The Avatara: Revelation, or Return Voyage? - Swami Kriyananda

Avatara, a Sanskrit word, means the descent of Divinity into fleshly form. Avatara is the act of descent; "avatar," without the "a", is its specific manifestation: The one who descends. From an advaitic view of Vedanta1, the universe itself, as a manifestation of the Supreme Spirit, is itself that descent. Usually, however, the word applies to a specific manifestation.

Traditionally speaking, Iswara, the Supreme Spirit—by most Hindus visualized as Vishnu—incarnates from time to time as a human being for the spiritual benefit of humanity. Vishnu descends from Vaikuntha, or heaven, where, according to mythology, he is said to reside.

Kali Yuga, obviously, has been at work here. Even in his supreme, unmanifested state Vishnu has been endowed with human form, and is visualized as living in some idealized locale in outer space. Fundamentalist Hindus even insist that Krishna was himself an incarnation of that deity, and that, like Vishnu, the had blue skin; and that Vishnu, like Krishna, plays a flute. They believe the heaven where Vishnu lives is a place of scenic beauty, where his devotees dance around him eternally.

Vishnu has been endowed with human form, and is visualized as living in some idealized locale in outer space. Fundamentalist Hindus even insist that Krishna was himself an incarnation of that deity, and that, like Vishnu, the had blue skin; and that Vishnu, like Krishna, plays a flute. They believe the heaven where Vishnu lives is a place of scenic beauty, where his devotees dance around him eternally.

© `The Hindu Way of Awakening: Its Revelation, Its Symbols’ by Swami Kriyananda, published (2001) by Jaico Publishing House, 121 MG Road, Mumbai 400 023.

1 Vedanta is one of three basic Ways of Awakening in Hinduism. Usually described as "philosophies," or "systems of thought," they are known as Sankhya, Yoga, and Vedanta. Paramhansa Yogananda epitomized these three Ways as follows:
Sankhya’s main purpose is to convince man of his need to rise above attachment to maya and to attain a higher state of consciousness; Vedanta’s is to describe the nature of that high state of consciousness; and Yoga’s is to show people how to reach that consciousness.
The essence of Vedanta is advaitic, or non-dualistic. Its focus is on that state which transcends the vibratory opposites of duality.
These three "systems" have been described as mutually exclusive. In fact they are complementary aspects of a single whole.
2 In the Bible the hints are more oblique, but they are there.

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