Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Ishwari Avatar - Is this a necessary concept?

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Carrying forward the chain of thoughts initiated in previous post regarding disturbances in ratio of societal segments leading to destabilizing of Dharma, we have two examples in Itihaasa which refer to disruption of this societal harmony by an Ishwariya Avataara. Did this lead to the destabilization of Dharma which is hinted in Indian narrative in form of "Kali-Yuga"?

The double culling of Kshtariyas during Parasuram avatar and the Mahabaharata war led to the change in the distribution according to Indian Narrative (Itihaasa). Especially the latter, for subsequent to that we find the rise of janapadas (democratically run states not requiring Kings) and the rise of reform religions Jainism and Buddhism emphasising non-violence. That is why  we need to do our duty to not force another avatar to manifest.

This is one of the drawbacks and deracinations introduced by Bhakti saints since 4th century AD. 

Ishwara is only good as long as he is in abstraction, minds and temples and yagna-kundas. Moment his complete human manifestation happens, more often than not he tends to screw things up in long run.. For nirishwarvaadi people who do not need Ishwara, Ishwariya avatar refers to human heroes whom public and intellectuals of all economic, social, spiritual dimensions attest as Swayam Bhagwaan walking on earth. His acts (however selfless) are not questioned. Thus too much of power concentrates in one pair of hands. 

Although avataras are called so because they know when to give up and leave the world, still why give such heroes a chance? I am talking about purna avataras like Parashuram, Sri Raam, Sri Krishna, Kalki etc.. Buddha is comparatively benign form (yet he indirectly did cause long term debacle of Dharma)...

Interestingly, this is what happened in middle east and west. Judaism was one of the many views of ancient times and like others, it was not proselytizing. Yes, they believed in "one true god" and said that roman, greek, egyptian, germanic, arab, persian and other gods are false gods. But after genocide of hittites, this remained more or less an ideological stance only. Yes, the God in Old testament is one of the most barbaric character ever created, but still he was less harmful to other cultures. Emergence of Christ started an avalanche which destroyed everything that west had gained and achieved. 

I can only imagine what pain the scientists and thinkers of greece, egypt, rome and other parts of west must be feeling when all of them were either converted and forced to obey christ OR were burnt at stake for blasphemy. for example, philosophers were talking about heliocentric model and laws of planetary motion in egypt and greece. If that trajectory was continued, it would not have delayed industrial revolution. Emergence of these avataras of abrahmic god plunged the world into dark age of 1200 years. India already had technology to coat iron with zinc nano-layer to avoid rusting. this requires parallel progress in many other fields of engineering and science. 

I would recommend the movie "Agora" based on burning of library of alexandria and persecution of philosopher-astronomer Hypatia by Christians. It is for people to judge how different they were from Taliban?

Thus, the Avatar of Ishwara is something not worth anticipating. In fact, as far as possible, it is worth avoiding. And it can be avoided by following one's Dharma and doing one's duty. Because, once it happens, things usually go unpredictable. The fatalistic tendency of Indians which compel them to adjust and wait for divine intervention, instead of making things right themselves is one of the principle deracinations that has occurred in past 1500 years. 

1 comment:

Ace said...

Avatars can be attributed to the insatiable appetite of Hindus for the Gods!