comes earth. By the boar are meant the passions and the propagation of living creatures; and as to the tradition of a demon having stolen away the earth and taken it under the water, and of his being pursued by Vishnu under the form of a boar, and slain by his tusks, its import is as follows: the demon means dissolute manners, which destroyed the earth with the deluge of sensuality; but on the aid of the spirit coming, the demon of dissoluteness was overthrown by the tusks of continence: the boar is particularly mentioned, because its attribute is sensuality; and it was reckoned an Avátár, because continence is virtue. The Narsinh, or “man-lion,” is the lord, or conservative angel of heroism; and as this constitutes a most praiseworthy quality, they said, that the Narsinh was a form with a lion’s head and a human body, for when they spoke of impetuous bravery in a man, they made use of the term “lion.” By Vámana, or “dwarfish stature,” they meant, the lord of reason, strength of reflection, and an intellectual being; the dwarfish stature implying that, notwithstanding a diminutive person, important results may be obtained through him; as in almost a direct allusion to this, people say: “An intelligent man of small stature is far superior to the tall blockhead.” By Rajah Bali, they typify generosity and liberality.
Shidósh was delighted at this interpretation, and said: “They have also recorded that Krishna had sixteen thousand wives; and when one of his friends who thought it impossible for Krishna to visit all of them, said to try him: ‘Bestow on me one of thy wives,’ Krishna answered: ‘In whatever female’s apartment thou findest me not, she is thine.’ His friend went into the different apartments, but in every one of them he beheld the god engaged in conversation with its mistress.” This story implies, that the love of Krishna was so rooted in their hearts, that they cared for none besides, having his image present to their eyes, and dwelling every moment on his beloved idea.