Decode Hindu Mythology

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Finding River Saraswati

A river is a Mystery; of distance and source,

Touch its flowing body and you touch far off places..

You touch a story that can't stop telling itself,
A story that's always just beginning..

The song of a river ends not at her banks,

But in the hearts of those, Who have truly loved her.

Saraswati means the 'Flowing One', the one that flows like a river as well as the one through whom flows knowledge. Devi Bhagvata Puran mentions that Goddess Saraswati in her full glory became Brahma's consort while a part of her incarnated on earth as the river Saraswati. A part of the goddess descended in Bhârat and is thus also known as Bhârati as well as Brâhmî because she is dear to Brahmâ.

Saraswati is the most sung about river in the Vedas and is called the Ambitame, Naditame, Devitame - the Best of mothers, Best of rivers and Best of goddesses in the Rig Veda. Ancient Sanskrit texts abound with references to the river:

Kartikeya was anointed the Commander of Deva forces on its banks,
Pururava, the scion of Lunar Dynasty, met Urvashi while galloping along the Saraswati,
Parshu-Raam took bath in the purifying waters of the river after cleansing Earth of tyranny,
Mahabharat War that ended an Era, was also fought along the banks of Saraswati!

Saraswati, the River Goddess of Arts & Learning

Saraswati has the distinction of being the only river-goddess with entire hymns dedicated to it in Rigveda [6.61], [7.95] [7.96 ]. She gave birth to canonical literature, the most scientific language in the world and a vivid mythology. She is the river that gave birth to a Civilization. Yet, ironically, the existence of this same river has been under debate for a large part of our History!

Scriptural References to River Saraswati

According to the 7th Mandala of the Rigveda, Saraswati was a mighty river that flowed from the mountain to the sea sustaining the lives of Vedic people. This very reference gives a valuable pointer to Saraswati's geography and the search for the river invariably begins from the Himalayas.

Origin of Saraswati near Indo-Tibet border

The Shalya Parva of Mahabharat quotes Rishi Dadhichi (the one whose bones were later used to make the Vajra) give her a benediction in which he states that she had risen from the Lake of Brahma in days of yore. This lake of Brahma is the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet at the base of Mt. Kailash which is indeed linked to many Indian rivers such as the Brahmaputra and the Indus. So it would not be surprising that Saraswati also originated somewhere in that region.

Rigveda Book 10 Verse 75 lists the prominent rivers of the Puru region and places Saraswati in the vicinity of the various tributaries of Indus. The names of the rivers are from east to west direction:

5 Favour ye this my laud, O Gan!gā, Yamunā, O Sutudri (Sutlej), Paruṣṇī (Ravi) and Sarasvatī: With Asikni (Chenab), Vitasta (Jhelum), O Marudvrdha, O Ārjīkīya with Susoma hear my call.

The Hymn 96 of Book 7 mentions the region she waters:

I SING a lofty song, for she is mightiest, most divine of Streams. Sarasvatī will I exalt with hymns and lauds, and, O Vasiṣṭha, Heaven and Earth. 2 When in the fulness of their strength the Pūrus dwell, Beauteous One, on thy two grassy banks, Favour us thou who hast the Maruts for thy friends: stir up the bounty of our chiefs.

The Vaman Puran clearly mentions it as flowing through the region of Kurus or Kurukshetra.

Still more details are available in the Skanda Purana Section VII.1. 33. 11-100 & Chapter 34 detail the story of how Saraswati was forced to arrive on earth in order to take a terrible devastating fire to the ocean so that it would not destroy the whole world. It moves to the west and even goes underground at places when it can't support the heat of the fire it is carrying!

The next verses mention how she splits into five channels just before entering the ocean. This is clearly the description of a delta formed by the river before she joins the sea and this place where it merges into the ocean is mentioned as the Prabhas Kshetra which lies in modern day Gujarat. The Shalya Parva mentions many pilgrimage places linked to Saraswati that Balram travels to. Since he lived in Dwarka which was near the coast of Gujarat, he began his pilgrimage from the aforementioned Prabhas.

