Dashavatara
Contributed By - Nita Mallya
Most of my summers during my childhood in Bangalore was spent with a glass of lemonade and books. Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Famous Five, Tin Tin, Archie Comics, Amar Chithra Katha or Indian Mythological books. It kept me curious and captivated. Indian mythology is perhaps one of the oldest in the world. Dashavataram is one such concept where each of 'Vishnu's Avataras' portray preservation and Vishnu is the god almighty who manifests himself on earth in every yuga or era to save earth from evil and get rid of all the unscrupulousness. One of the role I have as an Indian Classical dancer is to pass on those experiences I had as a child to my students, by listening, watching or enacting.
Vishnu was my superhero who could transform into a Fish, Turtle, or a Boar. I was even more fascinated by Prahlada and Narasimha! As I had watched the Kannada movie “Bhaktha Prahlada”. Those days my father would take my younger brother and me to movies only with moral, devotional or mythological themes. The dramatic scene of Prahlada thrown to a dungeon of snakes, mad elephants, thrown off a cliff and finally made to sit on a pyre of fire was traumatizing and is etched in mind forever. I was terrified to which my father would say “not to worry only children who lie would get hurt” and I would be even more worried should something like this were to happen to me. Then arrived my superhero Vishnu a half man half lion bursting out of a pillar to save Prahlada, the evil king Hiranyakashipu would be gone and then there was relief until the next yuga.
Vamana was another fascinating story of how Vishnu would grow a thousand folds and reach the sky, I would compare to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk where Jack was able to reach the castle of the giant in the sky, boy! Oh Boy! Vishnu was a superhero indeed. While I was taught one cannot lie - thanks to my father’s interpretation, Vamana’s story taught me that one should be humble even if it meant you are a king with riches. I must admit though that one Avatara of Vishnu’s frightened me most was that of Parashurama. How could my super hero be so hot tempered and commit such atrocities? I would not understand about Dharma. But over the years I got my head wrapped around the story and understood that Parashurama’s motto was to free the earth’s burden by removing the sinful kings who neglected their duties and deviated from their path of Dharma and were warmonger ‘s so he had to set them right is my understanding. Ramayana is an epic story of an illustrious model character of ‘Rama’. Of course his social responsibility especially with Sita has been up for debate, but artists have enjoyed writing and dancing on the various stories of Ramayana. As a child ‘Kumbakarna’ amused me the most. Here was a Yaksha who loved to eat and sleep. When my brothers over slept they were often addressed as ‘kumbakarna’!
The other day my Guru commented that we complain so much about our past and the difficulties we had growing up but look at Krishna, he was separated from his mother the moment he was born, his uncle was constantly scheming to kill him, he was attacked by a demons, played with poisonous snake, he had to lift a mighty mountain so his family and friends were safe, he was bullied and teased because he was dark complexioned and it goes on. We dancers adore the avatara of Vishnu as Krishna and every dance repertoire includes an item on ‘Krishna’ he is loved by women even today! Beats any Bollywood or Hollywood hero.
Buddha’s story is something we can all relate to, some parents over protect their children so they are not influenced from the real world, but if something happens it is meant to, is what I understand of Buddha who renounced his worldly life when he was exposed to the real world, as it caused him deep pain and guilt. He attained Nirvana and preached nonviolence. I was teased for being a vegetarian and Buddha’s stories were an inspiration to me and I’m grateful to Amar Chitra Katha for that. Kalki is the present day Avatara according to mythology, although we do have different interpretations, but as artists we do take liberties.
So how do these legends and super hero Avatara’s of Vishnu apply today? What do our children think of our mythology?The production “Kaliyuga” hopes to experiment the same, while raising money for charity Aruna Chetana, an organization for special needs school in Bangalore, on August 4th at Hamilton High School.