Chapter Five: Avatāra Doctrine and Rama Worship

We observed above that the Upanishads contain both the cognitive and spontaneous-affective tendencies: knowledge and worship, the principles of intellect and heart, meet there.¹ The path of devotion may be said to begin wherever the heart receives special predominance.

The Nārāyaṇīya narrative in the Śānti-parva of the Mahābhārata clearly describes how the worship of Vasudeva spread in this world and how Bhagavata religion arose. Through Bhishma, the epic names Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha, and Svayambhuva Manu as its first teachers. The knowledge then passed to Brihaspati and from Brihaspati to King Vasu.

King Vasu performed a nonviolent ashvamedha sacrifice in which Bhagavan Sri Hari, the Person of sacrifice, came and accepted his share. Yet only Vasu Uparichara saw Bhagavan. When Brihaspati became displeased at this, the sons of Prajapati explained that Bhagavan cannot be seen without devotion.

Bhagavata religion

Several points emerge from the Nārāyaṇīya. First, Bhagavata religion followed an engaged path concerned with the welfare of the world. Second, it accepted Brahman’s form with qualities as the object of worship. That form manifests as protector, sustainer, and delight-giver of the world, and includes within itself quality and transcendence of quality, manifest and unmanifest, form and formlessness. That one is Narayana, Vasudeva, and Hari.

The mind’s attraction or enchantment toward Ishvara’s form is divine love or devotion. Such love is without motive or interruption.²

The Nārāyaṇīya also makes clear that by the time of the Mahābhārata, a profound devotion to Narayana—to Bhagavan in human form—was transmitted within a distinct lineage. That very Narayana appears in the poem as Vasudeva Krishna. Because this form of the Narayaniya religion spread especially among the Satvatas and Yadavas, it was also called the Satvata religion.

The ancient Narayaniya religion thus possessed many branches: some worshipped Narayana; others followed exclusive worship of Narasimha, Vamana, or Dasharathi Rama. It is difficult to state with certainty when and where Rama worship began, but tradition unambiguously regards Shiva as its first teacher. Narada himself instructed Valmiki in the worship of Rama as an avatāra of Vishnu.³ It had already spread especially in South India. Archaeological scholars date the composition of the Rāmāyaṇa between the sixth and fourth centuries—