Avatāra

Avatāra (Skt., ‘descent’). The earthly manifestations (or ‘incarnations’) of a Hindu deity. More specifically, it is an earthly manifestation of Viṣṇu due to his free choice (i.e. not due to the laws of karma or a curse) and taking the form of a full human life (including conception, birth, and natural death), for the sake of a specific cosmic purpose. This allowed for the inclusion of other popular heroes and figures of worship under the general umbrella of Viṣṇu religion. Already at a relatively early stage, the Vedic figure of Trivikrama was included, now under the name of Vāmana, ‘the Dwarf’. By widening the definition of the term, cult-figures like the Varāha (Boar), Kūrma (Tortoise), Matsya (Fish), and Nṛsiṃha/Narasiṃha (Man-Lion), could be included. Somewhat later also Rāma, Balarāma or Baladeva (Kṛṣṇa's half-brother), and Paraśurāma (Rāma with the Axe) entered the group. Even the Buddha was appropriated by certain traditions. A future manifestation is connected with Kalkin.

Many other figures were regionally, or at times envisaged as avatāra of Viṣṇu, e.g. Nayagrīva, Dattātreya, the Haṃsa (Goose), etc. But by the close of the first millennium CE a set of ten had acquired the widest currency (Baladeva, the Buddha, and Paraśurāma being somewhat less rigidly included in such lists of ten). Another extension of the concept that proved particularly useful was the idea of an arcâvatāra, viz., the descent and permanent residence of a deity (particularly Viṣṇu) in the sculpture of a temple image (arcā).

Finally, various religious movements have tended to regard their founder or their sages as avatāras of their own specific deity. The concept of an aṃśâvatāra, ‘partial incarnation’, remained unproductive outside the circles of the scholastics; in some areas aṃśa is actually used as a synonym of avatāra.

The belief put forward in Bhāgavata-purāṇa, that humans can become avatāras by a divine infilling, has allowed the title to be extended to religious leaders, such as Gāndhī and Satya Sai Baba, or to non-Hindus, such as Jesus or Muḥammad.