The Hindu Pantheon is vast and enormous, just is the universe. Every being, every formation, every entity works together to create this ineffable reality. The planet Earth a balance between life and the elements. Creation and destruction. Communication and disruption. Complexity and simplicity. Majesty and the vile. Every single part vital to the whole. No drop or insect lacking insignificance. Our ancestors knew this. They lived in the forests, that worked with the soil and with other life. They knew the names, stories, faces, places, languages of the spirits, they understood the forces. They knew the invisible web that spins us altogether. They understood creation, transformation, collaboration, and impermanence. Life was always tough and brutal, but there was connection to the spiritual and divine. There was reverence and respect for the mighty forces of nature and the wonder of life. They saw, that there was no separation in the world, and no separation within us. The gods were anthropomorphic manifestations of the beauty and wisdom of this living planet.
Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.
For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil,
and for the establishment of righteousness,
I come into being age after age.
— Bhagavad Gita 4.7–8
Avatars were formed when the world was in crisis due to imbalance and destruction. Their multifarious forms showed the unity and connection of all things. Each face, each form was only a singular manifestation of the whole. All things were one. Krishna, Rama, Bala Krishna, Mtsya(fish), Kurma (turtle), Varaha(Boar),Narasimha (lion),Vamana(dwarf),Parashurama(sage), Kalki(the end of an era) are the avatar of Vishnu. Each manifestation the solution to a specific problem, yet sharing the same innate nature. Just as all things are. Every creature has it’s niche and it’s part to the grander scheme of things.
When we see each other, life, the planets, the stars, the cosmos as connected and one of the same our ego is drained away. The separation between you and me are gone. Western civilization is the cultivation of the ego and the I. It is a belief system that cuts, separates, dissolves, and fences away you from I.
In the Bhagavadha Gita, Arjuna is amid a massive battle, and seized with uncertainty. Krishna is by his side, and reveals to him his endless form. Arjuna sees the entire universe before him. A million voices speak out to him as one. A billion life times fold out in front of him. He sees the unity and vastness of existence. As such, he realizes there is no separation between himself and the divine. Maya is the illusion of disconnection. Every form and facet a momentary glance at eternity.
There is power in these stories and realizations. There is awe and respect for this existence. There is dignity in the self, the community, and the ecosystem. We learn, that everyone has the worthiness and ability to do good in the world. We remember, that we are never alone in this world. As these invisible nets bind us together, and shape collisions and complexity.
It is up to us to defend life. It is up to us to defend the good. It is up to us to defend balance, beauty, and harmony.