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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
The seals unearthed from the archeological sites of Indus valley civilization, like Harapa and Mohenjodaro, contain a large number of images of fish. These fish symbols were interpreted as representing stars according to Iravattam Mahadevan (fish symbol which he translates as "meen" of the Dravidian languages). Parpola maintains that these represent the Fish God revered by the inhabitants of the Indus valley is connected with the constellations. Or was this the memory of the great Noahic deluge. This ancient memory probably lies behind the Matsya Avatara
Hayagriva appears to be a king of the Matsya kingdom.
There is no doubt that the initial Matsyavatara was an attempt to retell the Noah and the Ark story in the Indian way. Noah was asked to get together his family and all the species into the ark. Here Vishnu asks the Manu to gather the seven Rishis and the animals. How did the Matsya come into the picture of Noah's story connects us to the era of Pisces that is supposed to have emerged soon after the universal flood. However the story of retrieving the Vedas is an addendum which does not fit the context. These must be two separate stories mixed together in the processes of the growth of mythology.
The second part is the story of the Asura - Sura struggle for vedic supremacy and relates to the history of the recent past. The Matsya Kingdom which took active role in the reinstatement of the brahminic power got mixed up with the Matsya of the Noah's ark story. It must be a myth telling the story of how the Brahminic Vedas were rescued from the pralaya of Thomas faiths of the Asuras.
We have also seen how the Sakthi group dealt with the same story making Devi as the supreme laughing at the decapitulation of vishnu's head and putting on a horses head instead. This group was laughing at the Vaishnavites in trying to copy the theology of the Asuras saying that it is laughable for Vishnu to put on the foolish horses head of the Asura. Asuras Madhu and Kaithabha laughs at the Vaishnavite attempt at syncretization.
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