The divine incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity
by Ernest Valea
The periodical manifestation and dissolution of the world
The ten avatars of Vishnu
The divine incarnation in Christianity - God the Son incarnated as Jesus Christ What are demons?
How did the demons attain power over the gods?
Who did the divine incarnation came to save, gods or humans?
How does the divine incarnation save?
Contradictory aspects of the Hindu avatars
Could Jesus Christ be assimilated with a Hindu avatar?
Jesus Christ and other Saviors and religious founders
The only religions that admit a true incarnation of Ultimate Reality in human form are Vaishnava Hinduism and Christianity. They both assume that God descended into the world and dwelt among humans in order to save them. Vaishnava Hinduism ascribes ten incarnations (avatars) to the god Vishnu, while Christianity proclaims the sole incarnation of God the Son as Jesus Christ. Could they be equivalent? In other words, could Jesus Christ be considered a mere Western avatar, who has come into our world according to the Hindu pattern? Or could the avatars of Vishnu have fulfilled the same goal as Jesus did? Are there any differences between them? Let us first review the beliefs of both sides and then compare the results of our inquiry.
The periodical manifestation and dissolution of the world
The Puranas, the major writings of Vaishnava Hinduism, state that the god Vishnu causes a cyclic manifestation and dissolution of the world. Each cosmic cycle (mahayuga) has four ages: Krita Yuga - 1,728,000 years, Treta Yuga - 1,296,000 years, Dvapara Yuga - 864,000 years and Kali Yuga - 432,000 years. Then follows the dissolution (pralaya) of the physical world. This cycle is repeated 994 times, forming a period called kalpa, and then a dissolution (pralaya) of both the physical and subtle world follows. 36,000 kalpas and pralayas make the lifespan of Brahma, the creator god, which is followed by a total dissolution (mahapralaya) of the physical, subtle and causal world. Then all worlds, time and space return into Brahman, and the whole cycle starts again in an endless process of manifestation and dissolution.
According to Christianity, on the other hand, the world was created only once, and not as a necessity, but out of God's superabundant love. Although the world became corrupted by sin, this situation doesn't belong to a normally repeated scenario as in Hinduism but is the result of a wrong human response to God's love. Despite the fact that our world is different from what God has originally intended, it will not follow a repeated cycle of manifestation and dissolution. The "new heaven and new earth" presented at the end of the Revelation (21,1) is not a new creation similar to the one presented in Genesis. Otherwise it would indeed confirm a cyclic manifestation of the world according to the Hindu pattern. The Bible doesn't confirm such a mechanism. The "new heaven and new earth" is rather an everlasting world where sin is eradicated and there will be "no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Revelation 21,4). It will belong to those who accepted the saving work of Christ and will never have a pralaya to end it.
The ten avatars of Vishnu
The god Vishnu is said to descend ten times into our world during each cosmic cycle (mahayuga) in order to restore the balance between good and evil. The number of his incarnations varies from one Hindu writing to another. The Mahabharata gives three lists of Vishnu's avatars: First there are mentioned four, then six, and finally there is a list of ten, in the form of: (1) swan, (2) tortoise, (3) fish, (4) boar, (5) man-lion, (6) dwarf, (7) Bhargava Rama, (8) Dasaratha Rama, (9) Krishna, and (10) Kalki. The Markandeya Purana 4,44-58 lists 12 avatars of Vishnu, the Garuda Purana lists 19, while the Matsya Purana 47,32-52 lists 22. Since the time of the Bhagavata Purana the number of avatars has been uniformly recognized as ten. Therefore we will use the best known list: (1) fish, (2) tortoise, (3) boar, (4) man-lion, (5) dwarf, (6) Parasurama, (7) Rama, (8) Krishna, (9) Buddha and (10) Kalki. The first nine have already occurred and the last one is still to come. Let us give a brief description of each avatar, see what it had to achieve and how it was done.
(2) The tortoise (Kurma). During the deluge that destroyed the world the gods lost the cream of the milk ocean (amrita), by which they renewed their youthfulness and avoided death. Gods and demons together set about producing amrita by churning the ocean of milk, using a mountain as churning stick and the incarnation of Vishnu as a tortoise for the pivot on which to rest it. Their action was successful and the amrita recovered.
