Feticide
This refers to selective abortion of
female fetuses, which was made possi-
ble by the advent of reliable prenatal
sex determination technology. This
practice is driven by the desire for sons
in Hindu culture, a desire spurred by
economic, social, and religious con-
cerns. Selective abortions were out-
lawed in India in 1995.
Fiji
One of the countries with significant
Hindu diaspora populations. Indians
were first brought to Fiji in 1879 as
indentured laborers to work in the sug-
arcane fields. In the 1990s Indians com-
prised about 45 percent of Fiji’s
population. Despite their near parity in
terms of population, Indians in Fiji have
been legally relegated to a minorityrole
and for the most part have been prohib-
ited from owning land. The split
between the Indian and Fijian commu-
nities became transparent in 1987, when
a military coup ousted a Parliament
dominated by Indians, and installed a
native Fijian as prime minister. Because
of these restrictions, many Indians still
work as tenant farmers for Fijian land-
lords, but they also play an important
role as shopkeepers and professionals.Fire
One of the five elementsin traditional
Indian cosmology, the others being
earth, wind, water, and akasha. In
some philosophical schools, each of the
elements is paired with one of the five
senses. Fire is associated with sight,
since the eye’s action in apprehending a
visual object is compared to flame dart-
ing out and scorching something.
Within the body, fire is also associated
with digestion, which is generally con-
ceived of as “cooking” the foods in the
digestive system.Fish Avatar
The first of Vishnu’sten full avatarsor
“incarnations” on earth. Each avatar
appears when the cosmos is in crisis,
usually because of a demon(asura) who
has grown disproportionately strong,
and whose power is throwing the uni-
verse out of its natural balance.
According to the doctrine of the avatars,
Vishnu takes material form when the
earth has fallen out of equilibrium, to
destroy the source of evil and restore the
cosmic balance.
The tale of the fish avatar begins
in the distant past, when the righteous
king Manudiscovers a small fish in the
water he holds between his cupped
hands as he performs the tarpanaor
water-offeringrite for his ancestors. The
compassionate king puts the tiny fish
into a pot of water, but the fish soon out-
grows it. As the fish keeps growing,
Manu transfers it to larger and larger
vessels, and finally puts the fish into the
Ganges. When the fish grows too large
for the Ganges and has to be put into the
ocean, Manu realizes that the fish isFeticide
Depiction of the god Vishnu’s Fish avatar.
Vishnu takes this form to protect living
creatures from floods that engulf the earth.