DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0126
114 Vaishnavism. Ten Incarnations.
have had countless wives, and at least 108,000 sons, but they
are purely mythical. Not one of them receives worship, unless
it be Pradyumna, the reputed son of Krishna by Rukmim,
and usually held to be an incarnation of Kama-deva, god
of love.
9. Buddha. The adoption of Buddha as one of the ten
incarnations of Vishnu appears to have been the result of a
wise compromise with Buddhism; the Brahmans asserting
that Vishnu in his compassion for animals descended as the
sceptical Buddha that he might bring discredit on Vedic
sacrifices (see Gita-govinda, I. 13); or, according to another
theory, that wicked men might bring destruction on them-
selves by accepting Buddhism and denying the existence of
the gods. The fact was that the Brahmans appropriated
Buddha much as some of them are now appropriating Christ,
and making Him out to be an incarnation of Vishnu.
10. Kalki or Kalkin. The descent of Vishnu in this cha-
racter has not yet taken place. Nor is he to appear till the
close of the fourth or Kali age, when the world has become
wholly depraved. He is then to be revealed in the sky,
seated on a white horse, with a drawn sword blazing like a
comet, for the final destruction of the wicked, for the re-
demption of the good, for the renovation of all creation, and
the restoration of the age of purity (Satya-yuga). From the
fact of the horse playing an important r61e in this incar-
nation, it is sometimes called Asvavatara. Some of the
degraded classes of India- comfort themselves in their pre-
sent depressed condition by expecting Kalki to appear as
their future deliverer and the restorer of their social posi-
tion. Indeed it is a remarkable fact that a belief in a
coming Redeemer seems to exist in all religions, not ex-
cepting Buddhism and Muhammadanism1.
Looking more closely at these ten special incarnations,
1 In Buddhism there is the future Buddha ; in Islam the Mahdi. The
succession of Buddhas may be compared to that of Vishnu's descents.
have had countless wives, and at least 108,000 sons, but they
are purely mythical. Not one of them receives worship, unless
it be Pradyumna, the reputed son of Krishna by Rukmim,
and usually held to be an incarnation of Kama-deva, god
of love.
9. Buddha. The adoption of Buddha as one of the ten
incarnations of Vishnu appears to have been the result of a
wise compromise with Buddhism; the Brahmans asserting
that Vishnu in his compassion for animals descended as the
sceptical Buddha that he might bring discredit on Vedic
sacrifices (see Gita-govinda, I. 13); or, according to another
theory, that wicked men might bring destruction on them-
selves by accepting Buddhism and denying the existence of
the gods. The fact was that the Brahmans appropriated
Buddha much as some of them are now appropriating Christ,
and making Him out to be an incarnation of Vishnu.
10. Kalki or Kalkin. The descent of Vishnu in this cha-
racter has not yet taken place. Nor is he to appear till the
close of the fourth or Kali age, when the world has become
wholly depraved. He is then to be revealed in the sky,
seated on a white horse, with a drawn sword blazing like a
comet, for the final destruction of the wicked, for the re-
demption of the good, for the renovation of all creation, and
the restoration of the age of purity (Satya-yuga). From the
fact of the horse playing an important r61e in this incar-
nation, it is sometimes called Asvavatara. Some of the
degraded classes of India- comfort themselves in their pre-
sent depressed condition by expecting Kalki to appear as
their future deliverer and the restorer of their social posi-
tion. Indeed it is a remarkable fact that a belief in a
coming Redeemer seems to exist in all religions, not ex-
cepting Buddhism and Muhammadanism1.
Looking more closely at these ten special incarnations,
1 In Buddhism there is the future Buddha ; in Islam the Mahdi. The
succession of Buddhas may be compared to that of Vishnu's descents.