The
Avatar concept is a corner stone in Hindu philosophy. Avatar
is a descent or a direct incarnation of God to ascent the
mankind. Periodically the Supreme Lord Vishnu descends upon
the earth, in animal or human forms and the mission is to
preserve the world from the increasing evil. There are 10
avatars of Vishnu.
"Yada
Yada Hi Dharmasya
Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,
Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya
Tadatmanam Srijami Aham'.
Bhagavad Gita
(Chapter IV-7)
Narrates
Krishna to Arjuna : Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered
on this world, I incarnate onto this world to re establish Dharma, law and order,
and to protect the Sadhus or saints and to destroy the evil elements of the society.
- Bhagavat Gita
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In
the earliest yuga (era) of Sata-yuga, a king named Manu
was performing severe penance for thousands of years. One
day as he was performing ablutions with river water, a
small fish came into his hands and just as he was about
to throw the fish back into the river, the fish requested
the king to save its life. Heeding its request, the king
put the fish into a jar of water but the fish started growing
and the jar was not big enough for it. Then the king threw
it into the river, but it soon it outgrew the river and
the king then threw it into Ganges and then into the ocean.
The king realised that it was Lord Vishnu himself and then
the lord made an appearance and made a special request
to the king. It predicted that the world would come to
an end by a huge flood in seven days and requested the
king to build a huge boat and take the seven sages (hermits),
seeds of all plants, one animal of each type and told him
that he would appear as a fish to propel the boat to Mount
Himavan for surviving the flood to the next yuga(eon).
True to his word, after seven days the Lord appeared and
the king tied the boat to the fish by using the royal serpent
Vasuki and the fish took all of them to Mt Himavan and
kept them there till the flood was over and in the new
era, the king started procreation a for the new era |
Kurma
Further
to Pralaya- deluge at the beginning of the present Kalpa
the Gods (devas) lost their immortality due to a curse by
the short-tempered sage Durvasa.The sage had once presented
a garland of flowers to Indra,king of gods, who carelessly
gave it away to his elephant which trampled it. The Devas
approached Vishnu for help. Vishnu then asked them to churn
the ocean of milk after adding medicines into the ocean.
Mt Mandara could be used a the churning stick he said. He
requested them to ask them help of Asuras in lifting the
mountain in exchange for offer of the share of nectar of
immortality that would ensue from the churning. Both the
devas and the asuras churned the ocean using the serpent
Vasuki as the rope. At the start, playing a Machiavellian
trick, Indra, king of the gods asked the asuras for the head
end of vasuki. But asuras suspecting foul play, took the
head end, only to be deceived as the poison from Vasuki was
slowly weakening them. But as churning was proceeding the
mountain was sinking and then Lord Vishnu took the form of
the tortoise KURMA and kept the mountain afloat. As soon
as the bowl of amrita, the nectar of immortality was out,
the asuras grabbed it. Then Lord Vishnu took the form of
an apsara, a beautiful maiden, and seduced the asuras into
letting her distribute the nectar and also to abide by her
order of distribution. As soon as the devas were served the
maiden disappeared thus totally deceiving the asuras and
making them totally weak |
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Varaha
A
demon Hiranyaksha, had prayed for Lord Brahma and got awarded
a boon that no beast nor man nor god could kill him. But
somehow from the list of beasts the name of boar was missing.
This proved to be his lacunae. He then started a campaign
of plunder across the worlds. He pushed the world to the
Pataal loka, or the under of the sea. He stole the Vedas,
the holy scriptures from the Lord Brahma, while he was
asleep and performed huge atrocities.To retrieve the Vedas
and to save the world the Lord Vishnu assumed the role
of a boar and brought out the earth from the under of the
ocean, using its two tusks. It then killed Hiranyaksha
and retrieved the Vedas from the asura and brought it back
to the safe custody of the Lord Brahma. |
Narashima
In NARASIMHA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself
as a semi-man,semi-lion in this world. The king of
demons (asuras), Hiranyakasyapu, wanted to become immortal
and wanted to remain young forever. To this end, he
meditated for Lord Brahma and because of his severe
penance, the gods were frightened and asked Brahma
to pacify the king. Brahma was impressed by his austerity
and granted him a wish. Hiranyakasyapu wished that
he be killed neither by a man or beast, nor in daylight
or at night and neither inside or outside a building. Having
obtained the wish he considered himself the supreme God and
forbade all worship of gods by anyone. But his son Prahlada,
was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. This enraged Hiranyakasyapu
very much. He ordered numerous ways to kill Prahlada including
asking his sister Holika to sit with Prahlada in the fire.
