AVATARS.

. Hi, Ramnath I am inundated chain emails on your name. A few of them are good but others mostly thoughts culled from books and sayings. Many I am familiar for too long my years of readings. So most the mails are dumped into bin without even opening. Spare me from sending all these mails about gods and goddesses. They try to perpetuate our superstitions uncritically.

Of your latest on the Dasavatar I am forwarding to you the following write up that I scribbled on my diary. You may go thru it and express your views if any

KNK

AVATARS: 27.11.1995

One of the Hindu legends and belief is the avatars of Vishnu. They also believe that there are several avatars but the ten are more important. However, the 10^th is yet to come some time in future. i e. at the end of Kaliyuga. Hindu periodisation conceives of four yugas comprising:

Yuga	Duration (years)	God	Virtue	Avatars
Krita Yuga	1,728,000	Brahma	Meditation	First five avatars: Matsya to Vamana
Treta Yuga	1,296,000	Vishnu	Knowledge	Parashurama and Ramachandra (Rama)
Dvapara Yuga	864,000	Vishnu	Sacrifice	Krishna's descent and the Mahabharata war (at end)
Kali Yuga	432,000	Vishnu Shiva-Rudra	Charity	Buddha and, still to come at the end of Kali-yuga, Kalki
	4,320,000

All the first five avatars supposed to have taken place in Krita otherwise Named Satya yuga when devas and asuras were in perpetual enmity and fight. The fun is that certain devas have given blessings and booms to some asuras thus empowering them to be menacing to former. Vishnu is said to have taken different avatars to destroy the asuras and protect the devas.

Yadaa Yadaahi Dharmasya Glaanirbhavati Bhaarata

Abhyudhanamadharmasya Tadaadmaanam Srijaamyaham

Paritraanaaya Saadhoonam Vinaasaaya cha Dushkritaam

Dharmasamstaapanardhaaya Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge (Bhagawat Gita)

The first five comprise of 1. Fish; 2. Tortoise; 3. Boar; 4. Narasimha; human lion 5. Vamana; the dwarf.

The legend is that some of the asuras stole the four Vedas from the Brahma and kept them hidden under the ocean. Then Vishnu in the form of a fish plunged deep in the waters and brought back the Vedas and delivered them to the rishies. The question is whether the Vedas were written and bound as books which the asuras could steal and hide. According to tradition Vedas were not kept written but memorised by Brahmins from generation to generation, with their intonation intact. Then how could anybody much less an Asura could steal them and hide them under water? At that point of time if asuras have to steal the Vedas they have to kill all the Brahmins and that also would mean complete elimination of Vedas never to return. The absurdity of that avatar is self evident but blind believers continue to trot out that story fully knowing that it has no factual base.

However, there is another story of a universal flood and Vishnu in the form a fish rescued the lives of all living things in a boat. One cannot be sure whether that story is borrowed from bible or the other way.

The second avatar is supposed to hold the world stable in the turbulent ocean. The creators of this story were unaware of or deliberately hidden the truth that the world is round like a ball floating in space and not fixed in any particular place much less in the ocean. Another story is that of churning of the milky ocean and Vishnu as tortoise was holding the Mandhara mountain firm on his back. Both could not be verified by facts or reasoning.

The third avatar is similar. The Varaha or boar. In this story it was held that the earth was abducted by some asuras and taken down under the ocean. How come that the earth could be hidden under the ocean which is part of the earth itself? Such an absurd notion indeed!!!

28.11.1995.

The fourth avatar is still more absurd story. The Asura Hiranyakasipu after observing austerities for long periods obtained booms from another of the Thrimurthys i.e. Brahma that he will not be killed in the day or night; inside or outside the house; by human or animal. After getting such boom he is said to have fought and enslaved the gods and goddesses in the heaven. The oppressed devas went to Vishnu and sought the god’s help. He promised to kill the Asura and save the devas. Thereafter when the Asura got a son Prahlada he was influenced to become a devotee of Vishnu which his father did not relish. For him he himself was the supreme god and persecuted and punished his son in ways including attempts to kill him. (What a wild imagination? Father intentionally trying to kill his son?) When challenged; Prahlada tells his father that Vishnu is in the pillar. The Asura cuts and breaks the pillar lo. Vishnu jumps out of the broken pillar in the avatar of Narasimha i.e. half human and half lion. It was neither human nor animal and the Asura was killed by the avatar in the evening hours i.e. neither day nor night; at the entrance to the house i.e. neither inside nor outside; on his lap i.e. neither in earth nor in sky; by his long nails i.e. no weapon. It is funny to note that one of five thrimurthys is worshiped by the Asura and another of the thrimurthys uses such tricks to nullify the boom given.

