Stages of Human Development

   The evolutionary history of mankind is explained in the scriptures by the learned sages, as well as, in the science text books by the modern scientists. The epics are a good source of diverse views of development of mankind, but little understood, even today! We certainly do not understand how and why fish (matsya), turtles (kurma), wild boar (varaha), horse (hayah) and Lion (simha) cats, goats, monkey and other heads are given to human body and samskruta shloka are given to explain them as Vedic gods! The sphinx riddle is really a riddle! Who, why and how did they make the Nrsimha (Lion-head) and the female-head Goddess of Sphinx in the Pyramid of Egypt? May be they are stages of development in the evolutionary scale? Similarly, we do not know whether really man emanated from monkry, urang-utang, gorilla and chimpanzee? The fish may have become amphibian and reptiles and birds are avian creatures! The Darwin and Neo-Darwinian theories try to explain the evolution from monkey to man. However, there are controversies in all these. But one thing is certain that human evolution is a long-drawn process. 

  Sri Aurobindo gives a beautiful account of evolution in four stages (of development of consciousness)- physical (gross body), ethereal (pranic), mental (psychological) and the spiritual (divine). Further, in each of these four stages, all the four stages of development, such as, physical-physical, physical-ethereal, physical-mental, and and the physical-spiritual  are evident!  In the first stage it is all about 'Life' in its physical form. It has its origin in water and soil, food (annam). This is akin to life forms in plant kingdom! Then comes the life-force in its automotive state as 'prani', wandering for food in an instinctive manner, Then comes the mental development at the level of the primates, the monkeys. This state of evolution is leading to primitive man- hungry and wandering in search of food, and, thus remains still in its initial stages (may be money, power, and riches now?). In this sense, man is not yet fully developed in his mental faculty.
   The next stage is supra-mental sate where the mind is fully developed, consciousness is highly expanded, and may reach the highest level of pure (divine) consciousness. That takes time! These stages are in line with the avatars of Vishnu from Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasinha to Ram, Krishna, and the Buddha. There seems to be no alternative for man, but to evolve further giving up his narrow selfish mentality!