Avatāra

An incarnation — literally “descent” in Sanskrit (from ava-tŽ, “cross over”) — of a divine being, usually written “avatar.” Thus ®r… Krishna (“Kna”) is said to be an avatar of ViŠu (usually written “Vishnu”). Tsong-ka-pa, founder of the Tibetan Gelugpa sect, is said to be the incarnation of Amit€bha, an important Bodhisattva in Mah€y€na Buddhism and supposedly the celestial name of Gautama Buddha. According to theosophical literature, an avatar requires three elements: (a) the inspiring divine being, (b) an intermediate soul such as that used by a Buddha or Bodhisattva, and (c) a physical body which is clean and pure. Thus ®a‰kar€c€rya — sometimes identified as šdi-®a‰kara to distinguish him from the later philosopher called ®a‰kar€c€rya (788-820) — was considered by Blavatsky an avatar who made use of the “astral ego” of Gautama Buddha (CW XIV:390). The descent of avatars, says Blavatsky, is caused by a b…ja or seed, a life-germ contained in a mysterious principle called “Maha-Vishnu.” Such a descent is not caused by karma, as the divine being is beyond personal karma (CW XIV:370). The ViŠu Pur€Ša identifies nine avatars as follows: Matsya (Fish), K™rma (Tortise), Var€ha (Boar), Nara-Siˆha (Man-Lion), V€mana (Dwarf), Paraur€ma (R€ma-of- the-Axe), R€macandra (lit. “charming moon” in Sanskrit, hero of the epic poem R€m€yaŠa), ®r… Krishna (a hero of the epic Mah€bh€rata; narrator of the Bhagavad-G…t€) and Kalkin (the avatar yet to come, also known as the White Horse Avat€ra because he will appear at the end of the KšLI-Y¶GA riding a white horse). Medieval Hinduism added Gautama Buddha as a tenth avatar (inserted between ®r… Krishna and Kalkin), probably in an effort to lure Hindu converts to Buddhism back into the “fold,” as it were. V.H.C./R.W.B.