The journey of man

A name of Vishnu is called Narayana. What does it mean?

Nara means man/human (note the Indo-European similarity to the Samskritam word: Manushya, Manava).

Ayana means journey or vehicle.

For instance, Ramayana means journey of Rama.

In Buddhism, Mahayana is the great vehicle, a Bhakti sect of Buddhism where worship of Buddha will take you to Nirvana.

The Mahayanas used a pejorative to describe Theravada Buddhism (way of the elders), calling it Hinayana (small vehicle), which is closer to the original Buddhist teachings, since they used their own selves to meditate on a self-journey.

Vajrayana is the vehicle of the Thunderbolt (representing the Kundalini Shakti), a Tantric Vama Marga (left path) version of Buddhism.

Nārāyaṇa नारायण means: journey of humans.

What are the Narayana Avatarams? Let's see the Avatarams & interpret them.

1. Matsya (fish): All life originated in the oceans & as fish.

2. Kurma (tortoise): Marine life became amphibious.

3. Varaha (boar): Amphibious life evolves to land animals.

4. Narasimha (man-lion): An evolution to an in-between human & animal state.

5. Vamana (dwarf): Early humans were dwarves. Eg: Homo-floresiensis, Homo luzonensis.

6. Parasurama (axe warrior): Early aggressive humans.

7. Rama (the highest human): Though his base emotions show up repeatedly, Rama mostly conquers his own base emotions & his higher intelligence shines through. Something for all humans to aspire to.

8. Balarama (plough warrior): Humans start agriculture.

9. Krishna (clever cowherd): Animal husbandry? Krishna's stories are delightful. Uses superior intelligence, strategy & planning to improve society. Advises on how to improve one's own self.

10. Kalki (future): Represents annihilation in a degraded world. When humans overstep their bounds, will nature course correct?

By using the name Narayana (journey of humans) & providing this sequence, did the ancients encode evolution into a multi-layered puzzle story?

This did not go unnoticed by scientists. Acclaimed evolutionary biologist & founder of neo-Darwinism J. B. S. Haldane called Dashavatar a true sequential depiction of the great unfolding of evolution.

Haldane was critical of the Suez Canal invasion by Britain, citing it as a reason to move to India. He took up Indian citizenship, started wearing traditional Indian clothes & became a vegetarian.

A Pew survey indicates that most Hindus believe in evolution.