Lord Vishnu and his Incarnations :-
Science really exist at the time of
our ancestors itself. But I believe that the way of teaching is different from
now. It was well explained in a story than on paper, relating to human science
and psychology. We never forget what we learn from parents in childhood and we
never forget a beautiful story as well. The same way beautiful stories were
added to our belief and science is integrated to it by our ancestors. So that
they can be remembered for ever. In that case Charles Darwin had re-concluded
the evolution stages after many eras on our existing science. Lets see how
beautifully science is integrated in our mythology.
Lord Vishnu is the one among the
Thrimurthi’s and is the supreme god of Vaishnavism. Lord Vishnu is the creator
and destroyer of all existences. He is the one who supports, preserves,
sustains and governs the universe. Lord Vishnu is described as having four arms
holding lotus flower in lower left hand, Kaumodaki gada in lower right hand,
Panchajanya Sankha in the upper left hand and Sudarshana chakra in upper right
hand. On the ocean of milk, Lord reclines and rests on Ananta Shesha( king of
serpent deities, commonly shown with thousand heads).Goddess Lakshmi is his
wife.
Most of the time, good and evil
forces are evenly matched in the world. But at times, the balance is destroyed
and evil demons get the upper hand. Often in response to a request by the other
gods, Vishnu then incarnates in a human form to set the balance right again. Lord
Vishnu has 10 Incarnations and though there are 24 Avatar’s as per Shrimad
Bhagavatam , only ten are worshipped directly. Among these Avatar’s 9 occurred
and one will be taking place in future as Lord Kalki.
Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu
are:
·
Matsya: The Incarnation of Lord as large fish to
kill Damanaka for saving Vedas and also Manu from a great flood that submerges
the entire earth.
·
Kurma: In this Incarnation Lord helps Devas and
Asuras to churn the ocean for nectar of Immortality.
·
Varaha: Lord Takes the form of Boar to save
earth and kill Hiranyaksha.
·
Narasimha: Lord rescues his devotee Prahalad and
defeats the Asura King Hiranyakashapa in the form of half lion and half human.
·
Vamana: Lord as a dwarf grows into a giant to save the world from Asura King
Bali.
·
Parashurama: "Rama of the battle axe", a sage who appeared in
the Treta Yuga.
He killed Kartavirya’s army and clan and then killed all the ksatriyas 21
times.
·
Shri
Rama: The prince and king
of Ayodhya who killed Demon King Raavan.
·
Shri Krishna: the eighth avatar of
Vishnu. Together with his brother Balaram an avatar of Serpentine his
dearest servant.
·
Budha: The ninth
avatar of Vishnu. Prince of wisdom from Kapilavastu.
·
Kalki: the tenth Avatar of Vishnu and said to
be the harbinger of the end Kali Yuga.
Other
Incarnations:
Adi
Purush Avatar ( Incarnation of Pre-eminent man): Lord Vishnu took his
first incarnation as the pre-eminent man, with a desire to commence creation.
This first incarnation of Lord Vishnu was full of all the sixteen Kalas
(Supernatural powers).
Lord Brahma manifested from the navel of Lord Vishnu in his
(Lord Vishnu) state of Yoganidra (deep meditation). The creation as well as the
expansion of the creation commenced from the organs of Lord Brahma. The first
incarnation of Lord Vishnu is all-powerful, which can be seen only by the
yogins and sages who have attained divine knowledge. This incarnation is also
the indestructible seed from which all the other incarnations manifest
themselves. During the time of final annihilation of the world, every creation
merges into him.
The Eternal
Youths: Sanatkumar was
the 'Manasputra' (born by a wish) of Lord Brahma. Throughout his life, he
maintained celibacy; and engaged himself in the performance of tremendous
penance. He was the one from whom the Brahmins got the inspiration regarding
the values and importance of penance and Celibacy
Narada Avatar:
Lord Vishnu took his fourth incarnation
as Narada. Narada by becoming a 'Devarishi' among all the
sages, achieved liberation from all of his Karma's (action). Narada was
the one who gave discourses to the Vaishnavas (followers of Lord Vishnu) on
'Pancharatra Tantra'.
Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as Narada, showed that,
the devotion is the best mean of getting liberated from all the bondages of
'Karma's'. He also said that a devotee of Lord Vishnu is the supreme among the
devotees in the same way as Devarishi Narada among the Sages.
