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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
Sankhasura (Sanskrit) A daitya said in Hindu legend to have waged war against the gods and to have conquered them, upon which he stole the Vedas and hid them at the bottom of the sea, whence they were rescued by Vishnu in the form of a fish. There are also vague references in connection with one of the dvipas (Sankha-dvipa) and it is tempting to suppose that they are connected.
Another Hindu legend mentions the killing of Sankhasura by Krishna -- another instance of the way in which this avatara is placed in many different ages as the Krishna spirit in the world rather than as any incarnated avatara of that name: the death of Krishna is stated as having begun the kali yuga in 3102 BC, whereas Sankha-dvipa was one of the great islands of the Atlantean continental system of several million years ago.
"Once, at the end of the previous Kalpa, a demon named Hayagriva wanted to take the Vedic knowledge away from Lord Brahma at the time of annihilation. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead took the incarnation of a fish at the beginning of the period of Svayambhuva Manu and saved the Vedas." Srimad-Bhagavatam 8:24
Bhagavatam then reinterprets it in spiritual history. While Brahma was falling asleep (at a time when Vedism has lost all its ground), at the end of the Kalpa, the Asura Hayagriva wanted to take advantage of the circumstances to drown Vedism. Vedas were stolen and a deluge took place. The Asuras took away the Vedas and kept it submerged in the deluge waters. For a period of time Vedas were lost to the Brahmins. We should remember that Vedas were never written down. It is essentially against the Brahminic principle to write down the Vedas since the intonations and recitation methods will be lost in that process. So what does it mean to say that Vedas were stolen or taken away? The only conclusion we can make is that somehow these Asuras were able to make the Vedas meaningless
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