(3) The boar (Varaha). Brahma was forced to grant the boon of immortality to a demon that had performed austerities. Under the cover of this boon, the demon persecuted both men and gods, stole the Vedas from Brahma and dragged the earth under the ocean, down to his dark abode. However, the demon forgot to mention the boar in his list of gods, men and animals to which he could be invulnerable, so Vishnu took the form of a huge boar, descended into the ocean, killed the demon with his tusks, recovered the Vedas and released the earth.
(4) The man-lion (Narasinha). A demon had obtained the boon of invulnerability through asceticism from the attacks of men, beasts and gods. He had the assurance from Brahma that he could not be killed either day or night, inside or outside his house. This demon grew very powerful, forbade the worship of all gods and substituted it with worship for himself. Vishnu took the form of half-man, half-lion (neither man nor beast) and tore the demon into pieces in the evening (neither in the day nor in the night) in the doorway of his palace (neither inside nor outside it).
(5) The dwarf (Vamana). The king Bali had gained too much power by his sacrifices, so the gods were in danger of losing their heavenly position to him. Therefore Vishnu was incarnated as a dwarf and asked the king for the gift of three paces of land. Once they were accepted, the dwarf suddenly grew to an enormous size and covered all the earth and the heavens by his paces and Bali was left to dwell in hell.
(6) Parasurama (Rama with the ax). The warrior caste (kshatriya) was exercising tyranny over all men, especially over the Brahmins, so the priestly caste was endangered. Vishnu came to earth as Parasurama and exterminated the whole kshatriya caste with his ax.
While he was still on earth, the next avatar (Ramachandra) came and the two had to struggle. Ramachandra defeated Parasurama in a trial of strength and broke his bow. (Both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata recollect this episode. In the Mahabharata Parasurama is knocked senseless by Ramachandra.)
(7) Ramachandra (Rama) is the hero of the Ramayana epic. The demon Ravana had practiced austerities in order to propitiate Brahma, who had granted him immunity from being killed by gods, gandharvas and demons. Under this protection, Ravana persecuted gods and men. Vishnu took the human form of prince Rama, for Ravana was too proud to ask for immunity from men. Many adventures followed in Rama's trip to save his wife Sita, who was kidnapped by the demon and taken to the Lanka Island. Rama raised an army of monkeys and bears led by the monkey-god Hanuman and a great battle was fought in front of the gates of the city. Rama used a magic weapon infused by the power of many gods, killed Ravana and rescued his wife.
(8) Krishna. The objective of Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna was to kill the demon Kamsa, who had become a tyrannical king. He killed children and banned the worship of Vishnu. Krishna's mission had three phases: childhood, youth and middle age. During childhood he performed many feats of strength, killing all demons sent against him by Kamsa. In his youth, Krishna had many amorous adventures with married cowgirls. At last, in his middle-age, he killed Kamsa and took part in the Bharata war (the most famous episode is the one recollected in the Bhagavad Gita). His mission accomplished, Krishna retreated into the forest in meditation. A hunter mistook his foot for a deer and shot it, thus piercing Krishna's one vulnerable spot and mortally wounding him.
(9) Buddha. The demons had stolen the sacrificial potions of the gods and performed asceticism, so the gods could not conquer them. Vishnu incarnated as a man of delusion in order to propagate false ideas and lead them astray from their old faith. Buddha preached that there is no creator, that the three major gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) were just ordinary mortals, that there is no dharma, that death is total annihilation, there is no heaven or hell and sacrifices are of no value. Obviously, Buddha as avatar of Vishnu has no historical foundation. He was a kind of devil's advocate who managed to weaken the opponents of the gods. The demons became Buddhists, abandoned the Vedas and consequently were killed by the gods. This story was first presented in the Vishnu Purana (5th century AD) and is obviously an attempt to subordinate Buddhism to Hinduism.
