Avatara: What are They and Could They be Real?

Once in a while, things on our planet go a little haywire, out of control. Sometimes the bad overcomes the good and leaves us in quite a bind. In comic books, this is where Superman and Spider-man rush in to save the day. In the real world, we rely on police, firefighters, or paramedics. In biblical stories, the gods or God send in the avataras. According to one definition, an avatara can be “animal or human forms taken by a god on earth; an incarnation of God, like Rama or Krishna.” (Ellwood, 2005). Right away, one might see Jesus Christ come to mind. He is, after all, a human form taken by a god on earth. However, “avatara” is a Hindu term, used mostly for the Hindu stories. There are occasions, however, where some other men or women have been accepted as avataras, but this topic will come up later.

Being a concept of Hinduism, avataras are believed to be the Hindu god, Vishnu, ready to set the balance of yin and yang, (light and dark, good and evil), correct once more. It is generally believed that Vishnu has appeared as nine avataras so far, with a tenth yet to come. These avataras have appeared as a fish, a tortoise, a boar, a man-lion, a dwarf, a warrior, a prince/king, a cow herder and leader, an enlightened man, and the tenth will be as Kalki, the destroyer of the world. Other branches or individuals of Hinduism have also had the numbers of avataras up to twenty-five visits or more, including Vishnu as a swan, a human female, Jesus Christ, Zoroaster, and others.

Why would a god decide to visit this world as a fish, tortoise, or boar? These earthy missions follow, as described by mailerindia.com, comparativereligion.com, and hinduwebsite.com

1. As Matsya, the fish, Vishnu rescued the world from a great flood and brought back the Vedas, a collection of sacred knowledge and hymns. The Vedas had been stolen by a demon.
2. Vishnu returned as the avatara, Kurma, a tortoise to lend support to the mountain, Mandara, during a tumultuous ocean churning. The ocean was being churned to bring forth a life giving elixir for the gods, or devas. The mountain was sinking in the churning so Kurma lent his back for the mountain to stand on.
3. Vishnu appeared a third time as the avatara, Varaha, a boar. A demon named Hiranyaksha had sunk the earth in the waters. Vishnu slew the demon and saved the earth from sinking by bringing it up with his horn and rescued the Vedas, which had also been stolen.
4. The fourth time Vishnu returned as an avatara was as Narasimha, a half man-half lion. This avatara came to destroy another demon, Hiranyakahsyapu, who had grown too powerful and forbade any god worship other than his own.
5. Vishnu next returned as Vamana, a dwarf. The dwarf grows larger than the universe with three steps. With this miracle, he defeats King Bali who wanted to be king of the heavens.
6. Parasurama was the sixth avatara of Vishnu and the son of sage Jamadagni. He was sent to destroy all of the warrior caste who were endangering the priestly caste. Interestingly, Parasurama was defeated in a power struggle by Vishnu’s seventh avatara, Ramachandra.
7. The avatara Ramachandra was created to defeat the demon Ravana. Ravana was granted immunity from being killed by all gods and demons, but not humans. Ramachandra was a prince and king of Ayodhya and led an army of monkeys and bears to defeat the demon and rescue his wife.
8. Krishna was sent to destroy Kamsa, a demon. In his childhood, Krishna displayed feats of strength and defeated many demons sent to kill him by Kamsa. As a young adult, Krishna had affairs with many married cowgirls. In his mid-life, Krishna finally defeated Kamsa and helped the Pandavas in the Bharata war. It is said that he also brought about advancements in science, dance, drama, and many forms of art.
9. The ninth avatara is debatable. Some stories have Krishna as the ninth avatara while his elder brother, Balarama was the eighth. Buddha was sent forth to introduce a new religion, Buddhism. The stories connecting Buddha to Hinduism culture were meant to encompass this new religion with the larger, more powerful one. By the legends, many demons were getting too powerful and could not be defeated by the gods. Buddha was created to bring disbelief in the gods and demons. He preached that death was inevitable, that sacrifices were useless, and that there was neither Heaven nor Hell. The demons accepted this, became Buddhists, and were slain by the gods.
10. Tenth on the list is Kalki. Kalki will be the avatara who comes carrying a sword and riding a white horse. He will bring about the destruction of evil when the world is ending, allowing for peace when the earth is reborn in samsara. Though the world will be destroyed, peace will come again through the samsara. Even the gods and avataras will be reborn, also foretold by Krishna:

“At the end of my many births,