Bhakti and Embodiment Page 13

  Divine Bodies, Cosmos Bodies, and Jīva Bodies

  The Gauḍīya discourse of divine embodiment, as delineated by Rūpa and elaborated by Kṛṣṇadāsa, thus provides a multidimensional hierarchical taxonomy that seeks to classify, rank, and interconnect the multiform manifestations of the Godhead. I would like to highlight a number of principles at work in this taxonomy that can serve to illuminate the distinctive character of Gauḍīya perspectives on the nature and interrelationship of divine bodies, cosmos bodies, and jīva bodies.

  One and Many. One of the central principles that governs the Gauḍīya taxonomy of divine forms is that Kṛṣṇa, as svayaṃ Bhagavān, is both one and many, singular and multiple at the same time. While remaining one, eka-rūpa, in his nonchanging vigraha as a two-armed youthful cowherd boy in the transcendent Vraja- dhāman, Goloka-Vṛndāvana, he is at the same time ananta-rūpa, assuming limitless divine forms on the various planes of existence that are partial manifestations of his svayaṃ-rūpa, essential form. He is the singular avatārin who is the source of countless avatāras, the undivided aṃśin who manifests himself in innumerable aṃśas. While the notion that the Godhead is both one and many is shared by most bhakti traditions, what distinguishes the Gauḍīya’s taxonomy is the luxuriant detail with which it describes the particularities of Kṛṣṇa’s vigraha, absolute body, as well as the particularities of the various classes, bodily features, and functions of the myriad divine forms that proliferate from the one vigraha.

  Nonmaterial Divine Bodies. Among the superabundance of rūpas through which Kṛṣṇa manifests himself, those divine forms that are classified in the Gauḍīya taxonomy as prakāśas, vilāsas, or one of the five classes of svāṃśa avatāras—puruṣa-avatāras, guṇa-avatāras, līlā-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, and yuga-avatāras—are considered to be partial manifestations of the vigraha and are therefore nonmaterial (aprākṛta) and full of sat, cit, and ānanda. The āveśa-avatāras, the sixth class of avatāras, are excluded from this classification because they are not svāṃśa avatāras with nonmaterial bodies but are rather exalted jīvas with material bodies that serve as vehicles through which the divine śakti manifests.

  The Polymorphous Godhead. In the Gauḍīya taxonomy of divine forms, Kṛṣṇa is represented as the polymorphous Godhead who appears in manifold shapes, assuming a remarkably diverse array of bodies that are different configurations of sat-cit-ānanda. These divine bodies are ranked according to the extent to which their corporeal shapes and features conform to or diverge from the paradigmatic svayaṃ-rūpa and the corresponding degree of śakti that they manifest. Prakāśas are ranked highest because they are divine manifestations of the svayaṃ-rūpa whose bodily shape is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa’s essential form. Vilāsas are ranked lower than prakāśas in the hierarchy of divine forms because their bodily shapes (ākāras) are different from that of the svayaṃ-rūpa and they have four arms (catur-bhuja) rather than two arms. However, they are ranked higher than the svāṃśa avatāras because they express more śakti and are all marked as forms of Kṛṣṇa in his aiśvarya mode with the distinguishing emblems of discus, conch, club, and lotus. The bodily forms and emblems of the svāṃśa avatāras, in contrast, diverge in significant ways from Kṛṣṇa’s svayaṃ-rūpa. One of the striking aspects of the avatāra system is that Kṛṣṇa is represented as assuming corporeal forms drawn from a broad spectrum of different classes of beings, ranging from the bodies of gods and semidivine ṛṣis to the bodies of human beings and animals. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa, in elaborating the various networks of avatāras that provide the basis for the Gauḍīyas’ system, emphasizes Bhagavān’s embrace of diversity: “Through your avatāras in the form of human beings (nṛs), animals (tiryañcs), seers (ṛṣis), gods (devas), and a fish (jhaṣa), you sustain the worlds, destroy the enemies of creation, and maintain the dharma appropriate to each yuga, O Mahāpuruṣa.”124 Among the bodies of gods assumed by Bhagavān in the Gauḍīya taxonomy, Kṛṣṇa appears as various forms of Viṣṇu in order to carry out his cosmogonic roles as the puruṣa-avatāras in the sargas and pratisargas, and he even crosses sectarian boundaries and appears as Brahmā and Śiva in order to carry out his creative and destructive functions as the guṇa-avatāras in each kalpa. In his multiple roles as līlā-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, and yuga-avatāras, Kṛṣṇa at times assumes the bodies of particular gods while at other times he assumes the bodies of certain ṛṣis, who are portrayed as semidivine beings of extraordinary knowledge and power who mediate between the human and divine realms. In his divine descents Kṛṣṇa also assumes different kinds of human bodies that are representative of a range of social groups—brahmin priests, sages, kings, warriors, and cowherds—and phases of life—young children, adolescents, householders, and renunciants. He also at times assumes the bodies of particular animals that are representative of a diverse array of species, including a fish, tortoise, boar, swan, and two hybrid forms, a man-lion and a horse-headed man.

