Dashavatars in Sanatan Dharma depicting the Evolution theory : SOSD Article #3

As a person of science, I have always wondered about the beginning of planet Earth. Reading about creationism and evolution or hearing religious stories and relating them with modern science inventions and discoveries, I have always found Sanatan Dharma to be based on Science. And today, I elaborate on how Indian Puranas mentioned and published the evolution of Earth organisms including man, even before Darwin’s theory. In this article, I write about how Indian Puranas parallel modern scientific findings. 10 avatars or Dashavatars belong specifically to Lord Vishnu because he is the supreme sustainer, preserver, and protector of the universe, highly revered by believers of Sanatan Dharma.

According to Vishnu Purana, one of the ancient Indian religious literature, the ten incarnations or ‘Dashavatar’s which technically translates to 10 avatars depicts how life began on Earth. Vishnu Purana dates back to 400 BCE-900 CE; on the other hand, Darwin’s theory of evolution dates back to 1859, in a recent theory in his book ‘Origin of Species’. In addition, ‘Matsya Purana’ is the very first literature that mentions the origin of life on Earth.

As per Indian Puranas, the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu and their discovery according to modern science are as below:

1. Origin of life in water - Matsya avatar/Fish: Fishes are proto-amphibians that were the first known origin of life as per Indian Puranas and modern science.

2. Life beyond water - Kurma avatar/Tortoise: Tortoise is an amphibian that moved from water to land, meaning that it can live on water as well as on land.

3. Amphibians to animals - Varaha avatar/Boars and other animals: Reptiles and amphibians evolved to become animals that could live on land, for example, the boar, which is the first known animal as per science to begin life on Earth as an ‘animal’. This was mentioned in Indian Puranas as the 3rd incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Varaha avatar. An interesting fact about this avatar is that Indian Puranas also mention Earth being ‘Spherical’ in shape, which was later discovered by Aristotle.

4. Animal to apes - Narsimha avatar/Apes: These were half animals and half men, with the ability to walk on legs and had comparatively well-developed brains than amphibians.

5. Ape to humans - Vamana avatar/Dwarf: This dwarf man or Vamana avatar was the transformation of apes into humans, who could walk more efficiently than apes, and had well-developed brains, from where intelligence began to increase in humans.

6. Humans with the ability to form weapons and survive - Parshurama/Stone Age man: According to science, Homo erectus evolved to become Homo sapiens who could make weapons and hunt in order to survive. And as per Indian Puranas, Parshurama was 5th incarnation of Lord Vishnu who could make axes and other weapons for survival.

7. Superior human - Lord Ram/Forest-dwelling superior human: Lord Ram, a very well-known and highly worshipped incarnation of Lord Vishnu was the Prince of Ayodhya kingdom who was sent into exile for 14 yrs on the order of his stepmother to his birth father Kaikeyi and Dashrath respectively. Now as per Indian Puranas, Lord Ram was highly superior in daily tasks, and had abundant knowledge of nature, weapons and tools, war, survival, emotions, etc, thus paralleling the discovery of human beings beginning to understand emotions and survive simultaneously, by modern science.

8. Farming Activities and human civilization - Lord Balrama/Farmers emerging for cultivation and improved human civilization: Lord Balrama is the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu who was known to begin cultivation of a number of crops as per Indian Puranas, and this has been supported by science that Homo sapiens first began to survive by making tools (Parshurama), understand nature, emotions, etc. (Lord Ram), and then begin cultivation and develop human civilization.

9. Advanced civilizations - Shri Krishna/Modern man: The 9th incarnation of Lord Vishnu was Shri Krishna, who is equally worshipped as Lord Ram throughout the world by Sanatan Dharma believers. Shri Krishna has been known as a modern man who had advanced knowledge of civilization, politics, war, war strategy, handling the increasing complexity of human society, complicated emotions and adaptive behavior, psychology, etc. As per science, the man never stopped learning; in fact, it is also now that humans are constantly evolving, and this has been proved at every stage of Indian Puranas and depicted by Lord Vishnu’s Dashavatars.

10. Big Bang Theory - Kalki avatar/Final dominant species: Although this time has not yet come, modern science has discovered that the universe is not stable and that life on Earth will end just as it was created, and it will continue in a loop of time. Similarly, Indian Puranas have predicted this in the form of Dashavatars where the 10th avatar of Lord Vishnu, the Kalki avatar will dominate all species on Earth and end life on Earth, thereby restarting the entire infinite loop of life.

Each avatar of Lord Vishnu serves a definite purpose and has its own significance. All avatars are stages of the origin of life and evolutions as per 'Yugas' which means periods on Earth. As many may argue that Indian Puranas are pieces of literature or folklore, one must never forget the fact that Indian Puranas have mentioned things and facts that are recently discovered by Modern scientists. Merely believing that some kinds of literature are works of folklore or entertainment, Indian Puranas and Sanatan Dharma cannot be deemed as entertainment, because it has always been proved that the discoveries by Modern science have been mentioned in kinds of literature by ancient Indians dating several thousand years back.

Concluding to this article, the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu mentioned in Indian Puranas have paralleled discoveries by Modern science, thus confirming that Sanatan Dharma is also based on science.

Thank you.

- Rachna Jadhav

@theresilientresearcher