archAvatAra

[swamy swarna]

Dear Sri SVS,

Archavatara means the image fit to be worshipped. God
can manifest as NIRGUNA (without attributes) or SAGUNA
forms and Puja, Worship or Archana are relevant for
the Worship or meditation of the SAGUNA form.

AVATARA means 'to descend'. The Lord, out of
compassion for us, descends from the highest plane of
SUPERCONSCIOUSNESS to material form, so that we can
worship Him. ARCHAVATARA so means an IMAGE or
DESCENDENT for worship.

Pl. think of it thus. To pull up a man from a well, we
put down a rope and when he holds it, we pull him up.
Thus Archana is a form of Bhakti, especailly suited to
those SADHAKAS who want to establish a connection with
GOD and thus pull themselves up from the well of this
world.

We can discuss this further if needed. Hari Om.

Swamy SV


--- "Subrahmanian, Sundararaman V [IT]"
<sundararaman.v.subrahmanian at CITIGROUP.COM> wrote:
> Can anyone tell what the meaning of the term
> "archAvatAra" is ?  (I don't
> know if I got the term right too).
>
> I read the following line in a book on
> Sriman-nArAyaNIyam published by Sri
> Chinmaya Mission:
>
> "...the image is an incarnation of the Lord known as
> archAvatAra in the
> viSvaksena samhita..."
>
> 1.  The image being refered to is Sri Guruvayoor of
> Kerala
> 2.  The line quoted above is in the commentary of
> verse 1
>
> Thank you for any assistance.
>
> SVS


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