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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
push them into the deepest recesses of the cosmos, the Patala. As the gods celebrated their victory, Vishnu blew the divine conch Panchajanya and placed the radiant jewel Kaustubha on his crown
Evidently this myth does not portray Vishnu either as the Supreme Person nor even as an honest god. It is still preserved as a myth for us. What can it be telling us about what happenned in Indian history?
The story itself tells us a deep truth that the Elixir of Immortality was stolen from the Asuras who were the people who worked most. What is this Elixir of Immortality? We know that Vedism as Brahminism was dying out totally. The weakened Suras were unable to survive with occasional dose of Sanjivani, the only way out was to deceive the Asuras and get the products of their efforts. Syncretization was the only way out. The Elixirs are nothing but the concepts of Isvara, the Logos (Om) and the incarnation (Avatar) and the related theologies. We see the results today. Brahminism took over the symbols and the basic theology of Thomas Christianity which was the faith of the Asuras. This story tells us in plain words how Vishnu became the god of the Suras.
Sri Kurmanatha temple at Srikakulam, Andhrapradesh, India is the only temple devoted to Lord Vishnu's tortoise incarnation. The present temple is at least 700 years old while the original temple is now claimed as to have been built in 200 AD.
According to the temple legends, this temple was originally a Saivite temple worshipping Lord siva and was called panchalingaswara. It was Sri Ramanujam who won the battle against The Saivites and built the second dwaza pillar as the victory pole. Then onwards vaishnavites started the worship of Kurmanatha as the principal deity. (http://srikurmanadhatemple.org/) This might probably give us the clue to the myth. Were the Saivites the Asuras who helped to get the Amrit and held the head part of the Serpent string to be victims of the poison and were cheated out of the Elixir of Immortality? Saivism remained within the historical Christianity long after the conflict between Saivism and Vaishnavism.
Mohini appears again in the same seductress role in order to save Siva from the Asura Bhasmasura to whom Siva foolishly gave the power to kill by touching anyone on their forehead. Mohini was able to make him do it on himself thus saving Siva himself. Mohini again appeared in much later Kerala history where she gave birth to a child of Siva. Since Mohini did not have the vagina the child was born through the thighs. This is the great god Ayyappa of Sabarimala. Ayyappa's closest friend was a muslim and so we can date it certainly as later than 600 AD. Mohini however is nowhere a central deity nor worshipped except in Lord Ranganatha temple in Srirangam, that on Vaikunta Ekadasi day only.
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