Despite all these references, Saraswati is currently not identifiable in the Indian sub-continent and numerous theories have been suggested to trace its route and origin. However, one man took the onus of compiling all this information and set about 'Finding' the Lost river. This man is the French proto-historian, Michel Danino and we will see what science has to say about Saraswati according to the research Mr. Danino has painstakingly conducted.

Finding the Lost River

Michel Danino has researched extensively about Indian history and is the author of numerous works of great scholarship. Based on recent research in a wide range of scientific disciplines, Mr. Danino puts two and two together remarkably well and brings to life the VITAL role this river played in sowing the seeds of Indian civilization. The result of his stupendous efforts is the hugely popular and widely acclaimed book - The Lost River.

Michel Danino's Classic

Danino begins his journey of discovery from a tiny seasonal river called Ghaggar. As soon as I came across the name, I realized this is the river that passes through my hometown!! At most places, the river is just a stream expanding to its banks only if the monsoon is really heavy. However, the ancient riverbed is 3 to 10 kilometers wide at places proving that it had indeed been a mighty river once!

Current arrangement of Northern Rivers

Ghaggar flowing near my Home

This is corroborated by the presence of the only temple to River Saraswati that I have come across which is situated in Pehowa, a small town in Haryana about 45 kms from Chandigarh.There is a huge water tank here which is supposed to contain the now stagnant waters of the river and where thousands of people come every year to do the Shraadh or Pind Daan of their ancestors.

It is believed that Shri Krishna Himself came there with the Pandavs before the war to get them the blessings of the goddess. Some legends also say that this was the place where Vishwamitra, the Kshatriya king finally obtained the title of Brahma-rishi!

Michel Danino has painstakingly gathered data from a wide variety of sources - Study of Ancient literature; Recorded Historical accounts; Official reports from archives of the British Raj; Data from Archaeological Survey of India records; Pollen analysis from the lakes of Rajasthan; Studies of Oxygen-Isotope ratios; Remote sensing satellite etc.

These and other such techniques have helped present a pretty conclusive picture of the ORIGINAL course of the river and the factors leading to its disappearance. According to Danino's research, about 5000 years ago, the flow of Saraswati was supplemented by the waters of Yamuna and Satluj both of which are perennial rivers from Himalayan glaciers. When we envision the combined volume of these three, we can actually visualize the magnificence of Saraswati as extolled in the Vedas.

Another French scientist, Henri-Paul Francfort, had discovered the dry river bed of Saraswati utilizing advanced imagery from the Satellite SPOT. His studies led to the conclusion that the river bed was pre-Harappan and had already started drying up by the middle of 4000 BCE.

It appears that the river originated from the Har-ki-Dun glacier in West Garhwal along with the river Yamuna. The two rivers flowed parallel for some distance and later joined, proceeding south as the Vedic Saraswati. The seasonal rivers and rivulets, including Ghaggar, joined Saraswati as it followed the course of the present river through Punjab and Haryana. River Sutlej (Shatadru in Sanskrit), joined Saraswati as a tributary at Shatrana, approximately 25 km south of the modern city of Patiala.

Saraswati then followed the course of Ghaggar through Rajasthan and Hakra in Bhawalpur before emptying into the Rann of Kutch via Nara in Sindh province, running parallel to the Indus River. ISRO scientist A.K. Gupta, found fresh-water in the Thar Desert at places, where no sources of water exist.

Saraswati flowing through the Thar Desert

In the Jaisalmer district, even with very little rainfall (less that 150 mm) and extreme weather conditions, groundwater is available at a depth of 50-60 m (!!!) and wells in the vicinity do not dry up throughout the year. Groundwater samples exhibit negligible Tritium content indicating ABSENCE of modern recharge. Independent Isotope analyses have also corroborated this fresh water stored UNDER the sand dunes and Radiocarbon data suggests the groundwater is at least a few thousand years old! Not surprisingly, these stores of fresh water are located on the DRY river-bed of Saraswati!.

So what went wrong?

