Avatar (अवतार)
Avatar is a Divine descension of God. His body is Divine, His descensions are countless, and every Avatar is God.
Avatar (अवतार | avatāra) means a descension of God.
The word comes from avataran, meaning “to descend.” God already permeates every living and non-living thing. Yet, at times, He descends with a form. Such a Divine descension is called an Avatar.
An Avatar Has a Divine Body
When God descends, His appearance may resemble that of an ordinary person, but His body is Divine.
He does not enter a mother's womb and develop there like an ordinary material child. His Divine body does not grow in the way a material body grows.
Therefore, an Avatar should not be understood as God acquiring an ordinary material body when He descends.
Are There Only a Few Avatars?
No. God's Avatars are countless.
The scriptures describe particular Avatars—for example, the Bhagavat describes twenty-four—but these do not represent all of God's descensions. God's Avatars are innumerable and cannot all be documented.
The Dashavatar are the ten most commonly known descensions of God in a Chaturyug.
Are All Avatars Equally God?
Yes. All Avatars are Swansh (स्वांश | svāṁśa) of God and governors of Yogmaya Shakti (योगमाया शक्ति | yogamāyā śakti). They possess complete Divine power.
Different Avatars may reveal different Divine powers according to the purpose of a particular descension. These differences do not mean that one Avatar is less God than another.
The different types of Avatars and the powers revealed through them are explained in Infinite Forms, One Purpose.
Go Deeper
- Why God Descends to Earth? — Explore why an all-powerful, omnipresent God descends.
- Infinite Forms, One Purpose — Explore the different types of Avatars and the Divine powers revealed through them.