Nara-Narayana
Avatar: Lord Vishnu took his
fifth incarnation as sage Nara-Narayan by taking a birth from the womb of a woman
named 'Kala'. He performed a tremendous penance by going to Badri and Kedar. He
showed the importance Penance (Labour), and also that nothing can be achieved
in this world without it.
Kapila Avatar: Lord Vishnu's Sixth incarnation was as
sage Kapila. The objective of this incarnation was to compile all the divine
knowledge that had been destroyed. He was the profounder of Sankhya Shastra
(rationalism) which helped the Brahmins, who had forgotten their duties to
rectify their mistakes. He also gave discourse to his own mother.
Dattatraya Avatar:
Lord Vishnu's Seventh
incarnation was as Dattatraya. He was born to Ansuya and his father was Sage
Atri. He was the one who had given Spiritual Knowledge to King Alarka and
Prahlada. He had twenty four teachers. He believed that in the world, a man can
learn from each and every thing, so he accepted twenty-four objects like water,
bird, air, an unmarried girl, and even a prostitute etc.
Yagya Avatar: Lord Vishnu in his eighth incarnation as
Yagya was born to Prajapati and Akuti. He had rescued a 'Devagana' (celestial
and supernatural being) named Yama and also the Manvantar named as
'Swayambhuva'. The main thrust of his teaching was based on the values of
helpfulness and protecting each other during the time of crisis.
Rishab Avatar: Lord Vishnu in his ninth incarnation
as Rishabh Dev was born to king Nabhi
and Marudevi. His mother Marudevi was the daughter of Indra. He attained that
state of Paramhansa (an ascetic of highest order who has controlled his anger)
which is an uphill task. He was given the title of 'Jin' which means a ' a knower'. His followers are known as Jains.
Prithu Avatar: Lord Vishnu in his tenth incarnation as
'Prithu' came into existence after the body of King 'Vena'. Lord Vishnu took
this incarnation as per the wishes of the sages. The earth had concealed all
the vegetation's within her and as a result the whole land had become barren.
To protect the humanity, Lord Vishnu took incarnation as Prithu by milking the
cow (earth). This is considered that as a very supreme incarnation, because the
earth has remained full of vegetation's after that.
Dhanvantari
Avatar: Lord Vishnu took his
thirteenth incarnation as Dhanvantari. He manifested from the ocean holding a
vessel filled with ambrosia. He was the profounder of medicinal science.
Mohini Avatar: Lord Vishnu in his fourteenth incarnation
as a most enchanting woman enchanted the demons by his beautiful appearance of
a woman, and took away the pot filled up with ambrosia from them and gave it to
the deities. The deities were thus protected from the demons.
In Another story Lord Vishnu in the Mohini Avatar gives birth to Lord Ayyappa swamy. For the complete story follow the link:
http://www.amazingbharat.com/2013/12/lord-ayyappa-of-sabarimala-in-kerala.html
Hayagreeva Avatar: Once Lord Brahma becoming tired of his
creative activities, wanted to rest. The night of the Brahma was approaching.
Because of his tiredness Lord Brahma yawned. All the four Vedas came out from
his opened mouth. A demon who used to live near him in disguise, abducted the
Vedas. Lord Vishnu took his sixteenth incarnation as Hayagreeva to protect the
Vedas. In this incarnation his face resembled that of a horse and the rest of
his body resembled that of Sri Narayan with all of his four hands. He killed
the demon and protected the Vedas.
Vyas Avatar: Lord Vishnu took his nineteenth
incarnation as Sage Vyasa by taking birth from the womb of 'Satyavati'. His
father was sage Parashar. He made the division of Veda, and made extension of
its branches. He also wrote eighteen Mahapuranas and the Mahabharata.
Balaram Avatar:
Balrama is
considered to be the twenty-first incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In this
incarnation he killed Pralambasura the demon and he killed many more demons.
Birth of Lord Vishnu
The Vedas say, Vishnu
wasn’t born, from Vishnu, Brahma is born and in Maha Upanisad it is said that
Lord Shiva was born from the forehead of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Vedas say
that is the Supreme Lord, the Creator of Brahma and Shiva, who is to be
worshiped.
Narayanah paro devas, Tasmaj jatas caturmukhah
Tasmad rudro ‘bhavad devah, Sa ca sarva-jnatam gath
“Narayan/Visnu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and from him Brahma was
born, from whom Shiva was born” .