(10) Kalki. The last avatar, who is still to come, puts an end to the degenerated earth, accomplishing the final destruction of the wicked and preparing the way for the renewal of creation and the resurgence of virtue in the next mahayuga.
The following table summarizes the meaning of Vishnu's past 9 avatars:
|
Topic |
Which avatar's case fits into this scenario |
|
A demon performed austerities and gained too much power over the gods |
3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
|
The avatar came to save the gods |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
|
The avatar came to save humans |
1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 |
|
The avatar kills a demon |
3, 4, 7, 8 |
|
The avatar's form of embodiment |
Animal (1, 2, 3), half-beast, half-human (4), human (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) according to how the demon had to be deceived. |
The divine incarnation in Christianity - God the Son incarnated as Jesus Christ
This is a summary taken from a previous file on the nature of salvation in Christianity. The Christian account of the divine incarnation presents God the Son willingly leaving his divine glory, taking a human body and descending into our world through the virgin birth. The Apostle Paul states:
In Vaishnava Hinduism none of the avatars has a perfect union of the two natures. As they have no historical basis, it is very difficult to speculate on how their divine nature could have been combined with the physical one (animal or human). Due to considering the physical body a mere garment that is put on and off (according to Bhagavad Gita 2,22), there cannot be any real association of Vishnu with a physical body. Christ came to redeem the physical body as well, therefore his association with it was real. That is why there is so much stress on his physical resurrection, which for a Hindu avatar is absurd. Therefore the Hindu avatar fits best in the Docetic understanding of Christ (a being presenting only the appearance of a physical body), which is considered a classic heresy in Christianity.
The most striking difference from Hindu avatars regards Christ's death. This was the crux of his incarnation: He had to die on the cross for our redemption from sin and reconciliation with God. The Apostle Peter states in his epistle:
Jesus Christ as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1,29) is the cornerstone of Christianity and its non-paralleled element. Since his physical body was so real and so closely associated with his divine nature, the suffering of Christ on the cross was not a mere illusion. His torment and death were so real that none of those who saw it could expect a future victory over death. He did not die only in physical appearance, as the Docetist heresy suggests, but as a poor miserable man, experiencing suffering in its fullest sense. His death proves both the seriousness of our sin and the unfathomable love of God, as Jesus once proclaimed:
Parallels between the Hindu avatars and Jesus Christ
What are demons?
According to Hinduism, demons are beings that currently reap the fruits of their bad karma acquired in previous lives. However, the bad things they do are not arbitrary, as the law of karma makes sure that the humans afflicted by demons are justly punished for their own bad deeds performed in previous lives. Therefore, from a global point of view the demons' bad deeds must be seen as necessary in balancing karma. Existence as a demon is limited, and eventually there is reincarnation back into human form and henceforth a new chance given to attain liberation.
Once we understand how karma operates it becomes absurd that Vishnu has to intervene in the world by descending as an avatar and save it. How could he save the world from the consequences of karma, since it is a spiritual law that cannot be abolished? As long as karma operates in the world, the killing of a demon has a very limited effect. If the demon hasn't fulfilled yet his role as the agent of karma in our lives, he must reincarnate and continue his mission. According to the reincarnation doctrine, only one's physical frame can be "killed" (see Bhagavad Gita 2,19), not the "immortal soul." Demons will never stop creating problems, and therefore the avatars will always need to come and save the world. At least ten must come in each mahayuga. Therefore, the killing of demons by the avatars is only a short-term solution to the problem of evil in the world.
On the other hand, in Christianity, demons have a different nature and destiny. They are fallen angels who will never reincarnate, never return to their initial status or attain salvation. As the present world has a limited duration and there is no re-manifestation of it, the demons will be eternally separated from the Kingdom of God at the judgment day. (For more information on the nature of demons in Christianity click here.)
How did the demons attain power over the gods?
A very interesting element in Vaishnava Hinduism is that anyone - god, human or demon - can attain the same magical power through performing austerities (tapas). Once this power is attained, nobody can break it. In fact, the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th avatars of Vishnu all came because a demon performed so many austerities that the god Brahma was forced to grant him the boon of immortality as a reward. The mechanism of attaining such power is beyond the control of the gods, which proves their weakness in ruling the world. As a result, the avatar has to find a way of killing the demon without breaking the promises made to him by Brahma. The solutions found by Vishnu are sometimes very funny (see for instance the 3rd and the 4th avatar).
