Crash course on Avatars!

Mahavatar Narsimha (Hindi, 2025)
Director: Ashwin Kumar

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34365591/

Growing up in the 1970s, the only way to learn about stories from Hindu mythology was through stories told by elders or in satsangs (religious gatherings). Later, we were introduced to Amar Chitra Katha comics, which were quite a hit among us, the children. We essentially heard most of our Hindu fables from these colourful books. Anything that came close to a TV production was an anime movie that came out, as an Indo-Japanese joint production, as 'Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama' in 1993.

Currently, a plan is underway to develop a Mahavtar Cinematic Universe, comprising seven films based on Hindu mythology, over a span of twelve years (2025 to 2037). Given the quality of this project, I am confident that in the years to come, we will be immersed in a cinematic wonderland.

 

The filmmakers decided to start by depicting Vishnu's most fierce avatars. The half-lion, half-human Vishnu is His most combative form. 

Directly or indirectly, we are aware that Vishnu, as the protector of the world, assumes various forms to restore order when chaos (adharma) prevails. All in all, He had taken nine forms thus far (in this yuga), with one more to go at the end of times, Kalki Avatar. He is duty-bound to fight evil and must do so cyclically, as time progresses in cycles, with fission-explosion-entropy succession. 

There is also a subtle reference to the Avatars in evolution. The first Avatar is Matsya, in the form of a fish, who protects the people on Earth and their knowledge from a mammoth flood reminiscent of Noah's Ark and the preservation of species. Now, one may wonder why this motif of the great flood appears in many cultures. In the Zoroastrian tradition, Gilgamesh is also credited with saving humankind from floods. 

As life evolved from being sea-dwelling creatures and became land dwellers, so did Vishnu's avatar. It is said that Vishnu assumed the role of Kurma, a tortoise form, to help in the churning of the Universe to extract the elixir of immortality and other benefactors in a deathly duel between the Asuras and Devas. This event is immortalised sculpturally in the Swarna Bhoomi Airport in Bangkok. 

The third and fourth Avatars, Varaha and Narasimha, are featured in this animated offering. 

Back to avatars and evolution, Varaha is depicted as a wild boar, said to be one of the most sturdy herbivores adapted to land-based living. Despite being a herbivore, it can be a ferocious beast with rudimentary tasks and muscular limbs. In this juncture, life has firmly grounded itself on land. 

In the movie, a pair of twins, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyashipu, were born. They were Asuras because their mother was from the Asura lineage. Asuras do not automatically infer that they are bad, but rather the general narrative in the Vedic scriptures, over the ages, has transformed to mean so. Because they conceived at an inauspicious time, because their mother, Diti, felt horny, and despite her husband Kasyap's warning, they succumbed to lust. Thus, two of the nastiest Asura of the celestial levels were born. 

On a side note, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, the twins, were the reincarnations of Jaya and Vijaya, once the gatekeepers of Vishnu's abode, Vaikundam. Jaya and Vijaya were cursed by Brahma's sons for not allowing them to enter Vaikundam. Vishnu could not cancel the curse, but gave them two options. The first option is to be reborn seven times as a Vishnu bhakta (follower) or, alternatively, as an anti-Vishnu for three births. They chose the latter. Hence, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu were their first births. The next two are from Rama's era (as Ravana and Kumbakarna) and Krishna's era (as Shishupala and Dantavakra).

Hiranyaksha decided to submerge Earth into the cosmic ocean. Vishnu, as Varaha, fought Hiranyaksha and scooped up Earth, as Bhumidevi, the female personification of Mother Earth, with it. Now, here is the interesting observation that some Hindu scholars agree on. Some of the ancient sculptures of Varaha, erected for worship, depict the Earth as a spherical object. This means that the Indians were aware of Earth's appearance. It is not surprising, as the likes of Aryabhatta had already made gigantic steps in the field of astronomy by the 5th century CE.

