Greetings!
We are continuing our conversation with Sri C. Radhakrishnan...
In our culture and Puraana/Itihaasas,
the concepts of Avataara/incarnation plays a key role.
the 10 incarnations of Vishnu; 
While that includes Rama, Vamana etc,
many other prominent puranic personalities don't feature in them.
Can you tell us your views on this concept of Avataara/Incarnation?
When did these Avataras originate?
I mean, when did this concept of Avataara originate among us,
is not certain.
Bhagavad Gita doesn't have any use of the word Avataara,
nor have any reference to those.
In what all forms of yours,
it is easier to meditate on you,
that is something Arjuna asks Krishna.
And he responds with a lot of examples.
There are endless examples, Arjuna...
What is the use of hearing all those?
I will tell about a few that is around us, that comes to mind...
Saying so,
what ever examples are taken,
don't contain any of these famous 'avataara'.
There is a mention of a Vishnu among those.
However, that is not in the form of an Avataara,
but as 'Aadityaanaam aham Vishnu' 
I am Vishnu among Aadityans.
Remembering me as that, it is easy to meditate on...
This Vishnu is,
the continuous space, Aditi's
the limitless mother's - that is the meaning of Aditi- 
first progeny. That means,
as the universe evolves,
the first Aadityan to rise from the central point.
That Adityan is referred to as Vishnu, in Gita.
That is, there is no concept of a god called Vishnu there.
Also, no mention of Vishnu's incarnations.
About the concept of incarnation,
not in the current concept of Avataaras,
but in the form of some specific occurrences,
there is a mention.
As all must be knowing,
"Yatha yatha hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharatha,
abhuddhaanam adharmasya tadaatmaanam srujamyaham
paritraanaaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkrutham
dharma samsthhaapanaarthhaaya sambhavami yuge yuge."
That means,
whenever there is a spurt of vice and injustice in the society,
then, in the form of a great voice or force against those,
the Iswara incarnates.
Such incarnations are not just 10!
Wherever vice prosper,
then and there, a voice raises against them.
Even mortals like us, as we walk on the road,
if we come across a helpless person being attacked by someone,
what we would say?
Will say: Enough, Stop!
That is one such incarnation!
Carrying such visible attributes of incarnations,
great persons, prophets,
great enlightened ones,
and teachers,
lived among us, will come in the future too!
When it is said Iswara incarnates,
it is not that there will be only 10 incarnations and none after that, 
nor that it never happened prior to that!
We need to get that!
Otherwise, there is trouble!
Some people view the 10 incarnations as
a representation of the life's evolution.
We can't take that way. Because,
though from Matsya (Fish) and Koorma (Tortoise), then till Varaaha (Boar)
we can manage to fit that story,
the Narasimham that comes after that,
is not part of the chain of human evolution, as we know it.
Not just that, all further ones that follows,
are also not specific elements in the chain of evolution.
They are humans, but generally very similar ones.
Then, one thing we can derive from these is:
These Incarnations,
did not exist in human perspectives, till the time of Gita.
There are no other possibilities.
The concept of Incarnations evolved much later.
Even Krishna appear not as an incarnation in Mahabharatha.
He is a master of Yoga Vidya.
Some one who works for larger good,
some one who believes self as a creation of god, as we just discussed.
That is the happiness we observe in his face!
So, we don't know when these incarnation concept came,
now why it was conceived.
One thing that seemed apparent to me:
Some pre-existing folk tales, folklore or assumptions
or some beliefs linked to lineages and clans,
developed slowly into those.
Instead, if it was telling the story of human evolution,
after matsya (fish),
should it be Koorma (tortoise), or a reptile?
that we can't conclude properly.
Anyway,
the next one should not be a Boar,
but amphibians like crocodile, frog,
which could live both in land and water
as the next beings in evolution.
So we might have to discard that.
Post that,
why or how did those avataras happened in such a manner,
that question is not answered by Gita,
nor Adhyatma Shastra.
During and post the period of Bhakthi movement,
these incarnations were used,
to strengthen the devotion in people, by great poets.
Stating all those were incarnations of Iswara, 
they assumed that people can be drawn towards God through devotion to them.
It worked to a good extent too!
Whether it was Rama, Krishna, Parasurama or Balarama,
Kalki, Narasimha or any other,
for saving the Devas, it said!
To destroy Asuras...
Defeating and making those opposed into subordinates,
for the expansion of empires!
To resolve the power struggle between Kings and Priestly class,
an Avatara in the form of a Brahman who detroyed lineages of Kings multile times!
Like that many incarnations, in many ways,
might have happened, as heroes and great persons.
Around such personalities,
conceiving them as Iswara/Gods,
many stories have been written.
So, should we believe in incarnations?
You may... they are good stories...
dramatic events are there... can enjoy the read...
can be reiterated....but,
that as a subject to meditation in place of the Ishwara,
was never indicated by sage Veda Vyasa.
As Sage Veda Vyasa never had any such considerations,
I don't think we should too!
