Incarnation of God on the earth is called avatara. In Sanskrit, the term avatara
means incarnation. Avatara
is an appearance of any deity on earth, or descendent from heaven, and
it bears a great importance as a religious concept in the Indian tradition
and culture. The word avatara does
not occur in the major early Upanishads, though there are a few references
in the later Upanishads. It is listed in Panini’s Astadhyayi
(3.3.120) and also in many standard works after the epic literature. But
there are faint glimmerings of the theory of incarnation and of these forms
even in the earliest Vedic literature. Some scholars have definitely
observed in the following Rgvedic verse, the germs of the doctrine of
incarnation, viz. ‘pado sya
visvabhutani tripadasyamrtam divi’ (Rgveda, 10.90.3).
In
this context Prof. S.N. Das Gupta in his Critical
History of Indian Philosophy (part 2, pp. 523ff) says “here there is
the starting point of the theism of the Bhagavad
Gita, the idea of God as not only immanent but transcendent, a universe
which is no illusion and the doctrine of incarnation.” Certainly this hymn
is important, and it is quoted in the Svetasvatara
Upanishad and in the Bhagavad Gita (13.13).
Hence, Srimad Bhagavata (1.3.4)
clearly states that this purusa rupa
(male form) is the original source of different incarnations as well as the
real base of creating of devatas, human beings, animals and other creatures.
However, the beginnings of the doctrine of an incarnation and some of the well-known incarnations of Lord Vishnu may also be traced to the Vedic literature. In the Vedic idea of Lord Vishnu, as a solar divinity, coming down to the earth from the highest abode, also in the frequent allusions in the Vedic literature, Gods assume different forms in order to accomplish their several exploits. In the Vedic literature (Satapatha Brah), 1.8/1.1-6 (Matsya); 7.5.1.5. (Kurma); 14.1.2.11 (Varaha); 1.2.5.aff (Vamana), etc.), we actually come across of the early indications of the Matsy,. Kurma, Varaha, Vamana and other incarnations.
Necessity of
Incarnations
The
theory of incarnations bring to mankind
new spiritual messages and it presupposes the recognition of Vishnu
as the Supreme God, the creator and ruler of the Universe, the upholder not
only of the cosmic, but also of the moral order of the world. When the
enemies endanger the order of the world, the Lord incarnates himself for the
purpose of defending it. It is a comforting belief for the ordinary man to
hold that when the affairs of the world are in mess, God comes down to the
earth to set matters right (Gita, 4.7-8) i.e. when the world is in serious trouble, people
believe that deliverance will come by the grace of God. Another purpose of
God assuming the worldly form is to educate the mortals (because the people
in general follow the footsteps of great
men). God appears as the guru, to lead them beyond the delusion of
ignorance.
In
addition to these, the manifestation of the Lord is intended only for
bestowing the boon of the final beatitude of the human beings. As it is
rightly said in the Srimad Bhagavata:
“nrnam nihsrevasarthaya vyaktirbhagavato nrapah” (10. 29. 14).
Number And
Types Of Incarnations
In
the Mahabharata, Ramayana
and Puranas it is frequently stated that Lord Vishnu comes down to the earth
often for punishing the wicked, for the protection of good and the
establishment of dharma. Srimad Bhagavata
(1.3.26), the most popular purana,
states that the incarnations of Vishnu are innumerable, like the rivulets
flowing from an inexhaustible lake. In the Mahabharata
(12.339. 103-104) the incarnations are stated to be ten and they are the
same as now generally accepted except that Hamsa,
which is mentioned instead of Buddha and Krishna is called Satvata.
Among
the Puranas also, only some mention Buddha as an avatara.
