p230 _
-chap- _
toc-1 _
p231w _
toc-2 _
+chap+ _
p232
----- bhagap231.html
The extinction of Sagara's sons was attended with great
changes on the earth's surface. It is said they dug the earth and
made the seas in their search for the sacrificial horse. Hence the sea
is called Sagara. This may refer to the sinking down of Atlantis
when a large portion of that great continent became a sea-bed.
There was a corresponding upheaval of land and the Himalayan
chain reared up its head, as we can easily infer from the first appear-
ance of the Ganges. The first flow of Ganga indicated a many sided
revolution in the appearance of the earth's surface. A new continent
was formed to which India was attached as the prominent link. Spiri-
tual sub-races grew up on the banks of the sacred river who more
than atoned for the sins of their fathers. The fore-runner of the race
of spirituality was Asamanjas (rising above the ordinary run). He
was a Yogin not led away by the material tendencies of the age. His
son was Ansumat (having the ray or light in him). Ansumat paci-
fied Kapila.
GangA is said to be a spiritual stream flowing from the feet of
Vishnu. With the advent of this stream, the spiritual rebirth of
humanity commenced in right earnest, for the remaining period of
the Kalpa. Already the path had been paved by the Karmakanda of
the Vedas, which put restrictions on the wanton and reckless perfor-
mance of Karma or action. The pure magnetism of the holy river
helped on the process of regeneration. But this was not in itself
sufficient to cope with the forces of materiality. Accordingly we see
Kalmasha or sin appearing in the line of Bhagiratha. King
Kalmashapada became a Rakshasa. A Rakshasa is an elemental of
destruction. When mind becomes too much identified with the gross
body and its desires, its connection with the Higher Self is liable to be
cut off by the action of the Rakshasas. These forces of Tamas act in
different ways to serve different purposes in the economy of the
Universe. When the material downfall of man reaches its furthest
limit in the Kalpa, the Rakshasas become Tamasic forces in man and
he is unconscious of his higher nature. That sleep in time becomes a
permanent sleep, and the lower man becomes dead to his real Self.
This is the real death of man, when the ray sent forth by Isvara
comes back to Him, without any spiritual harvest, and what constitut-
ed the personality of man dissolves into the Material Universe.
The time had come when a fresh departure was necessary in
the methods pursued by the Lil ?? Avataras for the spiritual regener-
ation of the Universe. They had now to appear amongst men, as
ordinary beings, to give direct teachings to their votaries, to infuse as
[[231]]
p230 _
-chap- _
toc-1 _
p231w _
toc-2 _
+chap+ _
p232
v?