Lord never left his devotees in difficulties, few known examples apart from Incarnations are:
Gajendra Moksha:
Once upon a time there lived an elephant in deep forest Rtumata which was created by varuna. This forest was situated in the mountains of Trikuta in ancient India. It is a devotee of Lord Vishnu. It fells thirsty on a day and goes in search of water. When Gajendra gets into the water, and it becomes a potential cause of his death.
Gajendra and his herd of elephants have a good time enjoying the cool
water when the crocodile suddenly attacks Gajendra and caughts him by leg. The struggle between elephant and crocodile lasts for
several thousands of years. Gajendra tried for a long time to escape from the crocodile's clutches.
All his family, relatives and friends gathered around to help him, but
in vain. The crocodile wouldn't simply let go. When they realised that
‘death’ has come close to Gajendra, they left him alone. He trumpeted in
pain and helplessness until he was hoarse. As the struggle was
seemingly endless and when the last drop of energy was also sapped,
Gajendra called to god Vishnu to save him with Gajendra sthuthi, holding a lotus up in the air
as an offering.
Hearing to the devotees call, Lord Vishnu rushes to the scene leaving everything behind. On seeing the lord, that mighty elephant lifts the lotus with its trunk. Lord becomes angry and cuts the head of the crocodile with his sudarshana chakra. Lord explains that Gajendra is king Indradyumna, a vishnu devotee who gets cursed from sage agastya in its previous birth and the crocodile is Gandharva king HuHu who got cursed by sage Devala for pulling his leg while praying Lord Surya. Both of them gets MOKSHA from the lord.
Evolution theory
in Dashavatar:
In the evolution chronology, life evolved in the waters and thus the
first form of life is an aquatic animal i.e. the fish which is Matsya Avatar. Lord Vishnu took the
form of a huge fish in his first Incarnation.
This was followed by the form
which could survive both in land and water, which is depicted through a turtle
(kurma), which can survive both in
land and water. In the Kurma incarnation Lord Vishnu takes
the form of a great tortoise to support churning of the primordial ocean with
the mountain, to beget the elixir of immortality. Evolution from Pisces to
Amphibians is also what Darwin
had proposed. Around the time amphibians evolved, tectonic movements and
upheavals of great landmasses were recorded. The churning of the ocean can be
seen to symbolise this movement giving rise to new landmasses. At the end of
this massive upheaval of earth, mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, Andes,
and the Alps were supposed to have come into
existence. These mountains later made way for dense forests and rivers which
became the source of survival of fast evolving species on earth.
Please note that Darwin’s
theory had many intermediate stages of evolution, which is not found in the dashavatar. Instead of the stages of reptiles and birds
from amphibians, the dashavatar straightaway evolves to the mammals from the stage of the amphibians
giving us the nest avatar of Varaha,
the wild boar. In the Varaha avatar Lord Vishnu is seen
fighting and eliminating the demon in the oceans, to rescue the abducted land
maiden (Bhu-devi) for the benefit of
people.
Many scholars have found strange coincidence with the scientific finding
that more than about 70 million years ago, the Indian land mass had torn itself
from the Antarctic and moved north to join the Eurasian land mass, thus lifting
up the Himalayan fold mountains. The tropical forests of the western Himalayan
ranges, fed by the great river systems of Indus and Ganges
later facilitated the evolution of pre-human species. They further surmise that
the conquest of the demon by a wild boar could symbolically signify the end of
dominance of giant reptiles (dinosaurs?) and the emergence of mammals as the
leaders of life forms.
Once the mammal had evolved, the next stage of evolution was a form of
human beings who resembled animals both in looks and in behaviour. This takes
us the next avatar of Narasimha, where Lord Vishnu is
described as a form of half lion and half man.
From this stage was evolved a slightly smarter and intelligent species
of mammals, i.e. the monkey clan who were short but intelligent. This brings us
to the next avatar, of the Vamana avatar (the dwarf man).
The first five avatars are the symbols of Darwin’s biological evolution theory. The
sequence may well represent the forms of fishes, amphibians (reptiles),
mammals, advanced primates (hominids) and finally the thinking man
respectively. If we look deep and go through the stories in details, they all
give hints of the physical evolution of man. However, the next five avatars
show the cultural evolution of man.
Incarnations of Lord
Vishnu will be published in my next articles
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