Eastern Religions & Darwin and Wallace

Much before the two westerner's theory of evolution, Hinduism (quite accurately) & Buddhism (in a diffuse way) seem to have an inkling of the humans having developed from non-human species. In fact, even Kusha grass is envisaged as an ancestor in Buddhism!

The difference is instead of the species evolving as a whole, the deity is evolved here.

But first the ten incarnations belief of Hinduism. The deity is believed to have incarnated successively as fish, tortoise, boar, man-lion, dwarf, axe-wielding Rama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha & (to come) Kalki. It is interesting to note that the founder of Buddhism, a non-Vedic religion, is also incorporated in the scheme!

Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, features in 547 Jataka stories, reminiscences of his previous births, a sort of spiritual evolutionary cycle, to attain the ten perfections, namely, Generosity, Virtue, Renunciation, Wisdom, Effort, Forbearance, Truth, Resolve, Loving Kindness & Equanimity.

It is a co-incidence that the number of incarnations in Hinduism & the number of perfections to be attained in Buddhism are both ten in number.

Some of the non-human earlier births of the Buddha, as related in the Jatakas are, monkey, partridge, fish, kusha grass, mouse,  hare, deer, goose & snake. The fish birth is common with the fish incarnation of Hinduism. Even though the tortoise features in the Jataka tales, it is as a nemesis of an evil doer, rather than the Buddha himself.

Another curious feature of the Jataka Tales is the presence of Devadutta, a cousin of the Buddha, who even though he joined the order, continued being the bete-noire of the Buddha!