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Jaimini visits the birds
Jaimini heard from Markandeya about the sons of Sukrisha and how they became birds. As he needed answers to his questions, he was determined to visit the birds. Thanking sage Markandeya, Jaimini set off. He did not wait for the sun to rise. He was excited about meeting the birds. It was a long journey. Sage Markandeya's ashrama was in the foothills of the Himalayas and from there Jaimini had to reach the Vindhya Mountain.
It took him weeks. He travelled from the mountains, crossed the great rivers Ganga and Yamuna and reached the Vindhyas. He had help from the villagers on the way, who had given him food and also helped him cross the rivers. Jaimini could now see the mountain on the banks of river Narmada. This was the same mountain that had been humbled by sage Agastya. He had read how once Vindhya thought himself to be superior to Meru. To humble him, Agastya had asked the mountain to bow down and remain like that till he, Agastya, returned. The mountain had bent down facing south and Agastya had gone south of the mountain and had never returned.
Jaimini decided to start climbing. Before doing so, he went to the banks of river Narmada and prayed to the river. He then proceeded.
He walked on, following a narrow path, taking short breaks as and when it was necessary. He had nearly reached his destination. A broad ridge. Below him was the Narmada River. He climbed and stood on the flat ground. It was a beautiful place, a forested section of the mountain. He could see fruit trees and behind the trees, a cave, the mouth of which was covered by creepers. He then heard soft chanting. As he walked towards the cave, the sound became louder. There was no other living creature there. This must be the birds. He was amazed. What clarity. What diction. He felt he had come to the right place. He walked forward and, pushing the creepers aside, entered the cave.
Stepping into the depths of the cave, Jaimini looked around. He had expected the cave to be dark, but there was light inside. The cave itself seemed to be lightly glowing. There, in the middle of the cave, on a flat slab of stone were the four birds. Jaimini stood there, listening to the chanting. When he heard them take a natural pause, he addressed them and introduced himself.
The birds were a bit surprised to hear the sage. They were not accustomed to seeing any other being. They stopped and turned towards Jaimini. Seeing the sage they lowered their heads. They invited him, showed him a spot and asked him to sit there. They offered him water, fruits and asked him to partake of those. They stood around and gently fanned him, while he ate the fruits.
When Jaimini was visibly relaxed, the birds then started talking.
The birds then spoke to Jaimini in a clear human tone, "Respected sage, we are very pleased to see you. We have heard a lot about you. We do not see any humans here on this mountain. We chose this place purposely to stay here; practice reading the scriptures and spend the rest of our days in meditation. We are blessed that you have come here today. Do tell us how we can serve you."
Jaimini asks his questions
Jaimini was seated looking at the birds. He then spoke to them. "I had studied the Mahabharata that my guru had composed. After reading that I had some doubts. There was no one to clear my doubts and answer my queries. My guru was not available and I had then approached sage Markandeya. He was unable to answer me as he was busy at that time. He then told me about you and asked me to approach you. He told me you would be able to answer my questions."
The birds said, "We have studied various scriptures. We also remember what we have studied when we were sons of Sukrisha. We were blessed with supreme knowledge and with that, we feel we would be able to answer your questions. Still, we are living beings and do not possess knowledge about everything. Please ask us what you want us to tell you. You mentioned doubts and queries. Do tell us what those are and we will try and answer your questions to the best of our ability."
Jaimini then told the birds about his questions. "These are the questions I have about Mahabharata. In Mahabharata we see Krishna as the Supreme one. We know about the Supreme One who is without any form or attributes. If that is the case, why did the formless being take a human form on this earth?
Jaimini said to the birds, "Listen to me about the questions I have from the Mahabharata. We know that the Supreme One is without any form or qualities. So why did that One take human form and perform deeds on this earth? Why did Draupadi end up becoming a shared wife of the Pandavas? While already on pilgrimage, why did Balarama kill a brahmin? Why did the brave, young, unmarried sons of Draupadi meet their death at such a young age? These are my four questions about Mahabharata.”
The birds were ready to start. They said they would start with an invocation.