  The Polychromatic Godhead. In the Gauḍīya taxonomy of divine forms, the polymorphous Godhead is also represented as polychromatic. The striking array of bodily shapes (ākāras) that Kṛṣṇa assumes is matched by an equally striking array of colors (varṇas). Although the svayaṃ-rūpa of the multicolored Godhead is represented as blue-black or black, the spectrum of colors in which he appears also includes green, golden, tawny, rose, red, and white. Rūpa compares the diverse forms that Kṛṣṇa displays to a multihued jewel: “Just as [the radiance of] a jewel is divided into different colors such as blue and yellow, so the Lord attains different forms (rūpas) through different meditations (dhyāna).”125 As we have seen, the issue of color is of particular importance in Gauḍīya discussions of the yuga-avatāras, whose bodily forms are differentiated above all by the distinctive colors of their complexions.

  Divine Bodies and Cosmos Bodies. In the Gauḍīya discourse of divine embodiment, Kṛṣṇa, in his role as Paramātman, is the source and ground of the three puruṣa-avatāras—Kāraṇābdhiśāyin Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyin Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyin Viṣṇu—and it is by assuming the three forms of the puruṣa-avatāras that the divine body becomes the source and ground of the countless cosmos bodies, the Brahmā-universes in the form of cosmic eggs. Kṛṣṇa in his threefold manifestation as the puruṣa-avatāras is represented as the indwelling Self who is the inner controller, antar-yāmin, of the macrocosmos and whose divine body both encompasses and is encompassed by the cosmos bodies. In his partial manifestation as Kāraṇābdhiśāyin Viṣṇu, who is his aṃśa, Kṛṣṇa is the antar-yāmin of the entire material realm of prakṛti and encompasses within his divine body the innumerable cosmos bodies, which issue forth through the pores of his skin. As Garbhodakaśāyin Viṣṇu, who is an aṃśa of an aṃśa, Kṛṣṇa is the thousand-headed puruṣa who enters into the innumerable cosmos bodies with innumerable divine bodies, residing within each separate cosmos body as the antar-yāmin. Finally, as Kṣīrodakaśāyin Viṣṇu, who is an aṃśa of an aṃśa of an aṃśa, he penetrates even further into the material realm by entering into the lotus of the fourteen worlds contained in each cosmos body and residing there as the antar-yāmin. In contrast to the formulations of competing traditions in which the Self is represented as formless—in particular, the Ātman in Advaita Vedānta and the puruṣa in Pātañjala Yoga—the Gauḍīyas emphasize the distinctive bodily forms and locations of Kṛṣṇa in his roles as the indwelling Self. As Garbhodakaśāyin Viṣṇu he reclines on his serpent-bed in the water of each cosmic egg and serves as the antar-yāmin of each cosmos body, and as Kṣīrodakaśāyin Viṣṇu he reclines on the ocean of milk within the lotus of the fourteen worlds that forms part of each cosmos body and serves as the antar-yāmin of those worlds.

  Divine Bodies and Jīva Bodies. In his role as Paramātman who assumes the three forms of the puruṣa-avatāras, Kṛṣṇa is also represented as the indwelling Self who is the antar-yāmin of the microcosmos a
nd whose divine body both encompasses and is encompassed by innumerable jīva bodies. In his partial manifestation as Kāraṇābdhiśāyin Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa contains all jīvas in latent form within his divine body, and he initiates the sarga by sowing his seed in the form of jīvas in the womb of prakṛti. As Garbhodakaśāyin Viṣṇu he initiates the pratisarga by bringing forth Brahmā the creator as his guṇa-avatāra, who fashions the bodies of various classes of jīvas from the material of the lotus out of which he himself was born. Finally, as Kṣīrodakaśāyin Viṣṇu he enters into the material body of each jīva and resides there as the indwelling Self who is the antar-yāmin within the heart. Once again, in contrast to representations of the Ātman in Advaita Vedānta and of the puruṣa in Pātañjala Yoga in which the Self is formless, the Gauḍīyas emphasize that the Self who resides in the heart of each embodied being has a particular corporeal form: the four-armed form of Kṛṣṇa in his aiśvarya mode bearing the emblems of discus, conch, club, and lotus. While Kṛṣṇa is thus held to be immanent within all embodied jīvas as the indwelling Self, certain jīvas, as we have seen, are set apart from other jīvas in their special status as a distinctive class of avatāras, āveśa-avatāras, into whom Kṛṣṇa enters with a portion of his śakti.