Imagine the might of Saraswati when you combine it with the waters of Yamuna and Satluj. Such a river would be the perfect water-way for trade and commerce and its fertile deltas and basins would support settlements all along its banks. However, some major earthquake in ancient time altered the topography of Northern India sufficiently enough to DIVERT the old courses of Saraswati's tributaries and while the Satluj changed direction to join Indus in the West, river Yamuna turned East to align with the Ganga.

It seems the Tectonic shifts pushed Saraswati underground which BTW tallies quite well with the popular belief about the flow of the river. Satellite images have confirmed the existence of a large number of Ground-Faults in the Saraswati-Sindhu and have caused the seepage of Saraswati water to underground channels, contributing to the legend of the Vedic Saraswati disappearing underground.

From a practical point of view, if we can somehow revive this ancient source of water, it could become a LIFELINE for the parched desert areas of Western and Northern Rajasthan!

Around the same time, a global drought has been proven to have affected civilizations across an immense belt right from southern Europe to India. The Sumerian civilization of Mesopotamia was practically wiped out around 2200 BCE, while in Egypt, the so-called Old-Empire collapsed because of this change in climate! Incidentally, the Shrimad Bhagavatam holds Balrama, the brother of Shri Krishna, responsible for the alteration of the course of river Yamuna which was originally a major tributary of Saraswati!

Balrama altering the course of Yamuna!

In such a scenario, with BOTH its major tributaries gone, and a GLOBAL drought drying up the rivers, the results were catastrophic for our Saraswati, leading to the desertification of Rajasthan!

The Indus Valley Connection

If you carefully look at the course of the river plotted on the map of Indian sub-continent, you can not fail to grasp the proximity it shared with the course of the Indus. Interestingly, the time-frame of its existence ALSO coincides with what was till now known as the Indus Valley Civilization!

Now, some historians ask, could there be a possibility that this archaeologically OLDEST civilization of the Indian sub-continent was sustained NOT by Indus alone, but by Indus and Saraswati BOTH???

More than 300 sites have been discovered along the ancient course of the Saraswati

With the work of researchers like Danino, this conjecture has indeed been proven to be true! In the early part of the century, Aurel Stein, a Hungarian archaeologist, had identified scores of Harappan sites in what is NOW recognized as the dry basin of the Saraswati right from Haryana in India to Punjab in Pakistan!

In fact, there are MORE archaeological sites along the bed of Saraswati (around 360!!!) than those along the Indus (just about 3 dozen)!! Moreover, with the latest discoveries of sites like Bhirrana it is now conclusively proven that this civilization did not progress from west to East but in the opposite direction.

Perhaps THIS is the reason why this river-goddess is also worshiped as the Goddess of Art, Culture, Literature & Knowledge!

For those who do not know what I am talking about, let me explain - Till recently the biggest and oldest (as per Carbon-dating) sites were found in Pakistan. But the efforts of the Archaeological Survey of India have helped discover many new sites on the Indian side of the border thereby bringing to light two major sites. Bhirrana, which is a small village in Haryana has been carbon dated to 7570 BCE, the oldest of any city in the ancient world! Similarly, Rakhigarhi has been shown to be roughly 350 hectares, bigger than even Mohenjodaro which was considered the biggest Harrappan city earlier.

This could well turn out to be the turning point for re-defining our Actual History! BOTH of them are located on the now-discovered dry bed of the Saraswati and clearly this is where the legend about the Goddess being the guardian of civilization emerged from. [Read more about these here - Haryanas-Bhirrana-oldest-Harappan-site-Rakhigarhi-Asias-largest]

Because of the above discovery, it becomes so easy to understand the reason for the decline of the Harappan Civilization! It was NOT because of an invading force from the North composed of white-skinned, chariot-riding, horse-taming, iron-using Aryans as the older archaeologists are fond of claiming. The most ancient civilization of the Indian sub-continent declined because of the MASSIVE change in topography of the region!