Invocation
"We pray to Vishnu who is all-powerful. He is beyond all measurement, beyond the reach of senses and the intellect. No mind, no scripture can fully grasp his vastness. Vishnu is eternal and imperishable. He is never subject to aging, change, or decline. While the worlds arise and dissolve, Vishnu remains the constant, untouched by time and decay. He exists in four forms and possesses the three gunas — sattva, rajas, and tamas. He is also beyond these qualities. He is immortal. He is more minute than the minutest and yet vaster than the vastest. He pervades the entire universe. He is without beginning, and yet he is the source from which all creation springs forth. He can be both visible and invisible — that is, manifest and unmanifest. He reveals himself as he chooses. All divine roles emerge from one ultimate reality. The world is born from him, is sustained by him, and finally dissolves back into him. We pray to Brahma, who was present before creation and created the universe. He uttered the Vedas and purified the worlds. We pray to Shiva, the fierce one. He destroyed the asuras who were disrupting the yagnas. No matter how big the threat, a single arrow is enough for him to destroy the evil forces. Having prayed to Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva, let us now talk about your questions. We will try and answer them, and we hope these answers will satisfy you."
The four forms of Vishnu
"In the very beginning, there was nothing. Just silence. And there was water. It was everywhere. In this silence, A vibration was felt in the atmosphere. From the vibration, a faint light began to glow. Gradually, the light coalesced into the form of Vishnu. He got the name Vishnu as he pervaded everything. He was there on the water, reclining on a huge serpent. This snake with a thousand hoods was Ananta. The water was called Nara as it was the offspring of the sage Nara. Vishnu was resting on this water and he got the name Narayana. It is difficult to understand Narayana. He is both with attributes and without attributes."
The first form
"As the One with attributes, he is visible and personal and can be easily worshipped. Narayana manifests into various forms. The One without attributes cannot be described. It is beyond comprehension. It is devoid of qualities like name, form, colour, smell, taste, touch, sound, or any other sensory or intellectual attribute. Through knowledge and contemplations, seers perceive this as white. They see this as pure consciousness or light. Practitioners of deep yoga who have achieved advanced spiritual realization see this form as radiant, fiery, engulfed in effulgence. This form of Narayana is omnipresent. It is distant, yet intimately close and present in the heart. This form is beyond the three gunas and is not bound by qualities or attributes. This form is called Vasudeva (“one who dwells in everything”). This form is visible only when ego vanishes. The shape that is perceived by the seers is not reality; it is a mental construct, just an image to aid devotion. Vasudeva is eternally pure and is untouched by imperfection. It resides in a spiritual plane. This form is not affected by the limitations of the material world like birth, death, decay, ignorance, or pain. It is eternally pure and perfect. It's purity is not derived and is part of its essential nature."
The second form
"The second form is called Sesha or Sankarshana. It's looks like a serpent with multiple hoods. It lies coiled at the bottom of the ocean. The entire universe rests on its head. It lies still and any movement in it's body causes earthquakes and tidal waves. Doing so, it supports creation from the foundational level. This is full of tamas guna and is called Tamasic. Its role is that of grounding, doing what is necessary for balance. This is knowledge which is directed inwards. Serpents represent latent energy, subconscious support of the world."
The third form
“The role of the third form is to act as a nurturer, sustainer and caretaker of all living beings within creation. This form makes sure that all beings are provided for, protected, and guided toward growth and well-being. This form actively engages in tasks aligned with nurturing, such as guiding creation and empowering beings to live harmoniously. This form is sattva in nature. The actions of this form are transparent, untainted, morally impeccable ensuring that the nurturing of beings is always in alignment with dharma. This also reflects his ability to inspire knowledge and moral virtue among beings. This form eliminates forces that threaten dharma like the asuras. The asuras symbolize all forms of unrighteousness. By slaying the asuras, He removes these obstacles that would otherwise overthrow order. He acts as the protector of dharma. It is his responsibility to respond to any moral decline, whether among the gods, humans, or other beings, and then He manifests himself in various forms and situations, embodying dharma to correct and uplift the world. This form is called Pradyumna.”
Tales of Varaha and Narasimha
"The earth had sunk into the cosmic ocean to bring it back to the surface of the ocean, Pradyumna incarnated as Varaha, a boar. The boar dived into the ocean, looking for the earth. He located her and gently lifted the earth on his tusks. Parting the waters with his snout, he began swimming upwards."
"As Varaha rose towards the surface of the ocean with earth on its tusks, his path was blocked by Hiranyaksha, an asura. He wanted to fight Varaha and challenged the boar and asked him to stop. When Varaha did not agree, the asura attacked. Balancing the earth on its tusks, Varaha fought the asura and killed him. With the asura dead, Varaha brought the earth back to the surface and placed it where it should be."
"When Hiranyaksha was killed, his brother Hiranyakashipu prayed and got boons that no god, man, or beast could defeat him. Thinking himself invincible, he began tormenting the people on earth. However, his son, Prahlada was a devotee of Narayana. Hiranyakashipu hated Narayana - after all his brother was dead because of Him."
