Avatar

(Sk., “descent”). Divine incarnation. The descent of a God or an exalted Being, who has progressed beyond the necessity of rebirth, into the body of a simple mortal. Krishna was an avatar of Vishnu. The Dalai Lama is believed to be an avatar of Avalokiteshvara, and the Panchen Lama, an avatar of Amitabha. There are two kinds of avatars: those born from woman, and those who are parentless, the Anupapadaka. As Ramakrishna puts it, an Avatar or Saviour is a human messenger of God. He is like a viceroy of the mighty Monarch. As when there is any disturbance in some far-off province, the King sends the viceroy to quell it. So whenever there is any waning of religion in any part of the world, God sends His Avatar there to guard virtue and to foster its growth. It is one and the same Avatar that, having plunged into the ocean of life, rises up in one place and is known as Krishna, and diving again rises in another place and is known as Christ.