Another study titled {Fluvial Landscapes of the Harappan Civilization} has come out after the writing of this article, which also supports this view and declares that waning of monsoons spurred both the rise and fall of the Harappans! The study was conducted by a team of scientists from US, UK, India, Pakistan and Romania between 2003 and 2008. Using state-of-the-art Geoscience technology, the researchers concluded that Harappans lived in a favorable climatic window which saw few floods and sufficient rains but things started changing around 4000 years ago.

s monsoon drying subdued devastating floods, the land nearby the rivers - still fed with water and rich silt - was just right for agriculture. This lasted for almost 2,000 years, but continued aridification closed this favorable window in the end

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-05-climate-collapse-ancient-indus-civilization.html#jCp

The new findings serve to strengthen the premise that what we refer to as the Indus Valley Civilization was largely located on the banks of and in the proximity of the Saraswati river which withered away due to climatic conditions. The sudden change in the course of a river as wide as the Saraswati, would invariably lead to flooding in certain areas as its tributaries change their course, and a drought in the long run as the waters of the mighty river start dwindling and are unable to sustain the vast cities built on its banks.

From Saraswati to Ganga

Because of this dramatic turn of events, the denizens of the Indus-Saraswati had to relocate Northwards, Westwards and Eastwards. The eastward movement formed the major chunk of migration and the sacred attributes of Saraswati were gradually transferred to the other major river of the sub-continent, the Ganga.

Goddess Ganga takes over Saraswati's role

Most Early Harappan sites are located in the middle Ghaggar-Hakra river valley, and some on the Indus and the Saurashtra area of Gujarat. However, in the LATER period, the number of sites in the Ghaggar-Hakra and Indus diminish, while increasing in the Ganges plain and Saurashtra.

Indeed, the community of Saraswat Brahmins still trace their origin from the banks of Saraswati and are today spread all over the country right from Kashmir in the north to Kutch in the West to the Konkan region in the South of the country!

As the senior Indian Archaeologist, S.R. Rao observes -

In circa 1900 BCE most of the mature Harappa sites were wiped out forcing the inhabitants to seek new lands for settlement. They seem to have left in great hurry and in small groups, seeking shelter initially on the eastern flank of the Sutlej and the Ghaggar and gradually moving towards the Yamuna. The refugees from Mohenjo-Daro and southern sites in Sind fled to Saurashtra and later occupied interior of the Peninsula.

Supporting data is present in the literary evidence where the earliest texts like the Rig-Veda mention Ganga only twice, but later literature like the Upanishads, mention the river repeatedly!

Indus-Saraswati Civilization and Vedic India

Interestingly, archaeological sites discovered on the banks of Saraswati, mirror the descriptions from ancient Vedic texts as well. According to Mahabharat 1.90.25-26, many great kings used to perform Yagnya on Saraswati's banks, which co-relates well with the abundance of fire-altars discovered at places like Kalibangan, a major Harrapan town located on the southern banks of the Ghaggar.

Fire-altars discovered at Kalibangan

Traditional historians had refused to put faith in the abundant descriptions of Saraswati and had declared the date of arrival of the Aryans in India around 1500 BCE (Before Common Era). Also, they envisioned the Aryans as marauding forces who wiped out the resident Harrapans and branded them as Dasyus!!

However, the findings mentioned above throw up some very important questions viz.-

Saraswati is related to the Rig Veda and is worshiped by the Aryans, so how is it that more than 400 Harrapan sites co-relate so perfectly with its course???

If the river had dwindled to a stream around 3000 BCE, how does it fit in with the traditional dating of Aryans entering India around 1500 BCE???

The artificial dating of Aryans in India is questioned in what is known as the Frawley's Paradox given by Professor David Frawley, the Founder-Director of American Institute of Vedic Studies at Santa Fe, New Mexico. The paradox brings to fore an extremely pertinent point viz.-

On one hand we have the vast Vedic literature without any Archaeological evidence to support it, while on the other hand we have almost 2500 Archaeological sites associated with the Indus-Saraswati civilization without any literature associated with it.

For any sane person, the logical conclusion would be pretty obvious - The Rig Veda was composed while the Saraswati was in full flow much before 3000 BCE and the Vedic AND Harrapan cultures belonged to the SAME civilization!

