Categories
Hindu History Vaishnavism

Vaiṣṇavism and Avatāravāda

Avatāravāda, i.e. the doctorine of incarnation.

No other religious group uses it as extensively as the as the Vaiṣṇavas. In Vaiṣṇavism almost everyone is an incarnation of either Viṣṇu or some other god, sent by Viṣṇu. And other than that it has a long history of appropriating rivalling religious figures as incarnations into its canon.

Categories
Indian Mythology Jainism Mahakavyas mahakavyas Rama Ramayana

Jaina Rāmāyaṇas

Rāma is a heroic figure in across the Indian traditions. In Vaiṣṇavism & Sikhism , he is Viṣṇu-incarnate in the form of a princely king; in Buddhism, he is a Bodhisattva-incarnate; in Jainism, he is the perfect human being; In Rāma-centric traditions he is Para-Brahman himself; In Śaivism he is Parama-Śaiva. The influence of Rāmāyaṇa goes far beyond the Indian Subcontinent, with almost every South East Asian country having atleast one own version of Rāmāyaṇa( Vessantarajataka, Reamker, Ramakien, Phra Lak Phra Lam, Hikayat Seri Rama etc). There also exists the Khamti Rāmāyaṇa among the Khamti tribe of Asom wherein Rāma is an Avatar of a Bodhisattva who incarnates to punish the demon king Rāvaṇa . The Tai Rāmāyaṇa is another book retelling the divine story in Asom.