Maraiporul II - hidden insights from Dasavatharam (1976 Tamil movie)

I remember watching this Tamil movie when I was, maybe, in my 3rd or 4th standard.

At that impressionable age, I was very disturbed by the depiction of Kalki avatar.  I used to have nightmares about the world coming to an end.

Later, I read the Amar Chitra Katha version of Dashavatara.  Some of the stories were very different from that of the movie.  If you choose to read the Dashavatara - Wikipedia, you will discover multiple versions of the stories.

Many years ago, I discovered that the Dashavatara follows a pattern of evolution.  This was much before I read about similar conclusions arrived at by others.

My version is:

  1. Living being which can survive only in water - Matsya
  2. Living being which can survive both in water and on land - Kurma
  3. Living being which can survive only on land - Varaha
  4. Living being which is half-animal and half-human - Narasimha
  5. Human being not fully evolved physically - Vamana
  6. Human being not fully evolved emotionally - Parashurama
  7. Human being who lives according to scriptures - Rama
  8. Human being who lives in alignment with principles - Krishna
The subtle difference between living according to scriptures and living in alignment with principles is that the scriptures may have incorporated some contextual practices which are within the time-space continuum, i.e., the practices may have been relevant at a given point of time and a given situation but may not be relevant in a different point of time and a different situation.  People, who live according to scriptures, may tend to embrace them totally without questioning the relevance of certain practices in a changed context.  People, who live in alignment with principles, which transcends the time-space continuum, take spontaneous right action in any given context.

Beyond the 8 avatars, there are different versions.  Some versions talk of Balarama being the 8th avatar and Krishna being the 9th avatar and some versions talk of Buddha being the 9th avatar and so on.

Finally, every version agrees on the 10th avatar - Kalki.

In my view, which is also substantiated in the Narasimha avatar, God, the unmanifested reality, is present everywhere.  When Universe, the manifested reality, operates in alignment with principles, the unmanifested reality remains that - unmanifested; a silent witness.  Whenever the alignment with principles is disturbed beyond a certain threshold, the unmanifested reality manifests itself into different physical forms to restore the alignment.  From that perspective, there can be innumerable avatars.

In my view, beyond Krishna avatar, the human being who lives in alignment to principles, there is no need for another human form in the evolution cycle.  Kalki, the next avatar, may merge all manifested reality with the unmanifested reality.

Varaha avatar

Synopsis of the story:

Brahma, the God of creation, is consumed by his own importance and chooses to disrespect both Vishnu, the God of protection, and Shiva, the God of destruction.  Sensing this, both Shiva and Vishna appear in front of Brahma and Vishnu claims that he has never seen the tip of Shiva's head.  Brahma mocks him.  Shiva says, between Brahma and Vishnu, whoever sees the tip of his head will be considered as superior to the other.  Shiva starts growing and in spite of their best efforts, both Vishnu and Brahma are not able to see the tip of Shiva's head.  Vishnu accepts defeat.  Brahma continues but realizes that it is almost impossible to see the tip of Shiva's head.  To save his ego, he requests Thazhampoo, a flower falling from Shiva's head, to testify that he has seen the tip of Shiva's head.  Meanwhile, Vishnu chooses to see Shiva's feet and takes the form of a boar (Varaha) to dig the ground.  Finally, when his head touches Shiva's feet, Shiva shrinks and bends his head to lift Vishnu up.  In the process, Vishnu gets to see the tip of Shiva's head.  Both Brahma and Thazhamboo are punished for their lie.

You may have heard of this expression: 'Shivan aadiyum andhamum illadhavar' which means Shiva has no beginning or end.  As I have said earlier, Shiva is the depiction of unmanifested reality which is both omnipotent and omnipresent.  The present has no beginning or end; it transcends the time-space continuum.  It is both eternity and infinity.  I felt that the above story validates this truth.

But, I always had this question lingering in my mind: If Shiva has no beginning or end, then how did Varaha touch his feet?  This aspect didn't gel with my overall understanding and so, last week, I chose to watch the episode again and that's when I got it.

To watch the Varaha Avatar episode, watch from 24 minutes to 38 minutes.

Like everything else in this story, Varaha touching Shiva's feet with his head is also symbolism.  It symbolizes 'total surrender'.  One has to surrender oneself to the present to know the truth which leads us to take spontaneous right action in any given situation.

Sarvam Sivamayam 😉

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