But every time Prahlada escaped unhurt. Enraged, once he
asked Prahlad to show him the Lord Vishnu. Prahlad said, "He
is everywhere". Further enraged, Hiranyakasyapu knocked
down a pillar, and asked if Lord was present there. Lord
Vishnu then emerged as a half lion, half man from the pillar,
and carried him under the arch of the doorway (neither indoors
nor outdoors), and the time was evening (in the twilight),
neither night nor day. He then killed Hiranyakasyapu with
his claws by keeping him on his thighs (neither on earth
nor in the sky) thus saving the life of his devotee Prahlada. |
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Vamana
BALI,
the grandson of Prahlada was a very valorous and mighty
asura. By his penance and might, he conquered the whole
world. Indra and other gods fearing that he and the asuras
would conquer all the three worlds went to Lord Vishnu
for help. Lord Vishnu was then born as a dwarf Vamana in
the household of a brahman priest. He went to Bali on growing
up and asked for alms. Bali was delighted to offer him
anything he requested even though his royal guru warned
him that it was Lord Vishnu. Vamana then requested for
the amount of land that could come under his three feet.
Bali gracefully agreed. Lord Vishnu then grew in size and
covered the earth and heaven in two strides. And due to
lack of space, he put his third leg on Bali himself and
crushed Bali to the nether or the Patala loka (underground
world), thus helping the Gods out. |
Parasurama
In
PARASURAMA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a
brahman priest in this world. He was brought in this world
to avenge all kshatriyas who had become arrogant and were
suppressing the brahmans in the world. He was born with
unusual physical power, and became better fighter than
any Kshatriya.He was born to Jamadagni and Renuka, and
belonged to the Brighu clan. Parashurama was always carrying
an axe presented to him by Lord Shiva of whom he was an
ardent devotee. Kartavirya a powerful king, once went to
Jamadagni's home when he was out, and after a meal, stole
the Kamadhenu cow, which was supposed to give endless quantity
of milk. Jamadgni was enraged and he went and killed the
king and brought Kamadhenu back. On hearing this the son
of the king came back and killed Jamdagni. Parasurama was
enraged at this and went and avenged the death of his father
by killing all kshatriyas in 21 battles. His life is story
of the supremacy of brahmans over the kshatriyas. |
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Sri
Rama
It
is the most important Avatar of Vishnu. Rama represents the peak of the historic
incarnations, and by him it is defined the ideal character of Indian people.He
is Vishnu descended upon earth to conquer all the Indian peninsula, included
Sri Lanka, under the Bharata rule. Lord Rama is one of the most adored gods
in India. He is always holding a bow and arrow indicating his readiness to
destroy evils.His story forms the epic Ramayana. He is perfect in every aspect;
the perfect man, the perfect husband, the perfect brother, the perfect king,
etc. and the obedient son. Commonly he is pictured in a family style, with
his wife Sita, and brother Lakshman. |
Sri
Krishna
In
KRISHNA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as KRISHNA
, the central character in the epic MAHABHARATA. In this
biggest epic of Indian mythology a myriad of topics are
covered, including war, love, brotherhood, politics etc.
It is essentially the story of two warring groups of cousin
brothers, the PANDAVAs and the KAURAVAs. As a part of the
Mahabahrata, during the war KRISHNA, gives a long discourse
to his disciple ARJUNA, collectively termed as Bhagvad-Gita.
Krishna, during his child-hood was responsible for the
killing of Kansa. Krishna is also considered to be an ultimate
playboy who was resonsible for charming all gopikas (cowherdesses)
around him. Unlike Ramayana, Mahabharata deals with more
down to earth issues like politics, human nature, human
weaknesses, and does not attempt to idealise the characters
as in RAMAYANA. His death marks the beginning of Kali yuga. |
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Buddha
With
the departure of Lord Krishna (Krishna Avatar), the Kali yuga
set in. In this age, empty rituals replaced the true devotion
to Vedas. To enlighten the world, Lord Vishnu descended the
earth as Buddha, the enlightened one.
