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Re: caste hirearchy

From the Bhakti List Archives

g_prabhu_srinivas • January 20, 2002 


1. i don't think that most world religions including hinduism ascribe 
to the evolutionary theory. the first human was manu - after the 
pralaya.
2. in the varaha avatar, lord vishnu takes the form of a boar (with 
tusks) - not exactly a pig. once could say the pig evolved from the 
old world wild boar.
3. the bhagavatham says that there are 22 or 23 (i forget) avatars of 
vishnu.
4. lord krishna was not a yadava by birth - he was a kshatriya.
5. sometimes buddha is regarded as an avatar of vishnu in place of 
balarama. buddha was deemed as a false preacher to convert the demons 
into buddhists. but the first reference to this is in the vishnu 
purana.
6. the parasurama avatar was to destroy the race of kshatriyas - 
before the first appearance of the kshatriya avatar (that of rama). 
of course, rama and parasurama even met for a duel which the former 
won, according to the ramayana (and the mahabharatha).

in the bhagavad-gita, lord krishna gives the reason for the avatars -

"whenever dharma is endangered in this world, i incarnate to re-
establish dharma, to protect the sadhus, and to destroy the evil 
elements of the society."

i'm not sure if its proper to talk about evolution of man and the 
caste system on the basis of avatars.

the sequence of avatars is just a part of the cyclic manifestation - 
each cosmic cycle has four yugas (one or two avatars in each yuga) 
followed by the pralaya which destroys the physical world. the whole 
cycle is repeated for a kalpa after which the subtle world is also 
destroyed. if i'm not mistaken, there is a "mahapralaya" which 
destroys even brahma. then, the entire process is repeated again and 
again (much like the big-bang, big-contraction theories).

regards,
prabhu.

--- In bhakti-list@y..., krishnan seshadri  
wrote:
> The sequence of avatars of Vishnu tell us two
> things.The first one is evolution process and the
> second is the caste hirearchy.
> 
> 1.matsya - Fish -which lives in water
> 2.Kurma - Tortoise-amphibian
> 3.Varaha - pig - which lives in land
> 4.Narasimha - a hybrid between  between animal and  
> the next avatar man.
> 5.Vamana - dwarf -brahmin
> 6. Parasurama -man - brahmin 
> 7. Rama - man -kshathriya
> 8. balarama-man - yadava
> 9.krishnan - man - yadava.
> the evolution is always from lower to higher forms of
> life.the caste hirearchy which is free from individual
> perceptions/interpretations is evident from the
> above.One has to understand that everyone has a role
> to play,duty yo perform which has to be free from
> comparisons.
> krishnan
> p.s.medical research has shown that pigs blood is
> closest to that of human blood.maybe someone should
> study the tortoise too?
> 
> 
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