Question: You mention Kalki as Vishnu's tenth and final Avatar in his writeup, but I counted, and there's only eight others mentioned. Did you forget an Avatar? Narasimha perhaps?
Well, damn - you're right. The writeup mentions Matsya the fish, Kurma the turtle, Varaha the boar, Vamana the dwarf, Parasurama the trickster, Rama the warrior, Krishna the teacher and Buddha the deceiver, but lacks a ninth figure.
Hindu theology actually disagrees on the ten most important avatars of Vishnu; he appears in many more than ten figures, and depending on the time period and sect many of them are considered more or less important on a situational basis. Narasimha, the rampaging lion-man who killed the invincible asura Hiranyankashapu is one of the most popular options, but there are several others, including Balarama, the first creation and protector of his brother Krishna, Vithoba, the enabler of poetic devotion, Jagganath, the war-leader of Orissa, Hayagriva, the horse-headed slayer of the identically-named demon Hayagriva, and Mohini, the enchanting dancer who tricked Bhamasura into killing himself.
Personally, I'm more inclined toward Narasimha and Mohini, as they seem to be the most universally noted in Hindu myth and many of the other avatars on the list are specific to a particular sect or area. What do you guys think?
Narasimha, definitely. I was at the museum a couple months ago and there were so many statues and figurines of Narasimha all over the place. The idea that he "might not be that important" seems silly.
ReplyDeleteAs a (admittedly lapsed) Hindu (and the questioner), I think I can safely support Jacob in saying that Narasimha tends to get a lot more press in India and among Hindus in general than any of the others mentioned (though Mohini comes in close). I believe there's a concept of the twenty-four avatars of Vishnu, which is the standard ten, plus fourteen others, including Hayagriva, Mohini and Ved Vyas, though I don't remember any of the others.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Hiranyakashipu is Hiranyaksh's brother, and father of Dhruva (who would later go on to be immortalized as the Pole Star in Hindu myths), usually ensures that Varaha's and Narasimha's stories get told together, further making him a favourite to fill a spot on Vishnu's Top Ten Avatar list.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Narasimha is the consensus. Off to edit Vishnu's page!
ReplyDelete