There is NO need to assume that Indus-Saraswati people were DIFFERENT from the Vedic Aryans. This assumption was created out of thin air by early British historians who found it difficult to believe the existence of an Asian civilization pre-dating the Hellenistic civilizations of Europe.

Indeed Harrapan Seals show a preponderance of Hindu motifs such as the Swastika, the Bull, and the Peepal leaf. Numerous figurines display Yogic postures and various seals have been identified with Shiva and the Goddess.

Harrapan seal identified with Shiva

Seals with Trident, Bull and Peepal motifs

As mentioned before, the Mahabharat states that Balram traveled from from Dwarka to Mathura, on river Saraswati, to immerse the ashes of the Yadavs after the battle.This implies, the river was still navigable at the time of the Mahabharat War and the Epic was written BEFORE it had dried up i.e. at least before 3000 BCE (instead of 300 BCE given by older historians). Quite fittingly, this corresponds with the astrological dating of the War in 3rd Millenium BCE.

Krishna and Arjun on Battlefield Mahabharat

The discovery of vast number of sites on the banks of Saraswati, the co-relation with excerpts from Vedic scriptures, the revision of dates of these scriptures based on latest findings about the river, all these are tied to each other and lead to a common conclusion - The till now considered MYTHICAL Saraswati was HISTORICALLY present in the Indian sub-continent, sowing the seeds of Hindu religion and giving birth to the OLDEST Civilization in the World, that of Indus-Saraswati..

Saraswati Flows On

The worship of Saraswati is not limited to India alone and she has a huge fan following in Japan where she is revered as BENZAITEN - the only goddess in a group of seven lucky gods! In fact many other Indian gods also find place in the Japanese pantheon.

Benzaiten - Saraswati

Benzaiten (Saraswati), Kangiten (Ganpati) and Bishamonten (Kuber) in Japan

Our Scriptures were written on its banks, numerous Yagnyas performed in its vicinity, the very FOUNDATION of our religion was laid using the fertile kilns of the Saraswati. No wonder then, that the river is worshiped as Bharati, the Mother of Bharatiya civilization and many old Indian script supports her appellation like the Sharada that was used in Kashmir and the more widespread Brahmi.

I consider myself lucky enough to have seen the river and touched its HOLY waters even before I knew of its real significance, and I was lucky enough to have also met the MAN who achieved the Himalayan task of tracing its origins :o)

My fortunate meeting with Mr. Danino

I hope I was able to kindle a spark of excitement in my readers about this brilliant phase of our Cvilizational history and for those interested in knowing more, I highly recommend the book by Mr. Danino. For all who believe in the divinity of the river, I'm sharing this image by the brilliant artist Swapnil Singh, depicting Goddess Saraswati in all her sublime glory.

Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning

I pay obeisance to Saraswati, the Fountainhead of Knowledge, for awakening my mind to this reality and helping me believe in what, at some level, I instinctively knew was the truth. May the river Saraswati re-attain her lost glory and find its True place in the History of our ancient land..

The Goddess who is fair as the Jasmine flower,
Whose hands are adorned by the Celestial Veena,
Whose seat is the pure White Lotus;
O Mother Goddess, remove our Ignorance!

The purifying Saraswati in All her forms of Plenty,
Enriching all substance, the Creatrix of Word,
May she desire the offered sacrifice;
O Mother Goddess, remove our Ignorance!

She, the Impeller of all Auspicious Truths,

The Inspirer of All the right Musings,
May Saraswati, uphold the Sacrifice;

O Mother Goddess, remove our Ignorance!

She who Awakens the Consciousness,
The awakener of the movement of Reet,
And the Illuminator of our Thoughts;

O Mother Goddess, remove All our Ignorance!

Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:

Monday, October 10, 2011

Evolution in Hinduism

The reason why the Universe is Eternal,
Is that it does not live for Itself,
It gives life to others as it transforms,
And thereby lies the process of Evolution.