On the other hand, in Christianity demons have no possible way of blackmailing God. They cannot attain more power than they were left with at the fall. Neither angels nor demons could ever represent a threat to God. Power can be given only by God, in a limited measure, and only in order to recognize the true source of power, which is God himself.
Who did the divine incarnation came to save, gods or humans?
In Hinduism not only can demons force the gods to admit their merits, but the descent of the divine into human form is more concerned with saving the world of the gods than that of humans. For instance, there are 8 avatars (no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9) involved in saving the world of gods from the power attained by the demons, while only 6 (no. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8) are concerned with saving humans. This proves that the gods have a very fragile position and are more concerned about themselves than with the problems of humankind.
In Christianity the idea of God becoming incarnate to save himself is absurd. God is not affected at all by anything demons could do. The only purpose of God's incarnation in Jesus Christ is the salvation of humans from the effect of sin. The problem in Christianity is not that demons are a threat to God, but that humans have chosen to disobey God. Through the act of the divine incarnation humans have a chance to return to personal communion with their creator.
How does the divine incarnation save?
Usually the Hindu avatar kills the demon (no. 3, 4, 7, 8, only the demon-king Bali is spared and sent to hell by no. 5). The killing is performed with much caution, so that the promises made by the god Brahma should not be broken. However, due to reincarnation this "killing" is not of much effect, being only a limited solution to the problem of evil.
On the other hand, in Christianity, Jesus Christ didn't literally kill Satan. Following the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, Jesus let himself be crucified for our sake. This was the "gift of God" (Romans 6,23) as ransom for our sins, a chance offered to us to be set free from the power of Satan and sin. According to the Bible, the final destruction of demons' power will only occur at the judgment day (Revelation 20,10).
Contradictory aspects of the Hindu avatars
An interesting episode is the conflict between two avatars of the Treta Yuga (Parasurama and Ramachandra). How can this be? How could two incarnations of the same god wrestle with one another? Isn't each avatar under divine control? Why didn't the first Rama leave in time? Or why couldn't he solve the problem for which the next avatar came, if he was present in the world?
On the other hand, how could gods cooperate with demons at the time of the second avatar's (Kurma) coming? How is it possible to become allies and for both to be threatened by the absence of amrita? This means that both gods and demons use the same source of power.
Could Jesus Christ be assimilated with a Hindu avatar?
Jesus was a historical figure who was born, lived and died nearly 2,000 years ago. If his life were not a unique historical event, his whole teaching would be absurd. If we take his claims, miracles, passion and resurrection out of history, Christianity is left without substance. On the other hand, Hinduism is not concerned with historicity, so it can accept any tales of the repeated divine incarnation. The spiritual message of the avatars is the only element that matters, not their historicity. From this perspective, Hindus accept Jesus Christ as an avatar of the Western world with a powerful message, but as being nothing more than any other avatar.
On the one hand, Hinduism is syncretistic, including even Buddha among the avatars, the one who rejected the basic tenets of Hinduism. On the other hand, Christianity is very exclusivistic when it comes to characterizing the descent of the divine into human form. Therefore Jesus Christ cannot be just another avatar, a mere variant of an eternal myth. This would deprive him of his true identity. His passion, death on the cross and resurrection give him a totally different portrait from that of the Hindu avatars.
Jesus Christ and other Saviors and religious founders
Suggested links:
On Jesus and Mahomed:
The Person of Christ in the Gospel and the Quran, by Abd al-Fadi
Christ in Islam and Christianity, by John Gilchrist
On Jesus as a Gnostic teacher of wisdom:
Gnosticism and the Gnostic Jesus, by Douglas Groothuis
Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History?, by Edwin Yamauchi. It examines the evidences for claiming that the Resurrection of Christ is a myth patterned after the prototypes of dying and rising fertility gods.