How did Charlie make a monkey out of you
Don’t you think you should be living in the zoo
Don’t you know that it’s a lie
When it comes, it’s your turn to die…
You’ll find out you’re not a monkey but a fool!
I didn’t get it then when I was in the 7th grade but in high school something brought it all together. I used to sing this song a lot purely because it was highly entertaining with its reference to one's brother being a chimpanzee and father being a gorilla and checking one's derriere for a tail!! The choir teacher mentioned that it was a song ridiculing Charles Darwin and his theory of the origin of the species! The first chapter in my high school biology book mentions this great individual in big italics and bad illustration. I was told that Christians didn’t like this theory as it was against the bible and hence against God him/herself. Believers of the creationist theory and indeed most Christian communities for a long time were unwilling to believe in this theory.
One might wonder where Hindu mythology comes into it. Well it seems that Hindu mythology had perhaps recognised this pattern a long time ago. The Dashavatara are the proof of it. As can be interpreted in the 6 days of creation where its stated that God created man in 6 days – first day he made the universe, then he created the stars & the planets, then plants and animals and birds and all life and then on the 6th day he created in his own image – Man! I believe that as per this theory when God created the woman, he might have just been referring to gender differentiation where male & female had to copulate to create more of its own. Perhaps being able to self propagate had its own disadvantages, not to mention a warped social order :-D.
If one reads the Dashavatara, you can easily see that the incarnations follow the pattern of the evolution of life and of man. The first avatar was that of a fish (Matsya Avatar) and interestingly enough the story of this avatar has an uncanny resemblance to the story of Noah & the great flood! Science reveals to us that the earth has had alternating periods of Ice Ages and warmer climes. There have been great floods in the planet’s history. In this incarnation the Fish saved Manu, the son of the Sun and one of each species of animals and birds from the deluge so that life could begin afresh after the waters had subsided.
This was followed by the Kurma avatar where he was a Tortoise churning nectar on his back. This nectar was said to bring life. Perhaps it’s a reference to the primordial soup! The tortoise in my mind represents the evolution of amphibians & reptiles on our planet...crawling out from the soup! (strange images crawling in my head)
The next one was that of a boar – Varaha avatar. Varaha had rescued Mother Earth from the bottom of the cosmic ocean. The mammals had arrived and saved the planet as well!
This was followed by my personal favourite Narsimha/Narsingha avatar where he is half man & half lion. Maybe this avatar represented the half beast & half man form of the apes?!
Then this was followed by the Vamana avatar where he is a short statured sage who conquers the three worlds-earth, heaven & the
Then there was the warrior Parsurama – this avatar who freed the world from warriors who were terrorising much of the world and this perhaps marks the arrival of the modern homosapiens! Lord Rama was the seventh incarnation who is considered to be the Ideal man and human being. Lord Krishna the eighth incarnation waged a relentless battle against evil and his story is encompassed in the great Epic the Mahabharata. Lord Buddha or the enlightened one was the next avatar and he spread the message of non-violence, love and the Middle Path. The last incarnation Kalki will appear at the end of the current epoch or the Kalyuga and it’s said that this avatar will eradicate corruption allowing humanitarianism to prevail.
The theory of evolution or the 6 days of creation and the Dashavatars may not be the same but they hold such similar ideas that it’s a wonder nobody has actually studied this in greater detail or perhaps I'm just unaware of the academic worlds latest pursuits! It's an idea too amazing to have gone unnoticed for so long. It's so fascinating how the great flood is mentioned in Hindu mythology as well as in the bible.
A good read. I really like the direction of your thoughts. It could lead to something interesting, if you pursue it further. And as always, appreciate your style.
ReplyDeleteMight offer my take, over mail. This comment section is irritating! x-(