Change, they say, is the only thing Constant. All of us experience change in our life - our views take shape, thoughts mature, perceptions get molded, and if ever we sit and reflect, we wonder how it could be that we are so different from the way we were just a few years back!

Similar change in the life of our planet is evidenced by the process of Evolution. The current post deals with the 'Theory of Evolution' as proposed by the Biologist Charles Darwin and compares it with similar thoughts in the Hindu tradition.

Origin of Species

As discussed in the 3rd post (Creation by Brahma), our Universe required at least ten billion years of Evolution before life was even possible. Even on our own planet, the process has only progressed by taking baby steps and it has taken millions of years of trial and error to provide us with the backbone!

Evolution by Carl Sagan

Evolution is clearly visible in the huge diversity of species on our planet and today most of us consider Evolution to be an undisputed fact, yet there was a time when the concept was brand new and quite controversial.The controversy began with one man - Charles Darwin. Darwin (1809-1882), was an English Naturalist, who wrote the immensely popular thesis Origin of Species in the year 1859 CE, thereby rocking the foundations of both scientific as well as religious world of that time.

Charles Darwin

What was stated in his book, went totally against accepted beliefs of the Church and Darwin had to face a lot of criticism for his revolutionary theory. Yet, it is only because of this theory that we can understand the full purport of Evolution on our planet. The story of how Darwin came upon these conclusions is also quite fascinating as well and I was lucky to have visited the place where he came up with his theory.

Visitng Darwin's Home in Bromley, London

The spirit of adventure had gripped the imagination of most European nations at that time and there were expeditions from different countries to chart and explore the world around them. On one of these trips, our guy Charles Darwin landed at the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. These are a group of 12 disjointed atolls with the sea separating all of them, so that the flora and fauna in each is isolated from outside intervention.

Darwin's Voyage

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Darwin began to study the different species present there and to his surprise, observed huge variations in the species present in each of these islands!! In Darwin's own words -"When on board H.M.S. Beagle, as a Naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent.

Darwin began to ask himself why some birds on these islands had beaks different from others, and why some turtles had upright necks while others had their necks pointed down! Could all these differences be a result of the ENVIRONMENT these animals lived in and the circumstances in which they had to obtain food?

A note from Darwin's Diary

Despite suffering badly from sea-sickness, Darwin wrote copious notes while on board the ship. He found that the mockingbirds from different islands of the Galpagos group differed in shape and color and collected 12 different species of finches from each of them!

He traveled throughout the world and collected specimens wherever the ship docked. The same were handed over to experts when he landed in his mother country for further analysis. The research conducted on these specimens by various Anatomists, Ornithologists, Zoologists and Geologists, made the entire scientific world sit up and take notice of this radically NEW notion that Darwin had proposed. Inspired by the geographical differences in the wildlife (past and present), Darwin finally conceived of the Theory of Natural Selection. Today, the 'Origin of Species' is a widely acknowledged classic, and Evolution is today accepted as a truth of life.

Stages of Evolution

Evolution in Hinduism

Ancient Indians believed that Life comes from pre-existing Life. As discussed in the 3rd post (Creation by Brahma), Hindu Creation closely follows actual appearance of elements in our Universe -First appear the intangible substances followed by the tangible matter; followed by the immovable planets and landmasses; then the vegetation; birds, aquatics and animals; and finally the Higher species.

Taking an example from Hindu Philosophy, one of the most important concepts in Hinduism is of Samsara. All religions of Indian origin viz. Jainism, Budhism, Sikhism and the numerous other sects, believe in this concept and I'm sure most of you are aware of it as well. The concept is also known as the Transmigration of Soul, and refers to an endless cycle of re-incarnation that a soul must undergo in order to fulfill its Karma.

Transmigration of Soul through different Species

A soul takes birth in different species of life until it attains the form of a Human-being that enables it to strive for Nirvana. Compare this concept with the diagram above and you will immediately observe the similarity with Evolution!!

Another point to notice is the mention of 84 Lakh (8.4 million) different forms that a soul is obliged to take in order to reach a Human form which is remarkably close to the 8.7 million Eukaryotic species that scientists believe exist today!!