Still fantastic is the story of the next avatar Vamana. At least in this case there was no devas getting defeated or enslaved or otherwise harmed by the Asura Mahabali. He was the grandson of Prahlada and like grandfather a devotee of Vishnu himself. He is depicted as an ideal king to his prajas. The devas became envious of his rule specifically Indra. They went to Vishnu with complaint that the Asura is making the earth so good that nobody conducts sacrifices to attain heaven. So devas felt afraid that the Asura Mahabali will turn out to be the king of devas. They approached Vishnu for protection from the Asura Mahabali. The god readily agreed and took an avatar of a dwarf Brahmin brahmachari i.e. student. Mahabali was famous for his giving i.e Dana. The dwarf approached Mahabali and received by him as an honoured guest. After formalities of hospitality Mahabali asked him to demand anything he would fancy. The brahmachari asked for 3 feet measure of earth which the king promised by Vedic rites. But his Brahmin priest and advisor Shukra found the trick resorted by Vishnu and advised the king to refrain from giving anything to this fake brahmachari. The king maintained that his promise will be kept in spite of any adverse effect. The Vishnu turned Vamana became a giant overtaking the whole world and heaven in two steps and asked for the place for his third step. Mahabali bowed his head and requested the dwarf turned giant to put his step on his head. (in the first step the whole world was measured that should include Mahabali as well) The Vamana did put his foot on Mahabali’s head and then pushed him deep down i.e Patala Loka, where he was asked to stay forever. The king willingly accepted his subjugation and humiliation, only asking permission to visit his people once a year. (This later part is that of Kerala legend signifies ONAM festival there.) Thus Vishnu helped the devas to be themselves.

All these five avatars took place in Krita Yuga itself when the world was inhabited by feuding devas and asuras. According to puranic lore the father of the devas and their enemies asuras is one. His wife Aditi gave birth to devas and another Diti to asuras. There is not much mention of any humans except rishies in Krita Yuga. May be they were still to be born to the sage Manu. Thus manava meant human.

The 6^th & 7^th avatars i.e. Parasurama and Srirama happened during Tretayuga. They were contemporaries as per Ramayana story when Sri Rama encountered Parasurama on way back to Ayodhya from Videha after the marriages of the brothers.

In Tretayuga we find no asuras but Rakshasas like Ravana and Kshatriyas like Karthaviryarjuna and others. It is said that Parasurama was the son of rishi Jamadagni. In a fit of temper the rishi asked his son to sever the head of his mother for an alleged infidelity with Karthaviryarjuna a Kshatriya king. Later Parasurama went on a killing spree of all Kshatriyas on the land in twenty one rounds. No Kshatriya whether kings or otherwise were left out. The land was made kshatriyaless. (The question remains as what happened to the king of Ayodhya at that time and his family. There is nothing in Ramayana about Parasurama exterminating Ayodhya kings. Mahabharata also did not recall the story of Parasurama) Kshatriya women were asked by Parasurama to beget children from Brahmins i.e have sex to procreate. But were those children Kshatriyas? According to Manusmriti they should be a lesser breed of mixed castes and not Kshatriyas. The avatar Parasurama is that of Vishnu but he is a devotee of Shiva the third god in the thrimurty group. (There are groups in India today calling themselves Chandravamsa Kshatriyas. The kings of the former Cochin State were termed as Suryavamsam.)

As a side light the modern Brahmins maintain that after Parasurama annihilated all Kshatriya males, there is no Kshatriya caste in India. The later Kshatriyas are of mixed birth and caste.

What the 6^th avatar Parasurama achieved or created, whom did he safeguard or who benefited through his actions, is not clear. Without Kshatriyas how the kingdoms did remain stable and who ruled till the next crop of Kshatriyas of mixed birth came of age is one more question not posed nor answered.

