Avatars: God's Descent to Earth
What an avatar is in Hinduism, why God takes form in the world, the ten avatars of Vishnu, avatars of other deities and modern ideas about avatars.
An avatar is a form in which God descends to earth. The idea is central to Hinduism, especially to the worship of Vishnu, whose avatars include two of the most loved figures in Hindu religion, Rama and Krishna. The English word “avatar”, now used for online profile pictures, comes from this Sanskrit term.
The Sanskrit avatara means “descent”, from ava (“down”) and tri (“to cross over”). It refers to the divine crossing down into the world of form.
Why does God descend?
The classic explanation is given by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (4.7–8):
Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness rises, I manifest myself. To protect the good, to destroy the wicked and to re-establish dharma, I come into being age after age.Bhagavad Gita 4.7–8
Avatars restore dharma, the moral order of the world. Devotional traditions add a second reason: God descends out of love, to give devotees the chance to know, see and serve him in a personal form.
The ten avatars of Vishnu
The most widely known list, the Dashavatara, names ten avatars of Vishnu: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (man-lion), Vamana (dwarf), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha (or Balarama) and Kalki, who is still to come. Each is described on our Vishnu page.
Some modern Hindus have noticed that the sequence moves from water creatures to amphibious, land animals, half-human and human forms, and have compared it with evolution. This is a modern interpretation rather than a traditional one, but it shows how the list continues to inspire reflection.
The Buddha as an avatar
Many lists include the Buddha as the ninth avatar. Jayadeva's 12th-century poem Gita Govinda praises him for his compassion and for ending animal sacrifice. In some older Puranas, however, the Buddha avatar appears in order to mislead the wicked. Buddhists themselves do not accept that the Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu, and in parts of south India Balarama, Krishna's brother, takes his place in the list.
More than ten
The Bhagavata Purana gives a longer list of twenty-two avatars, including the sage Kapila, the founder of Samkhya, and Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas, and then declares that the avatars are countless, like streams flowing from an inexhaustible lake. Traditions also distinguish full avatars (purna avatara) from partial ones (amsha). Many devotees, particularly in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, regard Krishna not as an avatar at all but as the original form of God, from whom all avatars come.
Avatars of other deities
Although the idea is most developed for Vishnu, other deities also take forms on earth. Hanuman is sometimes said to be an incarnation of Shiva, and Shaiva texts describe Shiva appearing in many forms to help devotees. The Goddess, too, takes many forms to defeat demons, as told in the Devi Mahatmya. Lakshmi is born alongside Vishnu as Sita and Rukmini.
Living teachers as avatars
Followers of some modern spiritual teachers have regarded them as avatars, among them Ramakrishna and Chaitanya, whom Gaudiya Vaishnavas consider an incarnation of Krishna. Such claims are accepted within particular communities rather than by Hindus as a whole.
Sources and further reading
- Geoffrey Parrinder, Avatar and Incarnation (Faber, 1970).
- Freda Matchett, Krsna, Lord or Avatara? (Curzon, 2001).
- The Bhagavata Purana, Book 1, chapter 3.