"Hiranyakashipu was angry with Prahlada and tried to break his son’s faith. One day Hiranyakashipu wanted to know where Narayana was. Prahlada said He was present even in the pillar before them. In a fit of fury, Hiranyakashipu struck the pillar. From the pillar emerged Narasimha, Pradyumna's incarnation which was neither man nor beast. In front of all. Narasimha killed Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu's chief commander and brother-in-law tried to attack Narasimha but he was also killed by Him.”
The fourth form
“The fourth form is shown reclining on the waters of the ocean on a serpent called Ananta. This symbolizes infinity, timelessness, the unending support. Ananta means endless. The water signifies the ocean from which all creation emerges. This posture signifies resting while being the sustainer of all creation, holding the potential for life within himself. This form is the agent of creation, driven by the guna of rajas. Rajas is the dynamic, activating principle. By “using rajas,” this form becomes the creative force that stimulates, animates, and generates all beings and phenomena. His creative work is purposeful and divinely orchestrated, balancing the other gunas to ensure the world emerges in an orderly way. This form is called Aniruddha.”
Why the human form
“In the latest incarnation, the form of Pradyumna was born in Mathura as Krishna. He needed to take a human form because mere principles cannot suffice in times when dharma and adharma have taken personal, embodied forms. A human form was needed to restore dharma, protect devotees, defeat evil, and to personally interact with beings at their level. Krishna fulfilled this role perfectly."
"This is the reason why Vishnu had to take birth as a human on earth.”
Some more on this:
The Pancharatra Theology worships Vishnu as the supreme one. Narayana as a god evolved in the later Vedic age. In the later Vedic texts (e.g., Yajurveda, Atharvaveda) and early Upanishads, Vishnu's significance continued to grow. Concurrently, Narayana's role as the divine one resting on the waters gained traction. Identification of Vishnu with Narayana became more pronounced in post-Vedic literature. The Puranas reinforced Vishnu's status and his identity with Narayana. The rise of Bhakti movement laid emphasis on devotion to a supreme God and this movement found their deity in Vishnu. Bhakti laid emphasis on emotion, adoration, and surrender to God. Vishnu was said to be the one who descended in various avatars. This brought about a personal and loving relationship with of Vishnu with the devotees. His stories made him a highly appealing focus for bhakti. Vishnu's association with various avatars allowed for the assimilation of local deities and traditions into the Vaishnava fold, making him a pan-Indian deity. The philosophical schools, particularly those espousing ideas where one God is supreme among others, found in Vishnu-Narayana a compelling concept of a singular divine being. The Bhakti movements utilized the concept of Vishnu's avatars to integrate local deities, heroes and traditions into the Vaishnava fold. By declaring local gods as manifestations of Vishnu, Vaishnavism could expand its influence and acceptance across communities without suppressing existing beliefs. This allowed it to become a truly pan-Indian religious force. Major Vaishnava teachers like Ramanuja and Madhvacharya in South India, and later Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengal, provided philosophical frameworks that articulated the nature of God, the soul, and the path of bhakti specifically through the worship of Vishnu/Narayana and his avatars.
Bhagavata Purana identifies Vasudeva with Krishna, Samkarshana with Balarama, Pradyumna as Krishna's son, and Aniruddha as Pradyumna's son.
The philosophy shared here is very specific to what is stated in Markandeya Purana.
The answer to the question refers explicitly to the Chaturvyuha doctrine of Pancharatra theology. This can be found in detail in the Pancharatra and The Ahirbudhnya Samhita.
The Chaturvyuha doctrine is a foundational concept within Pancharatra tradition. It describes the four distinct forms of Vishnu.
Chatur means four so the word Chaturvyuha here means four forms. This is what the doctrine states.
Vasudeva is the supreme form representing the transcendent Brahman.
Samkarshana emanates from VÄsudeva and is associated with Balarama, Krishna's elder brother.
Pradyumna emanates from Samkarshana and is associated with Krishna's son, Pradyumna.
Aniruddha comes from Pradyumna and is associated with Pradyumna's son, Aniruddha, Krishna's grandson.
Connected with the cosmic function of sustenance and the promulgation of spiritual knowledge (dharma).
The vyuhas are considered a precursor to the avatars (incarnations). Vyuhas represent continuous emanations.
It talks about transcendent and immanent dimensions:
- God as unreachable by mind yet present in every heart
- God as beyond form yet manifest in countless forms
- God as silent witness yet active sustainer and protector
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