Different species are an evidence of Evolution

Sir John Woodroffe (1865-1936), Advocate General of Bengal and Legal member of the erstwhile Govt. of India, had the same revelation after the study of Sanskrit texts. He said and I quote,

"Ages before Lamarck and Darwin, it was held in India that man has passed through 84 lakhs births as plants, animals, inferior species and then came the ancestors of developed man existing today. The theory was an act of brilliant deduction in which observation may also have had played part!"

We all have heard of evolution and know that mammals are at its peak but is interesting to find the principles of Darwin's evolution in an old Hindu tect - the Shatpatha Brahman! The scripture mentions that when Prajapati Brahma created living beings in the beginning, they kept dying. He created the birds & the crawling reptiles, but they passed away from want of food. Finally #Brahma created living beings who could store food to nourish their children in the from of milk and thus came the mammals who ultimately survived!

The verse 2:5:1:66 says: Now that milk is indeed food; for in the beginning Prajâpati produced it for food. But that food also means living beings (progeny), since it is by food that they exist: by resorting to the breasts of those who have milk, they continue to exist. And those who have no milk are nursed by the former as soon as they are born; and thus they exist by means of food, and hence food means progeny. Is it just co-incidence or were the ancient Rishis actually aware of all the complexities of their environment around them?? While the above theory by itself may not be sufficient for some to believe in what I'm saying, I'll elucidate it further through an analysis of the order of Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

The Dashavatar

For the sake of the neophytes who may not be aware of them, I am listing the Ten Avatars below:

Matsya, the Fish

Kurma, the Turtle

Varah, the Boar

Narasimha, the Half-man/Half-lion being

Vaman, the Dwarf

Parashurama, Rama with the axe

Rama, Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya

Krishna, the Man-god

Buddha, the Spiritual Master, and lastly,

Kalki, expected to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga.

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It would be worthwhile to note that originally, there were 24 Avatars of the Lord listed in Srimad Bhagvatam. Why then, were only 10 selected by the Rishis for glorification? Furthermore, the order of the Avatars is NOT chronological! The actual order is as follows - Varah, Narsingh, Kurma, Vaman, Matsya, Parshu-Raam, Raam, Krishna/Balrama, Buddha and Kalki.

To a student of Biology, it may be quite apparent that these incarnations bear a startling resemblance to the Concept of Evolution - in the Dashavatar, we start with the aquatic Matsya, the Savior of the World; move on to the amphibian Kurma, the Support of the World; and follow it up with the Protector of the World, the terrestrial Varah.Compare this with the diagram below to see how the current understanding of Evolution exactly matches this description.

Evolution of Amphibians and Terrestrials from Aquatics

(Images courtesy Rima Chadha)

The Eusthenopteron in the diagram above is a good example for demonstrating evolution. This particular animal looked and behaved like modern fish for all practical purpose, YET within its fins were precursors of arm and leg bones of the four-limbed land animals!To add weight to this Out-of-Water theory, we next have the Tiktaalik, a half-fish, half-amphibian animal discovered in the Canadian Arctic in 2004. This animal was a further step towards TERRESTRIAL life with early wrists and finger bones that allowed it to prop itself up and poke its head above the water!

Evolution through animation

There are also indications that the animal breathed both through gills (like the earlier Eusthenopteron), as well as by means of a lung-like structure like the later amphibian Ichthyostega! This is just one of the many example that confirm Paleontologists' theories about land-dwelling animals evolving from fish ancestors and co-relates well with the Dashavatar sequence of Kurma after Matsya.

Kurma Avatar of Lord Vishnu

If you are intrigued by this similarity between science and religion, wait coz there's more to come :o)

After Kurma, we have the Varah and the story of this incarnation has many sub-layers. At one level, it signifies the next level of evolution moving from Water to Land while at a deeper level, it shows that Humans can not survive on the planet without the help of animals. Lord Varah is followed by the half-man-half-lion Nar-singh signifying the development of Man from the beasts. The victory of Narasimha over Aasurik ambitions of Hiranyakshipu also signifies that Humanity can be born only if we manage to subdue our demonic tendencies.