After Hiranyaksha's demise, his twin Hiranyakashipu went into intense penance, worshipping Brahma for his boon. Now, Hindu supreme powers are usually quite generous with their wishes. The important lesson in any story where wishes are granted is that the requester must be extremely careful and precise in their requests. So when Brahma did eventually manifest and was willing to grant his wishes, Hiranyakashipu made his request-not to die at the hands of any of Brahma's creation, not to die inside a residence or outside, neither during day nor night, not to be killed by any weapon, human, animal, demigod or serpent. He should not be killed by anyone born of a woman, whilst having supreme power over all living beings. He is bestowed the boon.

The Universe had something up its sleeve. Hiranyakashipu's pregnant wife was kidnapped by the lustful God of the Skies, Indra. He was intercepted by the celestial sage, Narada, who took the pregnant mother under his care. The unborn child grew up exposed to songs praising Vishnu, to the extent that the child, Prahlada, became a devoted devotee of Vishnu.

Trouble brewed when the father, Hiranyakashipu, tried to market himself as a true god to his subjects. The recalcitrant Prahlada continued singing praises to Lord Vishnu, much to his father's chagrin. The son was punished again and again, only to be miraculously saved. At the point of reckoning, when told to show the might of Vishnu, the Lord appeared from the walls of a pillar, in a corridor, at twilight, to be mauled by a half-animal, half-man Narasimha, with His bare claws, without any weapons, keeping within the terms of his boon. 

The computer graphics are excellent. Similarly, the choices of colour, background score, storytelling, and continuity are also captivating. After the near demise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Hollywood, the Mahavatar Cinematic Universe is here to take over where it left off. 

The story of evolution continues with human avatars of variable intellectual capacity, such as Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna or Buddha. Kalki will appear at the end of times.

P.S. In future, when you find yourself stuck with a genie in a situation where you are granted three wishes, be wise. Ask for a wish where you never run out of wishes!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Humbled by a Pig!

It was the stare between two worlds; one of the modern domesticated kind who had a fight-or-flight response limited to his autonomic nervous system versus one who had to fight to stay alive and keep his place in the hierarchy of the pecking order of the jungle.

https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/06/14/humbled-by-a-pig/

Modern love

Kutty ♥️ Story ( Short ♥️ Story, Tamil; 2021)

Maybe because our attention spans get shorter, we seem to be content with short stories rather than full-length feature films these days. With the democratisation of viewing platforms, we, the viewers, never had it so good. Not only we get new faces to act, but we also have storylines that break the traditional, predictable plot of boy meets girl, meets opposition, but love conquers all. 

Securing finance for new ventures had always been difficult for moviemakers. Banks and other financial institutions were not forthcoming with loans. Hence, the association of producers and the Mumbai mafia and their associates. The Mafia dictated who could act and even approved storylines. Their network ensured only certain Moghuls could rule the silver screen. All that came to nought when OTTs paid their clients upfront and were liberal with their storylines. Herein also lie the problem, some say. They allege that breaking India forces try to portray only negative images of India (ala Slumdog Millionaire).

This collection of four short stories looks at love, what else, and its problems in four different scenarios. 

In the first story, எதிர் பார முத்தம் (Unexpected kiss), the age-old topic of platonic love is discussed. Is it possible for a male to build a friendship with another person of the fairer sex without having romance interfering in the bond? In their forties, a group of old friends reminisce about the protagonist's fling in college over a round of drinks. Now, married to a different girl, he denies any romantic link then or ever. The girl, after migrating, now returns and sets a meeting with the protagonist.

The next one, அவனும் நானும் (He and Me), talks about unplanned pregnancy in a college girl and the mountain of decisions she has to make to deal with it, whether to terminate, to give for adoption or modify her life ambitions. This, she has to decide amidst the fear of disappointing the parents and the society's hawkeyed look.