The 7^th avatar is solely to finish of the Rakshasa king Ravana of Lanka. This Lanka is supposed to be an island south of Indian peninsula. This assumption is not supported by strict evidences but of traditional belief. Ravana was an ardent devotee of Shiva and said to have received his boom and weapons from him. Ravana observed severe austerities to propitiate Brahma and got the boom that he will not be killed by any one other than a human. With this boom Ravana ruled the world of devas and Rakshasas. Devas were terrified and enslaved. The humans were used as food by Rakshasas. Since, the two of the thrimurtys favoured Ravana, devas approached the remaining Vishnu. Vishnu in turn as is his norm devised a method to kill the Rakshasa king. He took birth in Kosala/Ayodhya while there was already another avatar Parasurama in human form. There is no answer to the question as to why Parasurama an avatar in human form was not used to finish off Ravana as well, as in the case of whole Kshatriya tribe. Thou they were supposed to be contemporaries there was no meeting between the avatar Parasurama and Ravana. He and his people were supposed to be cruel and harassing the rishies and obstructing their sacrifices but Parasurama did not come across them during his sojourn in earth. Obstacles to Viswamitra’s sacrifices came from Rakshasas but Parasurama was not bothered or even knew about any Rakshasa. The threat was from southern most part of the land still the god did not take his birth somewhere near Lanka in south itself, but in far off and obscure place Ayodhya in the north. The whole story is very over active to impress the credulous and less to the objective of finishing Ravana by a human.

In Ramayana itself no people or their kings in the length and breadth of India complained of any depredations by Rakshasas except Viswamitra conducting his sacrifice yajna. So an excuse has to be found. The story of Ramayana introduced ingredients like aborted coronation of Rama by his step-mother Kaikeyi. The 14 years in forest is something dramatic.

A question comes to mind. Why Dasaradha thought of coronation of Rama at the exact time when his two brothers namely Bharata and Shatrughna were out absent at Bharata’s maternal uncle’s place? There was no thought of calling them back home, to be present at the coronation ceremony. There is also no reason for Laxman to be attached to Rama while his twin brother Shatrughna to Bharata. It is logical for Bharata to go to his maternal uncle but why Shatrughna accompanied him? There was little role for the two in Ramayana main story i.e. killing of Ravana to save the good. Funny are the stories of Gods and their avatars. Thus in Treta Yuga two human avatars of Vishnu at the same or consecutive periods with no relation with each other or any rationale.

The 8^th & 9^th happened in Dwaparayuga i.e the third Yuga almost at its end. They were two brothers Krishna and Balarama. But there is another story; depicting Balarama as the avatar of Sesha the king of Nagas i.e. serpents. The significance is not clear. They don’t act together on any time. Earlier avatars were to subdue asuras, rakshasas and other enemies and ill wishers of devas except in case of Parasurama. That was to subdue the power hungry rulers. In case of Balarama there seemed to be no aim or objective. On the other hand he is supposed to have been sympathetic to Kauravas as against Pandavas whose friend, advisor and support was Srikrishna. The avatar was to finish his tyrannical uncle Kamsa and some more relations including the Kauravas. This avatar took place even though there was no specific complaint from devas about any king mentioned in Mahabharata. There is only one story that is about an Asura named Naraka who is said to have abducted and imprisoned 16,000 virgin princesses. By the way Naraka is depicted as the son of Bhoomi i.e. earth goddess one of the wives of Vishnu himself. The asura was killed by Satyabhama incarnation of goddess Bhoomi accompanied by Krishna. All the 16,000 virgins were rescued by Krishna and then they married him. Thus the legend of 16,008 wives for Srikrishna, 8 already married. At the end of Mahabharata war when the survivors consisted of the five Pandavas alone, the wife of Dhritarashtra i.e. Gandhari accused Krishna of plotting and executing the whole episodes so as to finish of everyone not excluding his own nephew Abhimanyu the young son of his sister Subhadra. Krishna tacitly agrees that Gandhari is true.

Both the 8^th and 9^th avatars were completely meaningless stories the main story being about family feuds. Certain sources maintain that Balarama is not an avatar and the 9^th avatar is that of Buddha. Might be they realise the absurdity of two avatars at the same time and place. However there is no universal acceptance of Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu among Hindus. The 10^th avatar is yet to come when the Kaliyuga i.e. the 4^th Yuga is to end. The avatar of Kalki will destroy everything of this world so that a new round of four yugas could start afresh. (In the recent past some group in south India claimed a person as Kalki avatar and went on a spree of worship and bhajans celebrations. This turned out to be a fraud on the credulous and the gentleman retired making good use of his fame as Kalki to make huge amount of money and property.)

There is another thought propagated by some that the stories of avatars signify the scientific finding of the evolution of species. Oh. Stop the efforts to numb our minds and brains!!!

The entire concept of Dasavatars is meaningless and irrational and creation of fantastic imagination of certain deceased minds.