Narsingh, the Man-beast who tames Asurik tendencies

Varaha, the savior of Earth

{Image courtesy - Vimanika Comics}
Dashavatar Volume 2

Scientifically, there are numerous specimens recording this development from 'Water to Land' and from 'Beasts to Man' and many so called Missing Links have been found to corroborate the same. However, for our purpose, let us shift focus to a new animal that was spreading slowly out from the African heartland about 120,000 years ago - the Human-being. Evolution of Humans from an ape ancestor is supported by DNA and fossil evidence of over 20 species of Hominids and the complete genomes of several primates provide ultimate proof of our relatedness to apes and other Primates.

Evolution of Early Man

Dryopithecus in the image above, was a common ancestor to humans as well as other apes, and walked on all fours. The next guy in the image, Australopithecus afarensis, retained remnants from his quadrupedal past (such as hind toes suited for climbing and a wrist joint indicating it could knuckle-walk). However, its thigh bone, the femur, was shaped like that of the later Homo erectus to bear the stress of upright movement! In addition, both the proto-humans' femurs were also angled inward to help maintain balance on two legs, just like we do today.

Hindu mythology also finds the mention of these proto-humans in the form of the Vanars but that's a topic for a future post so I'll leave it at that for now. Coming back to the Dashavatar sequence, we first have the pygmoid Vaman followed by the fully developed but jungle-dwelling man represented by Lord Parashu-Raam.

As the famous sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke describes - The stone club, the toothed saw, the horn dagger, the bone scraper - these were the inventions which the Early Man needed in order to survive and hunt.No longer were they faced with starvation when their teeth became damaged or worn; even the crudest tools could add many years to their lives. And as their fangs diminished, the shape of their face started to alter; the snout receded, the massive jaw became more delicate, the mouth able to make more subtle sounds to enable Speech.

Video showing skull changes from primates to modern Humans

In using the Tools, their hands developed a dexterity found nowhere else in the animal kingdom permitting them to make still BETTER tools, which in turn helped develop their limbs and brains yet further. It was an accelerating, cumulative process; and at its end was the Modern Man. This stage represents Early Man who had started using tools and weapons and quite fittingly, Parshu-Raam is the FIRST of the ten incarnations to posess primitve ARMS (Axe and Bow).

Parshuram represents forest-dwelling man who used tools

{Book Cover of The Legend of Parshu-Raam}

Soon, mankind discovered Fire and Agriculture, and civilization began. Hence, next in the list we have the civilized man with a strong moral code - Shri Rama followed by Balrama, the Man-who-can-tame-Nature. In the image below, we can see the modern human represented by Shri Rama accompanied by the proto-human Vanars.

Maryada Purushottam Shri Rama

Next in line, Buddha, represents man with a spiritual drive and the need for infusing fresh thoughts in age-old traditions to keep religion and spirituality within the reach of the Masses. The final Avatar, Kalki, refers to the techno-humanoid man of tomorrow wielding mechanical contraptions and riding the steed of fire perhaps hinting at the technological advancement yet to come, maybe somewhat similar to Arnold from one of my childhood favorites, the movie Terminator :o)

The 10 Avatars certainly represent much more than just the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and as we saw above, are an allegory for the Process of Evolution which is evident in nature and within our own beings as well.

Lord Vishnu and the Ten Avatars

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I hope I was able to suitably present before you another aspect of Science uncovered from the depths of the treasure trove of Hindu Mythology. I again bow down to the intellect of the ancient Rishis and culminate this post with the Dashavatar Stotra, translated from the Geet-Govind, and dedicated to the 10 glorious Incarnations of Lord Vishnu:

In the Great Deluge, You kept Vedas safe,

Like a ship undeflected, from its original course,

Hail Keshav in the form of Matsya,

Glories to Hari, Lord of the Universe!

On Your expansive back, You let the Mountain rest,

Like a Cosmic pivot, for churning the Ocean,

Hail Keshav in the form of Kurma,