The order of the Dashavataras has been interpreted to be reflective of Darwinian evolution. According to Shally A Dhar’s article: https://www.quora.com/How-real-are-the-10-avatars-of-Vishnu-dasavathara.

Vishnu Avatar is nothing but representation of evolution of earth , How life was first created, evolved and various stages…

1. Matasya Avatar – > Life originated in sea , fish is the first Vertebrates
2. Kurma– > This represents Amphibians , could survive on both and and water
3. Varaha-> Wild land animal – complete transition from water to Land , next milestone in evolution
4. Narasimha-> conceptualisation of Homo Sapiens , the next big thing on the part of evolution
5. Vaman-> Short human being , Still not complete evolved
6. Parsuram-> Living in Jungles , Started Using weapons
7. Ram-> Moving to civil societies , learning to living as community , Various Skills developed , still not corrupt
8. Krishna-> Society advancement in Political field , more complexity added , manipulation , greed .
9. Budha \ Mahavir \ Balram\ Jagannath\ Mohini > On the path of enlightenment , more evolved human being , trying to find answers within (many people blasting me for incorrect representation of this avatar. Avatar is not important, the message is.)
10. Kalki->Human advanced to the level of self – destruction.

 

The depravity of the human race in Kali Yuga and its consequences as described in our ancient texts:

Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until the world will be totally depraved. then property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification. Earth will be venerated but for its mineral treasures; dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence; weakness will be the cause of dependence; menace and presumption will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; simple ablutions will be purification; mutual assent will be marriage; fine clothes will be dignity; and water afar off will be esteemed a holy spring. Amidst all castes he who is the strongest will reign over the principality, thus vitiated by many faults. Thus in the Kali age decay shall constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation.’ – Vishnu Purana 4.24

Sounds familiar?? Just open the newspaper every morning and examples of these would be evident… We have reached the point of self-destruction but it is not ‘Saving the earth’ that is something we need to do. The earth can take care of itself. It is our future on this planet that needs attention… Humans in the Kali Yuga are doing our best to make ourselves extinct. We are doing all the wrong things, we have grown to unsustainable numbers. The only thing that can be done perhaps is to make our exit as graceful as possible. We can only extend our stay on the planet by the means suggested by environmentalists. We can delay the inevitable but we cannot avoid it. A new more advanced lifeform awaits… The author Dan Brown talks of the Transhumanist theory in his book ‘Inferno’ where the protagonist Robert Langdon learns of the Inferno virus created by Bertrand Zobrist to infect the earth’s vulnerable humans in a bid to deal with overpopulation resulting in a DNA redesign of our species (A bit reminiscent of Hitler and the holocaust!!). You might think, “What is the use then of doing what the environmentalists say, if we’re going to die-out anyway?” It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but it is… Consider the time frame in evolutionary terms, in terms of ‘Yugas’.

When the Kali age is well-nigh past, the Lord will appear in His Divine form consisting of Sattva[purity] alone for the protection of virtue. Lord Vishnu adorned of the whole animate and inanimate creation, and the Soul of the Universe, appears in this world of matter for protecting the virtue of the righteous and wiping out the entire stock of their Karma and thereby liberating them. The Lord will appear under the name of Kalki.. riding a white horse.. and capable of subduing the wicked. the Lord of the Universe with divine powers and possessed of endless virtues and matchless splendor, he will traverse the globe on that swift horse and exterminate with his sword the robbers by the tens of millions.’ – Srimad Bhagavata

‘He will then re-establish righteousness upon Earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened and shall be as translucent as crystal.’ – Vishnu Purana IV:24,26-27

I believe it is the power of the exponentially expanding technology that is Kalki and the swift white horse that is the internet… Both these have displayed and demonstrated the attributes mentioned… Attributes like transparency, accountability, accessibility, conservation of resources, data proves/disproves, so on…

 

Kalki is already here….

