The Secret of Descension
The descensions of God are countless. Even at this moment, countless descensions are taking place in countless universes. A natural question that arises is that since God is satya sankalpa, that is, He instantly accomplishes whatever He desires, why does He have to descend to protect saints, destroy demons, and so on? After all, the Darshan Shastra declares that even the most foolish person does not perform any work or action without an aim or objective. Let us try and understand by considering, in brief, what Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj has said on this subject.
The Bhagavatam, Brahma Sutra and the Gita state various reasons for the descension of God. The important ones include because He wishes to do so; He enjoys doing so. It is one of His enjoyable pastimes, just like a king who makes a garden for his relaxation or enjoyment. However, in the main, this reason does not satisfy the curiosity of most people. A king is under the influence of maya, and therefore imperfect, whereas God is supremely perfect and self-satisfied in all respects. He is fully content and therefore desires nothing. Why would God need to relax or entertain Himself, and that too, in this dirty material world?
The Gita offers a second reason, declared by Shri Krishna over verses 4.6–8. God descends to protect and shelter sages, destroy demons, and establish dharma or spiritual order in the world. But this fails to satisfy everyone too, particularly the scholarly fraternity, because God has the power to accomplish anything He desires just by thinking. According to the Bhagavatam, 5.19.5, God can destroy demons even without descending, just by desiring to do so, and consequently, the sages and saints are automatically protected. Apart from this, God can protect anyone He so desires because He resides in the hearts of all living beings. And as far as establishing dharma is concerned, a saint is more than capable of doing this.
The Gita then goes on to say that the real reason for God’s descension is to teach important lessons to human beings for their emancipation. However, one can say that such teachings and lessons can easily be taught by a saint. In fact, saints do this all the time wherever they descend. So why does God need to? The Bhagavatam then declares, 1.8.20, that God descends to bestow divine love upon those paramhansas who are absorbed in the formless Brahm. But this reason also falls short because the process of bestowing divine love is accomplished by a saint, and not God. God Himself declares that He has delegated this power to His saint, a mahapurusha. Besides, God grants His vision to His devotees (the mahapurusha) all the time, without any need to descend. In fact, even the jnanis enjoy the vision of God from time to time due to the grace of these devotees. So why does God have to descend in this world?
The Bhagavatam, 1.8.35 and 10.29.14, declares that God descends to leave behind His divine names, forms, qualities, attributes, and pastimes, thereby enabling suffering souls to unshackle themselves from the clutches of maya by meditating upon them. This is the main reason for God’s descent, and I concur fully with it. Let me explain the sense and logic behind this most valid reason.
All individual souls under the influence of maya are suffering because they are standing with their back facing God. Having forgotten their soul beloved and eternal friend since eternity, they are miserable and continue to suffer in the clutches of maya. By nature, every individual soul desires happiness, that is, everlasting, ever increasing divine happiness. To attain the eternal divine love of Shri Krishna is the true self-interest of every soul. However, being smitten by illusionary, short-lived, and constantly declining material happiness, the soul rotates and suffers in the cycle of 8.4 million species of life, subjected to the insurmountable influence of maya. Due to ignorance, the individual soul searches for divine happiness in the world, where it is not, and suffers endlessly.
Until the soul achieves its goal, it will continue to create desires and work to attain them, either going in the wrong direction or the right one. Hence, this struggle continues. However, a personality that is completely self-satisfied and eternally established in its own bliss is bound to be totally selfless and all-gracious. That personality is God and the saint. The term saint includes those eternal saints (nitya siddha) as well as those who were under maya (sadhan siddha), who became God-realised through devotional practice and the grace of their Guru.
Thus, being ever absorbed in unlimited divine bliss, why would God or His saints do anything? Shri Krishna has Himself clarified this point in the Gita, verse 3.22, “There is nothing that I need to attain, and therefore, there is no action that I need to perform.” Then what is the reason for His descension?
The simple answer is that whatever actions are performed by God and the saints are entirely for the benefit and emancipation of suffering souls. If someone were to question why God and the saints care for the individual souls, the answer to this is that their innate nature to shower mercy and grace compels them. Just as the nature of fire is to burn, the nature of God and the saints is to shower grace upon the souls. And nature has no reason; it is a natural process. Only those souls under maya perform actions with a selfish motive. God and those souls that have crossed the ocean of maya, however, by their very nature, are causelessly gracious. Hence, the creation of this world is only a result of that causeless mercy.
Some of you may still wonder why God and the saints engage in killing. Arjun and Hanuman, for example, killed thousands. But even killing or a curse performed by God or a saint amounts to an act of grace. The Bhagavatam states that all those who were killed by God or the saints merged into God or became God-realised.
If a piece of iron touches a touchstone, for example, softly with love or violently with force, the iron will turn into gold. A woman who willingly sits on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband will be consumed by the flames in the same way as the person thrown onto it. In both circumstances the flames will do their job. Similarly, the only difference is that those demons killed by God or a saint are not eligible to attain the nectar of divine love, braj ras, because of their attachment to God with negative feelings. This is attainable only through devotion with loving feelings. Devotion with negativity is therefore unadvisable.
You can say, to conclude, that both the descension and the actions of God and the saints are purely meant to grace suffering souls. However, all those other reasons documented in the scriptures are also correct. A single action can be performed for many different reasons, even in this world. Whatever reason you choose you can adopt without any fear and derive benefit.
Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattva-darshan — the essence of Vedic wisdom, spirituality and devotion in daily life.