  Divine Bodies in Space and Time. The Gauḍīya taxonomy, in classifying and ranking Kṛṣṇa’s multifarious divine forms, attends not only to the particularities of their bodily shapes and features but also to the particularities of their locations in relation to space and time. In Gauḍīya cosmography the hierarchy of divine forms is at times mapped on the image of a lotus-maṇḍala encompassing the transcendent domains of Kṛṣṇaloka and Paravyoman, which are beyond the material space-time continuum of prakṛti and beyond Brahman. Kṛṣṇaloka, the pericarp of the lotus, is subdivided into three realms: the innermost realm of Goloka-Vṛndāvana, the transcendent Vraja-dhāman, and the outer realms of Mathurā and Dvārakā. The self-luminous vigraha, Kṛṣṇa’s absolute body, in its svayaṃ-rūpa and its multiple prakāśa forms, illumines Goloka-Vṛndāvana. Kṛṣṇa’s vigraha in Goloka-Vṛndāvana is encircled by the ādi catur-vyūhas, the four prābhava-vilāsas who reside in Mathurā and Dvārakā. Paravyoman comprises innumerable Vaikuṇṭhas that encircle Kṛṣṇaloka as the countless petals unfolding from the pericarp of the lotus and that serve as the transcendent abodes of the twenty-four vaibhava-vilāsas, who are the guardians of space and time presiding over the eight directions and the twelve months, and the numerous avatāras who constitute the five classes of svāṃśa avatāras—puruṣa-avatāras, guṇa-avatāras, līlā-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, and yuga-avatāras. While Kṛṣṇa, in his svayaṃ-rūpa and in his myriad divine manifestations as prakāśas, vilāsas, and avatāras, thus dwells apart from the material realm of prakṛti governed by the māyā-śakti, it is by means of his various avatāras that he descends into the material realm of the Brahmā-universes in order to fulfill specific cosmic functions. It is through the agency of his avatāras that Kṛṣṇa, who as svayaṃ Bhagavān revels eternally in his transcendent Vraja-dhāman beyond time, becomes embodied in time, descending in particular forms to accomplish specific tasks appropriate to particular cycles of time: as the puruṣa-avatāras in the sargas and pratisargas, the guṇa-avatāras in the pratisargas, the līlā-avatāras in the kalpas, the manvantara-avatāras in the manvantaras, and the yuga-avatāras in the yugas. Moreover, it is through the agency of his avatāras that Kṛṣṇa becomes embodied in place, descending to perform specific functions in particular locales in particular material worlds (lokas or bhuvanas) within the lotus of the fourteen worlds contained in each Brahmā-universe. While maintaining their eternal abodes in Paravyoman, the avatāras are represented as taking up residence in particular worlds during their time-bound sojourns in particular Brahmā-universes.

  The Gauḍīya discourse of divine embodiment thus begins and ends with the assertion that Kṛṣṇa, as svayaṃ Bhagavān, is both eka-rūpa and ananta-rūpa. While maintaining the integrity of his singular vigraha as Gopāla Kṛṣṇa, the inexhaustible Godhead overflows in limitless divine forms and displays a panoply of different faces, bodily shapes, emblems, colors, functions, and locations in time and space. In the final analysis, the Gauḍīyas assert, everything is possible for the supreme Godhead who is the source and container of all avatāras.

