S
S
A
A
T
T
H
H
Y
Y
A
A
S
S
A
A
I
I
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
A
A
A
S
S
A
A
V
V
A
A
T
T
A
A
R
R
1
1
3
3
1
1
Various synonyms, homonyms, and derivatives of the above-bracketed Sanskrit
terms also prove important to later traditions, and the significance of other details
here will become clear as we progress.
In addition to this, as Bharatan Kumarappa (1933:88) suggests, it is perhaps
significant that Viṣṇu is, in the Ṛg-Veda:
predominantly the friend and helper of Indra. This quality of helpfulness undoubt-
edly impressed the early worshippers, who began, it would seem, to think of Viṣṇu
not only as a helper of Indra, but also as a helper of mankind. He is accordingly
said to have thrice traversed the earthly spaces for man in distress…. He is spoken
of as a protector of embryos.
This role as a ‘protector’, albeit here in a specific and limited context, perhaps pre-
figures Viṣṇu’s later role in taking avatars who come to rescue devotees from dis-
tress or to protect good people from harm, themes that we saw to find echoes (and
reactions) in Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings (see pp.68ff. above).
This, furthermore, tallies with what I will suggest to be another of the major
contributing factors in the early history of avatar ideas—the concept of divine
kingship. The king was perhaps the most tangible manifestation of protective
power in ancient times, and indeed, as Sheth (2002:116,n2) notes, in many cul-
tures was literally considered to be an incarnate deity. Neither Sheth, nor anyone
else that I am aware of, however, connects this with ideas of the avatar in the In-
dian situation. Indeed, as we will see, the significance of divine kingship in India
has in itself been a matter of some debate. Sometimes, reasoning similar to that
given by Goldman above is invoked—there are so many deities in Indian religious
belief, the argument goes, that the king’s identity as a deity can hardly have been
very important. But, again, this is an overstatement—there are, as we will see,
mitigating factors, and there is much evidence to the contrary. In the first section
of this chapter then, I will present some of this evidence, and seek to link ideas of
divine kingship with concepts of the avatar—referring to the Vedas, but also to the
Brāhmaṇas (c.900
BCE
, the earliest works dedicated to the exegesis of ritual sacri-
fice), some of the Śāstras (c.4
th
century
BCE
onwards, treatises on various topics)
and the ancient epic tales: the Mahābhārata (c.400
BCE
–c.400
CE
) and Rāmāyaṇa
(c.200
BCE
–c.200
CE
). I will further show that kingship in general (i.e. even if not
explicitly divine) acts as a paradigm for some important aspects of various avatar
(and other key religious) ideas, including some associated with Sathya Sai Baba.
Similarly, whilst there has not been much in the way of scholarly suggestions to
this effect, some aspects of the avatar traditions clearly hark back to ideas of ritual
1
1
3
3
2
2
3
3
.
.
A
A
N
N
C
C
I
I
E
E
N
N
T
T
A
A
N
N
T
T
E
E
C
C
E
E
D
D
E
E
N
N
T
T
S
S
sacrifice (as described especially in the Vedas and Brāhmaṇas) and I will thus in-
vestigate these in the second section of this chapter. As we will see, an under-
standing of some of the key concepts associated with the vedic sacrifice also sheds
some light on general ideas of innovation and change in Indian religious tradi-
tions—an area that we saw in Section 1.4 above to have been problematized in re-
lation to Sathya Sai Baba, and one that is obviously of potential relevance to my
consideration here of the evolution of avatar concepts.
After this, I will touch on some forerunners of avatar ideas in a number of tradi-
tions in which vedic ritualism gave way to speculative, interpretive, and ascetic
strains of thought—the Upaniṣads (philosophical “dialogues”, c.700-200
BCE
) and
the darśanas (“viewpoints”—especially Sāṁkhya (“Reckoning” c. 5
th
century
BCE
)
and Yoga (“Unification” c.2
nd
century
BCE
)). Again, we will see that some of the
ways in which earlier ideas were modified by these traditions are relevant to un-
derstanding the development of avatar concepts. Of particular note are propensi-
ties for “interiorization” of earlier traditions and for “distinction”, “enumeration”
and “categorization” of traditional entities—which I will highlight by focusin upon
ideas of “sixteen marks” of the avatars, the like of which we briefly encountered
towards the end of the previous chapter. I will also explore, especially in the third
section of this chapter, the relationship between avatar ideas and traditional ema-
nation cosmogonies, noting especially the influence upon these of an ancient
Vaiṣṇava sect known as the Pāñcarātra. I will further note in this connection the
roots of an idea that is first explicitly formulated in later advaita philosophy—that
certain scriptural passages, rather than describing ontological verities, are allego-
ries or “explanations” pointing towards the one spiritual truth.
Finally, in the fourth and fifth sections of this chapter, I will focus specifically
on the above-mentioned “epic” works, in the fifth section, concentrating upon the
Bhagavad-Gītā—a part of the Mahābhārata, but a separate work in its own right
and one that I have already had some occasion to cite. I will also comment upon
something of the bardic milieu that was responsible for the production of such
works—tying this in to Sathya Sai Baba’s own ancestral links to such a milieu, and
to the above-mentioned ideas of sacred kingship.