Avtaar The Movie – Similarities with Hindu Teachings and symbols and concepts in Hinduism
In the Hollywood movie Avatar, it is not just the term `Avatar' that is associated with Hinduism. The core concept of Hinduism is that all animate and inanimate are the result of a single energy source, which is Brahman or God. All the plants, animals, human beings rise and fall in this single energy source. This formless and indefinable is given form by humans and worshipped as God. One of the important themes of Avatar is based on this core concept of Hinduism which was taught first time more than 5000 years ago. In the movie, the Na'vis are able to physically connect to animals and plants. And they believe that they are just a part of the whole which includes all animate and inanimate present on their planet Pandora. This concept is explained beautifully and there is a magical scene in which the Tree is connected to the human body and this body is connected to all the Na'vis through holding their hands each other.
Another striking aspect is the use of the color blue. Hindu Gods are depicted blue in color. Blue is the color of the infinite. All Hindu gods are an attempt by the human mind to give form to the formless Brahman (God). The color blues symbolizes immeasurable and all pervading reality – formless Brahman.
Another concept found in Hindu Puranas is Parakaya Pravesham – leaving one's body temporarily and entering the body of another person. Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have done this to enter a king's body so that he can learn about material world. Something quite similar happens in the movies as Humans are able to temporarily enter the body of a Na'vi.
A more visible symbol in the movie is that of the characters in Avatar riding on a flying dragon like being. This is more like Lord Vishnu riding on Garuda.
It is said that great minds think alike in all ages. The great saints of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) thought about this 5000 years ago and they tried to explain it to us through symbols and stories. Today we have technology explain the universal truths. But are we listening? We are slowly wiping out the green cover and destroying the Mother Earth thinking that we humans are superior and above all.
But what Avatar missed is foreseen by Hindu seers the total annihilation of human race when there is rise of Adharma (today it is unimaginable greed and lack of concern for mother earth). We are fast heading towards such a situation and this divine action will be carried out by Kalki. Then there is a fresh beginning. The cycle continues and this present age is not the first cycle and it is not the last.
From the internet
Posts
3 comments:
I want share my opinion that avatar was a heart pumping movie . i was huge fan of Titanic movie. i watched it twice or thrice. James Cameron is a hero in my life. i adore him very much. his avatar movie is the best 3D movie for ever. no doubt this will nominate to Oscar.
Thank you for posting this.
I found this article fascinating with links to Hinduism.
I have seen the movie and there is more to this movie then just the Hindu connection.
Unfortunately I also saw in the movie the greed and power of a nation to take and destroy another culture for the sake of some material.
The movie reminds me a lot about the Red Indians tribes in America and how they were up rooted in mans greed for Gold and building railroads and towns or rearing sheep and cattle. These powerful invaders from another shore came and destroyed a way of life that existed since time began. The Red Indians were connected to nature heavily and lived off the land. They respected the land very much.
The invaders came to American shores and they did not care who they stepped over or had respect fro sacred land and destroyed a villages just to get what they wanted.
Bows and arrows against the might of guns who was going to win. In the film a miracle occurred and saved the villagers but we all know that in real life red Indians lost.
The British did the same to Hindus in their search for Gold and Power. They stepped over Hindu culture and cared not what they destroyed. They tried to educate Indians to their way of culture then over ran them when things did not go as they had hoped for. Just like in the movie.
In the film the people from earth were after some minerals so valuable that they had to kill and destroy a whole way of life to do it. It also reminds one of the attack by America on Iraq for their oil.
Avatar is a portrayal of real life story of many histories across many countries and cultures of greed and power and destruction.
Kiran
My friend and I were recently discussing about how technology has become so integrated in our day to day lives. Reading this post makes me think back to that discussion we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.
I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as memory becomes cheaper, the possibility of transferring our brains onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's a fantasy that I daydream about all the time.
(Posted on Nintendo DS running [url=http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978023679]R4i SDHC[/url] DS NetSurf)
Post a Comment