He was born as the crown prince of the Kapilavastu to
King Suddhodana and Maya. He was named Siddhartha, meaning, "All thing fulfilled".
But his mother died soon after his birth and was brought
up by Prajapati, the sister of Maya. Buddha was saddened
by death of living creatures, and vices like poverty.
He wasn't happy with any answers that were provided to
him and he decided to find out the meaning and the absolute
truth and he left his wife and child to a hermit's life
in the forest and became the enlightened one.
His preachings spawned off the religion of Buddhism now popular across the whole
world. Buddha advocated the Middle Path, in which he offered a balanced, harmonious
way of life, steering between two extremes of self-indulgence and total abstinence.
Buddhism rests upon four Noble Truths:
Suffering is universal,
It is caused by desire and yearning
Suffering can be prevented and overcome and
Eradication of desires can lead to removal of suffering.
To prevent suffering one has to conquer craving and desire and this conquest
leads to the attainment of nirvana or complete enlightenment.
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Kalki
Kalki is believed as the next Avatar of Vishnu.
It is believed that He will appear, riding his white horse and drawing a flaming
sword, at the end of the Kali Yuga, the Dark Age through which we are now passing.
His task will be to exterminate the evil and restore the Dharma. Thus will begin
a new cycle, starting with the new Satya Yuga.
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Balrama
The elder brother of Sri Krishna
Balrama
was the elder brother of Shri Krishna. He was so powerful
that he, single handedly, at a very tender age, killed
the great demon, Asuradhenuka, who had the form of
a ass. Another demon tried to carry off Balrama on
his shoulders, but the young boy beat out the demon's
brain with his fist.
When
Shri Krishna went to Mathura, Balrama accompanied him and supported
him till Shri Krishna killed Kansa. He also taught Duryodhan
and Bheem, the use of the mace. His chief weapon is ploughshare
(hal) and therefore called Haldhar.
Balrama is believed as the incarnation of the great serpent Sesha Naga on whom
Lord Vishnu reclines. |
Relevance
of Dasavatar
Dasavtar concept and the theory of evolution
The
Hindu myth of Dasavatar (10 incarnations) describes how Vishnu,
the central figure in the triad of Indian gods, incarnated
from time to time to save mankind and the sacred scriptures
of India's ancient civilization from the evil designs of
demons. As in other myths, which make up the vast body of
Hindu scriptures, the victory of good over evil is a persistent
theme of all mythologies in the world and Hindu mythology
is no exception.
The 9 incarnations of Vishnu are as under:
The
Avatar |
Evolution
stage |
| Matsya |
fish
Aquatic form |
| Koorma |
tortoise
Amphibian |
| Varaha |
boar
Land animals |
| Narasimha |
half
man-half lion Transition to human |
| Vaman |
dwarf
man Homo sapiens |
| Parashuram |
man
with an axe Savages |
| Rama |
moral
man Family and social life |
| Krishna |
philosophical
man Philosophy and teaching |
| Buddha |
teacher
Spiritual life |
Scientific
Theory
The
scientific theory of evolution states that life
on earth began as single-celled organisms and later
developed into multi-celled beings. Moreover, the
theory further states that aquatic creatures came
into existence first. Then came amphibians that
could exist in water as well as on land. Land-dependent
animals and airborne birds followed the amphibians.
Finally, human beings completed the cosmic drama
of creation.
As if to explain this theory of evolution, Indian
mythology says that first there was only primeval
water, which covered the earth like a flood. Vishnu's
first incarnation as a fish (Matsya) indicated
the first appearance of life in the aquatic form.
His second incarnation as a tortoise (Koorma) represented
the amphibian stage. The boar (Varaha) manifestation
in his third incarnation stood for the stage of
animal life on land.
The
transition from animals to humans was beautifully
advanced by a concept of half-man-half-lion (Narasimha)
in the fourth incarnation. Vishnu’s fifth incarnation
showed the further march of evolution – the
appearance of early homo sapiens, symbolised by the
dwarf Vamana. Then, tall but violent savages wielding
weapons walked the earth. Parashuram was that violent
axe-bearing sixth incarnation. Evolution had by now
definitely entered the human stage, and the human
form and mind were getting more and more refined,
first in the moral sense and then in the spiritual.
