Book Title: Development of Hinduism
Author(s): M M Ninan
Publisher: M M Ninan

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Page 298
________________ 14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS Terah had a beautiful daughter called 'Sara' (or 'Saraswati' for Indo-Aryans and cohabitants of Pirak and northwest India) born to another wife who was not Abraham's mother. Abraham or the Brahma fell in love with Sara and married her. For this or other reasons the Abraham and Sara left Ur and settled in Mesopotamia. There he organized Jews and became a venerated hero figure. Abraham has been considered as the founder of Jews. Similarly, Muslims believe 'Ibrahim' to be one of their early leader or founder. The original Kaba temple (later a mosque) at Mecca is said to have been built in honour of Abraham or the Ibrahim. At that time, the present day Asia minor-Indian subcontinent region consisting of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (though had different individual provincial names at that time) were all contiguous states where communications and concepts freely exchanged among diverse townships. The Abraham (or the Brahma) was a dynamic leader of the masses and the ordinary people believed that he was the creator of the tribes. The legend of Abraham continued after his death and continued to inspire or haunt memories of the tribes living in the Asia minor-Indian subcontinent region. The legend of Abraham inspired Vedic tribes and others alike. This is the initiation the concept of Lord Brahma the creator of universe in Hindu mythology. Abraham became the Brahma the supreme God after couple of centuries following his demise. In the primitive cultures accustomed to spirit worship, the legendary Brahma, who organized tribes, represented a supreme hero capable of creation of tribes and later the universe itself. Legends turned into myths and Brahma was deified and considered supreme God." Ravi Mundkur After the coming of St. Thomas, Brahminic domination took over the new concepts of religion brought in by Thomas and transformed it into Vaishnavism in the North and Saivism in the South. However Brahminism through trickery took over Vaishnavism and transformed it totally. Saivism remained as part of the Christian faith for a longer time before they were also influenced by Brahminism. But even today their influence is very small. We can now trace the genealogy of Daitya kings which will come in handy in the discussion 294

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