These angelic sons of God became avataras on earth, or human incarnations. They cohabited with attractive fleshly women and produced hybrid offspring possessing superhuman strength. The Sanskrit word avatara means “descent,” especially of a god coming down from heaven to earth. Here, Bible history tells us the actual events that later came to be reflected in the Hindu doctrine of avataras.

³⁰ This true Bible account also sheds light on the theology of Hindu writings known as the Puranas. The Puranas record the accounts of gods and giants and their mighty works, their love affairs, and their wars and miracles. The Puranas depict a class of deities called Gandharvas who possess a strong earthy odour. Gandharvas are also associated with marriage, and they are said to love women and to be thinking always of them. Their mistresses are the Apsarases, who, in Hindu writings, are portrayed as seductive and promiscuous, and lacking maternal feelings. The Apsarases also possess an earthy scent, which is regarded with favour. Then another group of demigods in Hindu theology are the Ganas, and according to one Hindu authority the Ganas are said to be hybrid figures. These accounts accord well with the Bible’s true record of the disobedient spirit sons of God.

So these events have been passed down with varying degrees of accuracy in the religious legends of several ancient peoples.

However, knowledge of these pre-Flood histories evidently lingered in the memories of the Flood survivors and came to form the basis for beliefs and ideas about gods and religions held by many people today.