Rama,
the seventh incarnation in the human form was an
example of rectitude, courage and morality. Krishna,
the eighth incarnation in the human form who originated
the Bhagvad Gita, was the philosopher, the teacher
of the world. Gautama, the Buddha, the ninth incarnation,
was closest to nirvana,, moksha or salvation. And
Kalki, the tenth incarnation, yet to manifest itself,
would be the ultimate terminator who would finish
the evolutionary process in one mighty holocaust.
DASAVATARA
STOTRA
From
Gita govinda
pralaya-payodhijale dhrtavanasi vedam
vihitavahitra- caritra- makhedam
kesava dhrta minasarira
jaya jagadisa hare
O
God, in the form of a fish! In the flood of dissolution
you have held up the revealed knowledge of the
Vedas, like a boat, without effort.
Hail! Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
ksitirati-vioulatare
tava tishati prsthe
dharani-dharanakina-cakragarishte
kesava dhrta kacchaparupa
jaya jagadisa hare
O
God, in the form of Tortoise! On the ample
expanse of your back, calloused by the burden
of the earth that it bears, securely stands
the world.
Hail! Hari, God of the world, Victory to
Thee!
vasati
dasanasikhare dharani tava lagna
sasini kalankakaleva nimagna
kesava dhrta sukararupa
jaya jagadisa hare
O
God, in the form of the Boar! The world rests
in peace on the tip of your tusk, like the
dark marking on the disc of the moon.
Hail! Hari, God of the world, Victory to
Thee!
tava
kara kamalavare
nakhamadbhutasrngam
dalita hiranyakasipu varabrngam
kesava dhrta naraharirupa
jaya jagadisa hare
O
God, in the form of Man-Lion! In your hand
of lotus like beauty, are the finger nails
with their wonderful tips which have torn as
under the most powerful demon Hiranyakasipu,
as if he was a huge insect.
Hail! Hari, God of the world, Victory to
Thee!
Chalayasi
vikramane balim adbhutavamana
padanakhantra-janita-janapavana
kesave dhrta vamanarupa
jaya jagadisa hare
O
God, in the form of dwarf! By planting your
feet you have cheated Bali, the mighty . Ganga,
the river which sanctifies the world, has come
out of you rtoe-nails.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
ksatriyarudhiramaye
jagadapagata papam
snapayasi payasi samitabhavatapam
kesave dhrta bhrgupatirupa
jaya jagadisa hare.
O
God, in the form of the Lord of the Bhrigus,
you have bathed the world in the blood of the
tyrannous rulers, thus cleansing it of sin
and destroying the misery of its relative existence.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
vitarasi
diksu rane dikpatikamantyam
dasamukha-mauli-balim ramaniyam
kesava dhrta ramasarira
Jaya jagadisa hare
O
God in the body of Sri Rama! You have a made
a beautiful offering of the ten heads of the
demon Ravana in battle to the guardians of
the cardinal directions.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
Vahasi
vapusi visade vasaanam jaladabhanam
hala-hati-bhiti-milita-yamunabham
keshava dharta-haladharrupa
jaya jagadisha hare.
O
God , in the form of Balarama,the bearer of
the plough! You wear on your immaculate body
a garment of the colour of the clouds, blue
like the Yamuna, darkened by the fear of being
dragged by your plough.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
Nindasi
yajnavidhe-rahaha srutijatam
sadaya - hrdya darshitapasughatam
kesava dharta buddhasarira
jaya jagadisha hare.
O
God, in the body of Buddha, the enlightened!
Out of compssion of your heart you have condemned
the ritualistic portion of the vedas ordaining
the killing of the animals.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
maleccha-nivaha-nidhane
kalayasi karavalam
dhumaketumiva kimapi karalam
kesava dharta kalsisarira
jaya jagadish hare.
O
God, in the form of Kalki! For the destruction
of wicked, you carry a meteor-like sword in
your hand, trailing a train of disaster to
them.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
srijayadevakeverida-muditmudaram
srnu subhadam sukhadam bahvasaram
kesave dharta dasavidhiraupa
jaya jagadish hare.
O
God, who took ten forms! Please listen to the
song of Jayadeva.It bestows goodness, and joy;
it is the essence of life.
Hail!
Hari, God of the world, Victory to Thee!
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