லோகம் (Universe) is a slightly different presentation. Two gamers, both with different avatars and anonymous identities, meet in a game. The male gamer falls in love with the girl in cyberspace but loses her contact when her avatar dies during a crucial moment. The lovestruck gamer reveals his feelings during a radio interview, and they are reunited. Most of the story is told in animation. The take message is that the world can be pretty depressing for some people, and they have to create false personas to find happiness. We hide our cracked interior by applying a thick mask of makeup to put up a happy front.

ஆடல்-பாடல் (Dance-Songs) explores the lopsided societal viewing of infidelity. A man's occasional fling is forgiven but not a woman's. A husband and wife, with a young child, have to deal with this problem. The wife lures her husband to respond to a flirtatious phone call and catches him read redhanded. He apologises, only to tell the wife that she had a short fling with her ex-boyfriend after her marriage. This riles up the husband. He uses his resources to uncover the identity of her boyfriend. After sleepless nights of research, he realises his double standard. They were no such person. Why does society expect the female community members to portray a perfect picture of chastity, but the bar is significantly lowered for the patriarchy?

It is an excellent and refreshing set of short stories, even for the not so lovey-dovey type. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Humbled by a pig!

“It is 5.23 am,” I told myself as I glanced at my watch. “I guess I got up early. Anyway, SK should be here right about now, right on the dot at 5.30am, as he has always been. Today is not going to be any different.”

I plugged on my earphones to hear the continuation of a podcast that I listened to all through the previous week. It was a day before the full moon, but the cloudy skies and the lack of street lights made the street look pretty dark. I sat on the raised stone fence as the auto-gate slowly closed from inside.

Far behind a parked car, I could see a moving shadow. It looked like the silhouette of two stocky legs pacing haphazardly as if they were swaying. At once, I thought that it must be the neighbour’s son who must be struggling back to his home after a long Saturday night out with the guys.

“Wow!” I was thinking as I symbolically pat myself on the back for keeping up with the routine all these years despite the raging inner demons and concerned naysayers who keep advising me to slow down on account of being a half-centurion! “Only madmen would be running on a Sunday morning when the sane recovers from a stuporous night-out!” they say.

Just as I was drowning in the nectar of my self-praise, I realised that the shadow cast under the car was not that of a man. The contour of two legs soon became four, and a greyish horrendously ugly looking face with a tinge of what appeared like thick whiskers soon manifested. I was 10 feet away, looking eye to eye at Vishnu’s third avatar, Varaha, a wild boar!

Here I was, I thought, at the comfort of city living, enjoying the fruit of my lifelong struggle to benefit from the support of privacy and security of the gated community, I felt I had had it all. Within the luxury of economic independence and intellectual reasoning, the brutal combat of our ancient ancestors and the street smartness of the lesser beings have taken a back seat. Even in my wildest dream, I never envisaged a moment I had to face off a wild beast!

It was the stare between two worlds; one of the modern domesticated kind who had fight-or-flight response limited to his autonomic nervous system versus one who had to fight to stay alive and keep his place in the hierarchy of the pecking order of the jungle.

Hey, they knew even then that the Earth
 was spherical, even before Galleili!

The stare looked like it lasted for eternity. The boar, of course, hungry and desperate for food, did not want a competitor. As if he knew that I was not interested in his food, thank you very much. Negotiation naturally was out the question, so did all civil niceties. 

I turned around to ring the bell to my house as I did not have the gate key. The sudden movement must have startled the beast. It gave a low-pitched snorting grunt as if it was showing its displeasure. Interesting, it was my neighbourhood, and the visitor or rather an intruder, was displeased! Well, that is the law of the jungle. Might is right, and there is no place for logic. This is the ‘id’ that Freud is trying to tell that is put under check by societal pressure and would manifest in a mob situation or when enforcement crumbles.

Just when I thought that nay was near, of me being gored by a wild beast, a beacon of hope came in the form of a beam of light from an SUV. My ride arrived right on the dot just in time to turn the table on the aggressor. Awed by, all it knows could be a more giant animal and a louder roar, its fight mode downgraded to flight as it turned its back to return to where it came from. It retreated.