Image credit: http://www.nationaldiscoverychannel.com/2014/07/the-kalki-avatar-real-or-fake.html

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution has recently been brought into the limelight by Minister of State, Satyapal Singh. Then an article was published in the Times of India on the Hindu theory of evolution: Dasavatara: The Hindu Theory Of Evolution – The Times Of India – Mumbai, 2018-01-25 by Parur S Ganesan. Given this fertile substrate, perhaps it’s time to present a thought that has been with me…

In Hinduism, time is described as cyclical. The ten avatars of Vishnu represent this. The Wikipedia page on Dashavatara (ten avataras) states: The first four avatars of Vishnu appeared in Satya or Krita Yuga, the first of the four Yugas, also called ‘The Golden Age’, the next three in the second Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the two avatars after that appeared in the third Yuga, the Dwapara Yuga and tenth and last avatar will appear in the last Yuga, Kali Yuga.^[4] In the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana, the Kali-yuga is described as ending with the appearance of Kalki, who will defeat the wicked, liberate the virtuous, and initiate a new Satya or Kalki Yuga.^[5]

What form will this Kalki take?

Not talking about the actor Koechlin here… Let us look beyond… There are myriad theories on the subject. The author Ashwin Sanghi in his novel ‘The Krishna Key’, has presented a possibility… I believe that Kalki is already here! I believe that the tenth avatar of Vishnu is not a horse riding man with a sword but the invisible force of the internet, singularity, the exponentially evolving technology… These possess all of what has been described would be attributes of Kalki! Let us try to acknowledge these and get a sense of what the future might hold…

Also do follow the links in this post, get your imaginations going and Take a walk with me… 

 

Change in blog’s trajectory…

Hi dear friends,

Sorry for the long silence…

We shall be changing course from here on… Walking together in a new direction…

Architecture and Technology continue on: architechnologize.wordpress.com

MORE RESKILLING…

BIM and DDD have been addressed in the earlier post. Now let’s have a spread of more areas for ‘reskilling’ that have a synergy with architectural practice:

 

• #Postoccupancysurveys to validate assumptions made during the design process.

• #Storytelling to be able to express a point of view in a meaningful creative way.

• Marketing/Business: We must acknowledge ourselves as a business requiring the usuals.

• #AR, #VR to experience and demonstrate.

• Further exploration in form with #Rhino3D#Grasshopper3D #ParametricDesign
• #Gaming: 3D skills and visualization put to use.
• #UX, #UI – developing interactive platforms to engage a user.
• #IoT – its implications during the building process and post occupancy.

• #Service Design: The approach to the design of services and products needs to change as a result of the ‘Digitization of everything’ and ‘Liquid consumer expectations’ as elaborated in the Fjord report – The Era of Living Services: One of the benefits of Living Services is that they will harness principles of mass production, creating and delivering products and services on a large scale. But by tapping into the capabilities of smart technology, brands and organizations will be able to deliver mass customization rather than generic services defined purely by economies of scale. How do we redesign our service delivery to keep up? Being architects puts us in a good position to assess and adapt…
• #DesignThinking: Design thinkingis a human-centered approach to innovation that looks to integrate the needs of users, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. As architects and designers we are pre-trained here. It’s a matter of putting our skills to work in a different direction.
• #DroneData: Surveying sites and monitoring project execution.

• The McKinsey report: http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/imagining-constructions-digital-future?cid=soc-web. This opens up many avenues that can be addressed. How these would specifically need to be worked upon given the Indian situation needs consideration. Perhaps the likes of Uber and Swiggy, who have setup similar labour-oriented services in the low-tech environment, could be used as case studies to evolve a method to inculcate the necessary tech-based skills within the local ecosystem.

All these areas perhaps deserve detailed blogposts. For now, I’m going to just point towards them. There’s much happening on each of these fronts and more that can be explored and mastered… Left to the reader’s interest… Start with these and many more will emerge…

PS : Have a look at an informative blog on Architecture, Technology and Construction by #VigneshKaushik: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/TGIC?utm_campaign=Issue&utm_content=profileimage&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Thank+God+It%27s+Computational