Kalki - The Tenth Avataar of Vishnu

By Robert P Minz

(No. of words approx.1400)

 The puranas speak of the ten avataars of Vishnu. These incarnations detail the divine help given by Vishnu during various stages of human evolution, by appearing on earth in different forms. These avatars are said to demonstrate that divinity re-establishes Dharma or righteousness and destroys injustice from time to time, by appearing on earth in various incarnations.

The ten avataras are (1)Matsyavatara (fish),(2) Koorma (tortoise),(3) Varaaha (boar), (4)Narasimha (the man lion),(5) Vaamana (the dwarf),(6) Parasurama (the angry man), (7)Rama (the perfect human), (8) Krishna (the divine statesman). Buddha is presumed to be the ninth avataar. The 10th avatar, who is yet to appear, is Kalki.

Kalki Avataar -- the destroyer of evil-- is the tenth and final avataar of this Manvantara. He will come riding on His swift horse with a flaming sword and will uproot evil single handedly. He will then establish a new people comprising of only the good, which will carry into the Satya Yug of the next Manvantara.

Now compare this vision described by St.John in his Book of Revelation with the image of Kalki described in the Puranas:

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed in a white robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." Rev. ch.19: v.11-15

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books." Rev. ch.20 : v.11-12

This vision of St.John also describes someone who will come on a white horse with a sword to judge all the dead according to his or her deeds. This is the closest we can get to the description of Kalki but should we take the Puranas or the vision of St.John in a literal sense? Puranas should not or don't have to be taken literally. God can destroy civilization without personally appearing on a horse. He can do so through a metaphorical horse, with a metaphorical sword. In fact the white horse and the sword symbolize majesty and power. Thus the tenth avataar of God is expected to come in all his majesty and power to judge the living and the dead.

Now consider the following prophecies of Jesus Christ about Himself reported a number of times.

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt.ch.24: v.30-31

"Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven." Mark ch.: 26-27

"Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke ch.21: v.27

"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works" Matt. Ch.16: v.27

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'" Matt. Ch.25: v.31-34

Jesus is referring to Himself as the Son of Man, or avataar, would be clear from the following episode. Mathew writes, " Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, ' You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.'" Matt. Ch.26: v.1-2

Mark writes, " Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 'Behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him , and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." Mark ch.10: v.32-34

"And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to Him, 'Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?'" Luke ch.22: v. 47-48

But Jesus could be referring to Himself as the Son of Man in some other context. Is He the same Son of Man who would come in all His Glory to judge the living and the dead? Let us verify.

Matthew describes the following scene after the arrest of Jesus:

"And the high priest arose and said to Him, 'Do you answer nothing? What is it that these men testify against you?'
But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, 'I adjureYou by the living God that You tell us if You are the Christ the Son of God?'
Jesus said to him, ' I am. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God, and coming on the clouds of  heaven.'
Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!'
'What do you think?' They answered and said, 'He is deserving of death.'" Matt.ch.26: v.62-66

We see that Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, i.e. an avataar, who would be crucified but would rise up on the third day, and would come in all His power and glory to judge the living and the dead. So, Jesus, and not Buddha, was the ninth avataar who was crucified and rose from the dead. The risen Jesus Christ will appear as Kalki, the tenth avataar, when He comes in all His power and glory to reward the good and to punish the evil on the day of Judgement.

Even Islam (Hadith) acknowledges the second coming of Jesus Christ as the following excerpt taken from an Islamic web-site regarding the major signs of the great day of Judgement shows:-

"The appearance of Masih al-'Isa (Jesus Christ), the son of Mary. (peace be upon him). He will come at the time of the Dajjal and the Mahdi also. He will descend at the time of Fajr prayer on a masjid in Damascus, the capital of Syria. ………………Isa will break the cross, kill the swine, and personally slay the Dajjal (Anti-Christ). He will stay on Earth for a long time thereafter, and then die." http://www.ehalal.net/Islam/Judgement.htm

Copyright 2004: Robert P Minz, 27 Nayatoli Lane, Old Hazaribag Road, Ranchi-834001, Jharkhand,INDIA
Phone: 91 651 2531566 E-mail:  rpminz@indiatimes.com

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