  That Kṛṣṇa, Vrajendrakumāra, is the container of avatāras.… [A]ll is possible to him who is the container of avatāras. In the body of the container of avatāras is the place of all avatāras. People refer [to him] in different ways, according to their opinions. Some call Kṛṣṇa Nara-Nārāyaṇa. Some say that Kṛṣṇa is the Vāmana incarnation. Some say Kṛṣṇa is the Kṣīrodaśāyī-avatāra. It is not impossible that everyone’s words are true. Some say he is Paravyoma Nārāyaṇa. All is possible to Kṛṣṇa, in whom are all avatāras.126

  Gendering the Taxonomy: Rādhā’s Divine Forms

  Although Kṛṣṇa is represented in the Gauḍīya discourse of divine embodiment as embracing diversity across a range of registers, including classes of beings, bodily shapes and features, and colors, there is one register that appears to be devoid of diversity: gender. Among the numerous bodily forms that Kṛṣṇa assumes in his manifestations as prakāśas, vilāsas, and avatāras, all are male, with the exception of Mohinī, in which Kṛṣṇa temporarily manifests the form of an alluring woman in order to recover the nectar of immortality from the demons. In contrast to other classes of avatāras that manifest for an extended period of time, Kṛṣṇa’s appearance as Mohinī is classified by Rūpa among the prābhava līlā-avatāras that manifest for only a brief period of time. While the taxonomy of Kṛṣṇa’s divine forms is thus dominated by male bodies, a critical role is allotted to female bodies in a complementary taxonomy developed by Kṛṣṇadāsa, in which he suggests that just as Kṛṣṇa is the aṃśin who appears in manifold male forms as prakāśas, vilāsas, and avatāras, so Rādhā is the aṃśinī who appears in manifold female forms as the consorts of Kṛṣṇa’s various manifestations.

  Kṛṣṇadāsa’s complementary taxonomy is predicated on establishing that Rādhā herself, as the embodiment of the hlādinī-śakti, the blissful aspect of the svarūpa-śakti, is the female counterpart of Kṛṣṇa who participates in his essential nature in a relationship of identity-in-nonidentity as the pūrṇa śakti of the pūrṇa śaktimat.

  Rādhā is the full śakti, Kṛṣṇa is the full container of śakti; they are two principles, but they are not divided. To this the śāstras are witness. As musk and its scent are not divided, as fire and flame are not divided, so Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are always one in true form [svarūpa]. It is for the purpose of tasting līlā-rasa that they hold two forms [rūpas].127

  Bhagavān, while remaining one in his svarūpa, bifurcates himself and appears as two nonmaterial rūpas, as the male gopa Kṛṣṇa and the female gopī Rādhā, in order to savor the exhilarating rasa, nectar, of his own blissful līlā. According to Kṛṣṇadāsa, Rādhā’s mind (citta), senses (indriyas), and bodily form (kāya) are made of Kṛṣṇa-preman,128 and it is thus by manifesting himself as Rādhā that Kṛṣṇa is able to revel in bliss as both the subject (āśraya) and the object (viṣaya) of his self-referral dalliance.

  The androgynous Godhead, male and female halves intertwining as one whole, splits into two and issues forth in two complementary streams: a stream of male forms issues forth from Kṛṣṇa’s gopa body, the svayaṃ-rūpa, as manifestations of the paradigmatic male body, and a stream of female forms issues forth from Rādhā’s gopī body as manifestations of the paradigmatic female body. Kṛṣṇadāsa, in classifying the types of manifestations that issue forth from Rādhā, makes use of several of the technical terms that he uses to classify Kṛṣṇa’s manifestations. He distinguishes in particular among three classes of manifestations that issue forth as three kinds of śaktis or consorts from Rādhā, the mahā-śakti who is the “crest-jewel o
f all the consorts”: mahiṣīs, lakṣmīs, and gopīs. Just as Kṛṣṇa’s manifestation in his four-armed aiśvarya form as Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa is classified as a vaibhava-prakāśa, so the mahiṣīs, the 16,000 queens of Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, are classified as vaibhava-prakāśas of Rādhā. Just as certain forms of Viṣṇu such as Nārāyaṇa are classified as vaibhava-vilāsas of Kṛṣṇa, so the lakṣmīs, the goddesses who are the consorts of these Viṣṇu forms in their Vaikuṇṭha abodes in Paravyoman, are classified as vaibhava-vilāsas of Rādhā. The gopīs, the consorts of Gopāla Kṛṣṇa in his transcendent Vraja-dhāman, are ranked highest in this threefold taxonomy, for they are classified as kāya-vyūhas, direct emanations of the body (kāya) of Rādhā, who issue forth as variegated expressions of the hlādinī-śakti that Kṛṣṇa relishes as manifold flavors of the ambrosial rasa of preman.129