The Matsya Purana (285.6-7) mentions the well-known ten incarnations
including Buddha as the 9th
incarnation of Vishnu. Besides, the Agni
Purana, the Padma Purana and
the Varaha Purana enumerate the
well known ten incarnations of Vishnu. The names of the ten incarnations are
thus: (1) Matsya - fish, (2) Kurma - the tortoise, (3) Varaha
- the boar, (4) Narasimha -
the man-lion, (5) Vamana - the
dwarf, (6) Parasurama, (7) Sri Rama, (8) Sri Krishna, (9) Buddha, and (10)
Kalki. The Bhagavata Purana makes
the number of incarnations twenty-two, including the minor ones. These are :
(1) Purusa, (2) Varaha, (3) Narada, (4) Nara
& Narayana, (5) Kapila, (6) Dattatreya, (7) Yajna, (8) Rsabha,
(9) Prthu, (10) Matsya , (11) Kurma, (12)
Dhanvantari, (13) Mohini, (14) Narasimha,
(15) Vamana, (16) Parasurama, (17) Vedavyasa,
(18) Ramachandra, (19) Balarama, (20) Sri Krishna, (21) Buddha, and (22)
Kalki (yet to come). The Gitagovinda
of Sri Jayadeva speaks of ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. He takes Balarama
as an incarnation instead of Krishna and explains Krishna as the Supreme
Lord, the Purusottama,(Gitagovinda
1.1.16).
There
are three kinds of incarnations. They are: (1)
Purnavatara (full incarnation). When the God manifests himself in the form of a
human being for the full span of life, this is known as purnavatara. The examples
of this kind are Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Veda Vyasa, etc. (2) Amsavatara
(partial incarnation): When the incarnation is only partial, i.e. the
activity of such manifestation is limited to a particular time, place or
incident. Vamana, Varaha, Narasimha,
Kurma, and Matsya, avatar fall
in this category. (3) Avesavatara
- Avesa means overshadowing. The
example of this kind is Parasurama incarnation. When Sri Rama married Sita
and was returning from Mithila, he was accosted by Parasurama and challenged
to a duel, where it is said that after bending Vishnu’s bow, Vishnu’s
influence in Parasurama passed to Sri Rama. Thereafter Parasurama is said to
be no longer an avatara. In this
case, Vishnu’s influence that overshadowed the soul of Parasurama, passed
on to Sri Rama, leaving Parasurama a mere rishi
(sage). This is clearly a case of avesa
or overshadowing.
Avataravada
or the Theory of Evolution
The
incarnations give us the keys which unlock the mysteries of nature. They
represent the different stages of evolution in the different departments of
nature. Even if we take into consideration the ten incarnations (of Lord
Vishnu) as they stand, the different stages of evolutions are there.
The
circumstances which necessitated these incarnations and the mighty deeds
accomplished by Vishnu on these occasions are most graphically and
exhaustively described. Attempts have been made to rationalize the different
forms assumed by Vishnu in different incarnations. In the beginning of the
creation there were waters everywhere, and, to suit this conditions of the
world, the first incarnation of Vishnu was, appropriately enough, in the
form of a fish, the animal to be found in water. Then the earth began
gradually to take shape among those waters, and therefore in his second
incarnation, Vishnu appeared as a tortoise, which can move both in water and
land.
The
later stages of evolution, namely, animal life in the forests. Then comes
the boar (varaha) incarnation. The
boar lives on land alone. Next we have the transition between the animal and
the human world in the man-lion (Narasimha) incarnation. The development is not completely fulfilled
when we come to the dwarf
(Vamana) incarnation. The first stage of man is that of the brutish,
violent, Rama with axe (Parasurama),
who devastates the humanity;
later we get the divine spiritual Sri Rama, who consecrates family life and
affections and Sri Krishna, who exhorts us to enter into the warfare of the
world; and after him Buddha, who, full of compassion for all life, works for
the redemption of mankind. Last of all we have the incarnation yet to come,
the Kalki, who will fight against evil and injustice with the sword in hand.
The
notable aspects of incarnations are that, God comes from an unmanifest state
to a manifest state, i.e. amurta to murta;
the incarnation may vary in number from text to text, but is obvious that
incarnation is a descent of God into man and not an ascent of man into God;
and the ultimate purpose of incarnation is the establishment of dharma
and to punish the wicked.
