Avatars
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In Hinduism,
an avatar is the incarnation (bodily manifestation)
of an Immortal Being, or of the Ultimate Supreme Being. It derives from the
Sanskrit word Avatâra which means "descent" and
usually implies a deliberate descent into mortal realms for special
purposes. The term is used primarily in Hinduism, for incarnations of
Vishnu
the preserver, whom many Hindus worship as God. The
Dasavatara (see below) are ten particular "Great" incarnations of
Vishnu. Unlike Christianity, and Shaivism, Vaishnavism believes that God takes a special human form whenever there is a decline of righteousness and rise of evil (from the Bhagavad Gita). Lord Krishna , according to Vaishnavism an avatar of Vishnu, famously said in the Gita: “For the protection of the good, for destruction of evil, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age.” (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, verse 8.)The word has also been used by extension by non-Hindus to refer to the incarnations of God in other religions, notably Christianity, for example Jesus. According to Kiara Windrider, in her book "Fire from Heaven: Dawn of Golden Age" , an avatar can be referred as one who comes to earth in response to humanity’s call when there is a certain level of stagnation. Windrider writes that an avatar is the descent of higher consciousness and that it need not necessarily be a spiritual being. For instance, she asserts that Gandhi was an avatar of non-violence, and Einstein was an avatar of physics and that any higher consciousness taking birth can be called an avatar.
Beliefs and significanceThe philosophy reflected in the Hindu epics is the doctrine of the avatar (incarnation of Vishnu or God as a human being). The two main avatars of Vishnu that appear in the epics are Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, and Krishna, the friend of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Unlike the superhuman devas (gods) of the Vedic Samhitas and the abstract Upanishadic concept of the all-pervading and formless Brahman , the avatars in these epics are the human intermediaries between the Supreme Being represented as Saguna Brahman and mere mortals.This doctrine has had a great impact on Hindu religious life, for to many it means that God has manifested Himself in a form that could be appreciated even by the least sophisticated. Rama and Krishna have remained prominent as beloved and adored manifestations of the Divine for thousands of years among Hindus. The Upanishadic concept of the underlying unity Brahman is revered by many to be the pinnacle of Hindu thought, and the concept of the avatars has purveyed this concept to the average Hindu as an expression of the manifestation of the Hindu's highest single divinity as an aid to humanity in dark times. The Hindu cycle of creation and destruction contains the essence of the idea of "avatars" and indeed relies on a final avatar of Vishnu, that of Kalki, as the final destructive force at the end of the world. Rama and Krishna are not the only divine avatars in Hindu traditions. Hinduism includes the belief that the divine has taken human (and prior to the emergence of humankind, animal) forms here on earth many times. Little is known of any appearance as an avatar by Brahma or Shiva, but emanations of Vishnu have appeared a number of times. Some Hindus, based on the Ramayana, aver that Shiva incarnated once as the monkey-god Hanuman. Hanuman is more well-known as the son of Vayu, the deva of wind or his emanation. (Hanuman lived in a the jungle often called Vaanar, which means people who live in the jungle), and was one of the greatest devotees of Vishnu.
The ten Avatars or DasavataraThe Maha Avatara (Great Avatars) of Vishnu are usually said to be ten and this is popularly known as the Dasavatara (dasa (dasha) in Sanskrit means ten):
The 25 Avatars of the PuranasThe literature of the Puranas list twenty-five avatara of Vishnu. A description of these is found in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 1. 1) Catursana 2) Narada 3) Varaha 4) Matsya 5) Yajna 6) Nara-Narayana 7) Kapila 8) Dattatreya 9) Hayasirsa 10) Hamsa 11) Prsnigarbha 12) Rsabha 13) Prithu 14) Narasimha 15) Kurma 16) Dhanvantari 17) Mohini 18) Vamana 19) Parasurama 20) Raghavendra 21) Vyasa 22) Balarama 23) Krishna 24) Buddha 25) Kalki
Types of avatars
The Ninth Avatar: Balarama or Buddha?Balarama is the ninth avatar according to Puranic tradition. Scholars believe that with the increase in popularity of Buddhism in India, some time in the latter half of the first millennium CE, a belief that Buddha is the ninth avatar gained prominence as an example of the remarkable ability of Hinduism to assimilate other ideas and cultures and it ultimately contributed to the decline of Buddhism in India. Vaishnava poet Jayadeva Gosvami (12th century) in his famous Dasavatara stotra from Gita Govinda glorifies both Balarama (as 8th avatar) and Buddha (as 9th avatar).Buddha is therefore often referred to as Buddhadev ("Divine Buddha") by many Hindus. Buddhists, however, do not consider Buddha to be an avatar. A prominent contemporary Hindu thinker who considered Buddha an avatar was Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.Following Madhva, followers of Tattvavada, a/k/a Dvaita do consider Buddha to be an avatar. His preachment of heterodox views (i.e., rejecting the Vedas, etc.) is considered as intended to cause delusion to the demonic and unworthy. Balarama is considered one of the ten avatars by Gaudiyas and Srivaishnavas, but in North India and in Dvaita he is an incarnation of Vishnu's serpent Adi Sesha rather than of Vishnu himself.A listing of the ten avatars showing Buddha rather than Balarama is available in the Mahabharata. The former is also mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana as an avatar.
SymbolismMany claim that the ten avatars represent the evolution of life and of mankind. Matsya, the fish, represents life in water. Kurma, the tortoise, represents the next stage, amphibianism. The third animal, the boar Varaha, symbolizes life on land. Narasimha, the Man-Lion, symbolizes the commencement development of man. Vamana, the dwarf, symbolizes this incomplete development. Then, Parashurama, the forest-dweller, connotes completion of the basic development of humankind. The King Rama signals man's ability to govern nations. Krishna, an expert in the sixty-four fields of science and art according to Hinduism, indicates man's advancement to cultural concerns. Buddha, the Enlightened one, symbolizes the enlightenment and spiritual advancement of man. Note that the time of the avatars does not necessarily indicate much; kings ruled long before Rama and science was pursued long before Krishna. The avatars represent the order, and not the time, of these occurrences, according to certain Hindus. The animal development connotations bear striking resemblances to the theory of Evolution.
List of other avatar claimantsApart from the ten traditional avatars of Hinduism some other persons claimed to be avatars or are believed to be avatars by their followers.
Adapted with permission from Wikipedia. |
