07-03-2008, 05:24 AM
Ramana,
The Gita lays out following conditions when avatAra happens repeatedly(in each yuga):
1. paritrANAya sadhUnAm - for the salvation of good people
2. vinashAya cha duShkR^itAm - for the destruction of the evildoers
3. dharma saMsthApanArthAya - for establishing of dharma
Each avatAra has a context in which it happened.
But other thing that is noticeable is evolutionary aspect seen in the progression of the avatAras. If one folows Darwinian evolution idea, then one can account for all the avatAras leading up to vAmana avatara.
It is the four human avatAras that apparently confuse the simplistic picture of Darwinian typeof evolution. One can argue that there is perhaps an evolutionary justification for moving from vAmana-avatAra to parshurAma-avatAra. But what about rAma, kR^ishNa, buddha and kalki? One can see their role in terms of the 3 conditions as given in gItA, and in case of buddha only 2 conditions. But there doesn't seem to be any evolutionary aspect as seen in the earlier avatAra-s. Only Sri Aurobindo has provided distinct evolutionary justifications for the human avatAra-s.
Sri Aurobindo has linked all the human avtAra-s to evolution, in his theory of evolution. In his opinion every avatAra came to establish something unique in the human consciousness, apart from all the life deeds of the avatAra. It doesn't mean that there were no people before the avatAra that had attained to high levels of consciousness. There were many sages/rishis etc who attained the higher states. But that it wasn't part of normal human consciousness, and the avatAra came to fix it in the consciousness of the humanity, in the sense of evolution. Call these <b>"mutations of consciousness"</b> if you would.
His evolutionary theory is mainly discussed in his book "Life Divine". But in his numerous letters that he wrote to his desciples, collected in 3 volumes under the title "Letters on Yoga", that he discusses some very practical aspects of practice of yoga, as well his opinions and thoughts on numerous topics.
Sri Aurobindo's opinion on human avatAra-s:
1. <b>vAmana </b> - man as dwarf, small and undeveloped and physical but containing in himself the godhead and taking possession of existence.
2.<b> parashurAma</b> - the rAjasik-avatAra denoting development of the higher vital (prANamaya) nature and establishing it in the human consciousness.
2. <b>rAma </b>- the sAttvika avatAra, or establishment of the mental (manomaya) or sAttvika nature in the human consciousness.
3. <b>kR^ishNa</b> - the avatAra that opened up ranges higher than mind, viz. the overmind, in human consciousness.
4. <b>buddha</b> - the avatAra that tried to shoot towards the supreme liberation, but in a negative way, by denying the world. Also the approach of Adi shankaracharya. It established into the human consciousness the ascetic ideal, of leaving the world, and aspiring for liberation, the sanyAsI or monk meme.
5. <b>kalki</b> - the avatAra that will establish the supramental (vij~nAna-maya) consciousness. Kalki corrects the imbalance introduced by buddha of denying the world for liberation, and brings liberation to the ordinary life in world.
The Gita lays out following conditions when avatAra happens repeatedly(in each yuga):
1. paritrANAya sadhUnAm - for the salvation of good people
2. vinashAya cha duShkR^itAm - for the destruction of the evildoers
3. dharma saMsthApanArthAya - for establishing of dharma
Each avatAra has a context in which it happened.
But other thing that is noticeable is evolutionary aspect seen in the progression of the avatAras. If one folows Darwinian evolution idea, then one can account for all the avatAras leading up to vAmana avatara.
It is the four human avatAras that apparently confuse the simplistic picture of Darwinian typeof evolution. One can argue that there is perhaps an evolutionary justification for moving from vAmana-avatAra to parshurAma-avatAra. But what about rAma, kR^ishNa, buddha and kalki? One can see their role in terms of the 3 conditions as given in gItA, and in case of buddha only 2 conditions. But there doesn't seem to be any evolutionary aspect as seen in the earlier avatAra-s. Only Sri Aurobindo has provided distinct evolutionary justifications for the human avatAra-s.
Sri Aurobindo has linked all the human avtAra-s to evolution, in his theory of evolution. In his opinion every avatAra came to establish something unique in the human consciousness, apart from all the life deeds of the avatAra. It doesn't mean that there were no people before the avatAra that had attained to high levels of consciousness. There were many sages/rishis etc who attained the higher states. But that it wasn't part of normal human consciousness, and the avatAra came to fix it in the consciousness of the humanity, in the sense of evolution. Call these <b>"mutations of consciousness"</b> if you would.
His evolutionary theory is mainly discussed in his book "Life Divine". But in his numerous letters that he wrote to his desciples, collected in 3 volumes under the title "Letters on Yoga", that he discusses some very practical aspects of practice of yoga, as well his opinions and thoughts on numerous topics.
Sri Aurobindo's opinion on human avatAra-s:
1. <b>vAmana </b> - man as dwarf, small and undeveloped and physical but containing in himself the godhead and taking possession of existence.
2.<b> parashurAma</b> - the rAjasik-avatAra denoting development of the higher vital (prANamaya) nature and establishing it in the human consciousness.
2. <b>rAma </b>- the sAttvika avatAra, or establishment of the mental (manomaya) or sAttvika nature in the human consciousness.
3. <b>kR^ishNa</b> - the avatAra that opened up ranges higher than mind, viz. the overmind, in human consciousness.
4. <b>buddha</b> - the avatAra that tried to shoot towards the supreme liberation, but in a negative way, by denying the world. Also the approach of Adi shankaracharya. It established into the human consciousness the ascetic ideal, of leaving the world, and aspiring for liberation, the sanyAsI or monk meme.
5. <b>kalki</b> - the avatAra that will establish the supramental (vij~nAna-maya) consciousness. Kalki corrects the imbalance introduced by buddha of denying the world for liberation, and brings liberation to the ordinary life in world.