Re: Sanathana Dharma - will this continue its record of longivity?
Sigh! Who is an Avatar? Avatar is an incarnation of God. He is God taken human form. He/She will be aware of his Godhood from the moment of his birth. This is completely different from a prophet. A prophet is a messenger of God. He is not an incarnation of God. Mohammed was a messenger of Allah. He did not call himself an Incarnation of Allah. Compare that with Krishna who showed the entire creation in this mouth to his foster mother Yashoda and the Vishwaroopa to Arjuna. Jesus called himself “son of God” only towards the end he claimed “Me and my father are one and the same”. That is what Upanishads say “Aham Brahamasmi” (I am Brahman). Acharya and Imams are teachers and social reformers. What happens after Imam Mahdi comes? Will he come again and again to destroy evil and lead the world? An Avatar will. The next avatar will not be the last one. Krishna promises that when he says “…I will incarnate from time to time in era to era” He may be born in the lowliest and the poorest families or the richest. The number of avatars are mentioned only in fables and puranas not the vedas (shruti). The ext incarnation of Vishnu (as for now) will be kalki and usher in Satya yuga and not judgment day or end of the world. So no and Acharya or Imam cannot be an Avatar. Feel free to compare prophets to other acharyas like Shankaracharya etc. But if this Imam Mahdi does come and his teachings benefits huminity, there is nothing wrong in respecting his teachings. But he cannot be the Avatar. Sorry. Don’t care to discuss this anymore in this thread.