As we drove along, we saw a humbled pig strutting its behind with its tail between its legs heading towards the secondary jungle. Probably my friend must have been reminded of the carefree days of his childhood when sauteed and spiced wild boar meat with toddy was a delicacy among friends.

That is why we are repeatedly advised by wise men to get back to Nature. Nature gives a purpose to our existence. Its massive structures like the trees, the mountains and elements of Nature awe us to the ground. It impresses upon us our deficiencies and our feebleness. It drills unto us that we are nothing, just a passerby who makes a cursory presence while Mother Nature and the Universe goes on and on without a gap. We are not even a single fragment of a tiny dot in the Milky Way, what more in the ever-expanding dimensions of the Universe.

Lord Vishnu’s bodyguards were cursed to be demons by 4 Brahmans for refusing their entry. These guards (demons) terrorised Earth and submerged it into the ocean. Through Lord Brahma’s breath came a boar. With Vishnu’s powers, it became Varaha Avatar. It valiantly fought the demons and scooped Earth out with its horns. The wild boar, being the third in Vishnu’s 9 Avatars, after fish (water creature) and the tortoise (both land and water creature), is said to be the most primitive of the firmly footed land animal. Long before the Darwinian theory of Evolution, the Avatars actually describe the slow transformation of mankind, from a water creature slowly evolving to gain wisdom and finally achieving priestly states.

Beginning of life?

Sculpture depicting the churning of the ocean at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand

Now that everyone can fly, everyone has a chance to see the wonders of nature and man made structures near and far! A point in question is the mammoth man made structure in Swarnabumi airport in Bangkok. Incidentally, 'Swarnabumi' is a Sanskrit word meaning 'land of gold'. It was initially used by Indian traders to describe the strip of land protruding from the mainland of south east of Asia, i.e.peninsular of Malaya.

The giant elaborate structure depicts an event in Hindu scripture (Puranas) of Lord Vishnu's second avatar. It all started when the God of Sky (Indra) was given a garland by a passing sage. Indra placed on his elephant's trunk who threw it away because of the strong scent. The sage, angered by this action of throwing away God's offering, passed a curse rendering all the demi Gods and Devas powerless. (Hey! I thought saintly sages are supposed to be patient and able to control their animal emotions!)

Same story in Angkor Wat

Lord Vishnu joined forces with Lord Shiva to save the world as demons, with special powers acquired from Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva at different times were terrorizing. Lord Vishnu assumed his second avatar as a turtle assisted by Vasuki, a serpent and a mountain. They had to churn out the nectar of immortality from the Ocean of Milk to restore powers of the Devas. Vasuki became the churning rope, the mountain became the churning rod, Vishnu sat on the mountain to stabilize it. On the tail end of the serpent were the devas and the demons at the head. This process produced lots of toxic power which was engulf by Lord Shiva but it got stuck in his throat after the neck was clenched by his consort. Shiva became blue in the face but the toxin got permanently stuck in his throat. The end results of the churning were aplenty. Beside the nectar which was held by the divine physician who flew on giant bird, Garuda, other by-products were Lakshmi who became Vishnu's consort, thulsi plant and many more. Lord Vishnu had to disguise as a pretty maiden, Mohini, to steer the attention of the demon while Garuda scoots off with the nectar. Unfortunately, things became complicated when Lord Shiva also gets excited. That is another sub-plot on the evolution of the Ayyapa and the justification of same sex union in the Hindu religion.
At one look, all these may look like a fictional tale coined to entertain the masses at an era where there were no outlet of entertainment to spend those long winter nights. Others may say it denotes symbolism of our daily life - our eternal fight with our inner demons to bring out the best in us.
I would say it sounds very much like a 'Big Bang' theory. An explosion of sorts in Ocean of Milk (?Milky Way) emitting radioactive explosion resulting in production of many lives, planets and beings.
Just a point to ponder...

Sagar Manthan

http://hinduwebsite.com/churning.asp