Were Gandhi and Marie Curie avatars too?

Joseph Campbell is a hugely popular name among the students of mythology, for whom his model on the hero’s journey is nothing short of holy verses to be learnt by rote.

To the uninitiated, the Hero’s Journey is a seminal piece of work by the famed mythologist Joseph Campbell that is actually a template of the adventurous journey charted by the mythical/fictional heroes of the world from the point they leave their homestead in pursuit of the elusive elixir/boon till they return again to their natural domain. <Click link to know more about the Hero’s journey>

Conceptually, the Hindu mythological idea of Avatar runs parallel to Campbell’s hero’s journey. The avatar is also a hero who arrives in the world, for the sole purpose of accomplishing a predestined goal, which is often the elimination of evil. To borrow Nehru’s words, the avatar comes like ‘a breath of fresh air’ to pull the world out of the utter crisis he finds it in. And finally, like Campbell’s hero, the avatar returns to the pavilion after his mission is accomplished.

In Hindu mythology, avatars refer to reincarnations of Lord Vishnu, who descends on the earth, time and again, taking different forms each time, to decimate evil and to protect and save the good.

All the avatars are thus aspects of the divine that descend on the earth (the Sanskrit word ‘avatar’ means to descend/cross) with the sole resolve to rid it off its evil forces.  Towards this end, the incarnations thus redefine the world around them, leaving it a better place. We also observe that once the purpose of the incarnation is fulfilled, the avatars, either explicitly or symbolically, exit the world. (For example, in the Ramayana, although Rama does not die after killing Ravana, the prominence of his role diminishes significantly after the death of Ravana. What happens thereafter in the Uttara Kanda is mostly the story of Sita and her sons.)

Interestingly, the above common motifs associated with the mythological avatars, are also found to repeat in the lives of certain historical figures we know.

But first, to summarise the set of criteria that mark out a personality as an avatar.

Markers of an Avatar

Now, think of historical figures who fit into this template, meeting most if not all criteria.

Gandhi, Ramanujan (mathematician), Vivekananda, Adi Shankara, Martin Luther King Jr., Marie Curie are some names that come to my mind.

Most of these personalities, save for Ramanujan and Marie Curie were religious/social reformers who were extremely successful in bringing about a big social change in the world around them. The achievements of Curie and Ramanujan are no less wonderful. Even as Marie Curie’s contribution to medicine continues to save millions of lives today, the world is still struggling to fully comprehend the overwhelming implications of Ramanujan’s gift of 3,900 theorems in the field of number theory.

Whatever be the nature of their contribution, it cannot be denied that each of them relentlessly strived to pursue his/her ordained goals, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy for humanity.

Further, the above personalities had some kind of tryst with divinity. Gandhi was expressly devout, while Ramanujan (in his own words) credited his mathematical acumen to his family Goddess, and Martin Luther King was a Minister in the Baptist order. Only Marie Curie was an exception; she remained a catholic till some personal tragedies turned her into an agnostic.

Needless to add, Adi Shankara and Vivekananda (whose mothers begot them after praying to Lord Shiva) transformed the religious discourse of their times.  If the lives of these two Sanyasis were extra-ordinary, their exit from the world, albeit at a very young age, was equally dramatic. Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have disappeared into a cave in Kedarnath, never to return, and Vivekananda passed away while meditating. Though both these men of God left behind institutions (the Ramakrishna Math and the Sharadha Peetam) to carry on their legacy they never identified or anointed a protégé.  

On the other hand, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King and Gandhi proved to be true ‘karmaveers’ who lived and died fighting for their respective causes. And of course, the episode of the Hardy-Ramanujan number (1729) that Ramanujan uncovered for the world, while he was undergoing treatment for his illness in a London hospital, speaks volumes of his unwavering quest to unravel the mysteries of his mathematical universe.

Above all, what makes a person an avatar is that his/her life is inseparable from his/her message or contribution to the world.

So, friends, here’s my list of avatars:

Avatar	Message/Contribution
Adi Shankaracharya	Advaitha: We are all part of the same divinity
Mahatma Gandhi	Ahimsa and Satyagraha
Marie Curie	Use of radium in cancer treatment; x-rays
Martin Luther King	Equal rights for all mankind
Ramanujan	Using numbers to better understand our universe
Vivekanada	Service to Humanity is service to Divinity

Who is on your list...?

Did somebody just say James Bond…?! J