"All the descensions of God are replete with all divine powers ;they are all perfect and complete ."

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ,

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम। 

YADA YADA HI DHARMASYA GLANIR BHAVATI BHARATA 

ABHYUTTHANAM ADHARMASYA TADATMANAM 

SRIJAMYAHAM

yada yada -whenever ;hi -certainly ;dharmasya --of  

righteousness ;glanirh -decline ;

bhavati -is ;bharata -Arjun ,descendent of Bharat ; 

abhyutthanam -increase ; 

adharmasya -of unrighteousness ; atmanam -self ;  srijami -

manifest;aham -I.

Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an 

increase in unrighteousness 

,O Arjun ,at that time I manifest myself on earth .

Dharma is verily the prescribed actions that are conducive to 

our spiritual growth 

and progress ;the reverse of this is adharma 

(unrighteousness ).When 

unrighteousness  prevails ,the creator and administrator of 

the World intervenes by 

descending and  re -establishing dharma .Such a 

descension of God is called an 

Avatar .The word "Avatar " has been adopted from Sanskrit  

into English and is 

commonly  used for people's images on the media screen .In 

this text ,we will be 

using it in its original Sanskrit connotation ,to refer to the 

divine descension of God .

Twenty  four such desensions have been listed in the 

Bhagavatam .However ,the Vedic scriptures state that there 

are innumerable descensions of God:

janma -karmabhidhanani santi me riga sahasrashah

na shakyante 'nusankhyatum anantavan mayapi hi 

(Bhagvatam 10.51.36)

"Nobody can count the infinite Avatars of God since the 

beginning of 

eternity."These Avatars are classified in four categories ,as 

stated below :

1.Aveshavatar -When God manifests his special powers in an 

individual soul and 

acts though him .The sage Narad is an example of 

Aveshavatar .The Buddha is 

also an example of Aveshavatar .

2.Prabhavavatar -these are the descensions of God in the 

personal form ,where he displays some of his divine powers.

Prabhavavtaras are also of two kinds :

@Where God reveals himself only  for a few moments 

,complete his work ,and then departs .Hansavatar  is an 

example of this ,where God manifested before the Kumaras 

,answered their question, and left . 

(b)Where the Avatar remains  on the earth for many years 

.Ved Vyas ,who wrote the eighteen puranas and the 

Mahabharat,and divided the Vedas into four parts ,is an 

example of such an Avatar.

(3 )Vaibhavatar-When God descend in his divine form , and 

manifests more of his divine powers .Matsyavtar ,Kurmavtar 

,Varahavtar are all examples of Vaibhavatars.

(4 )Paravasthavatar -When God manifests all his divine 

powers in his personal divine form .Shree Krishana ,Shree 

Ram,and Nrisinghavatar are all Paravashthavatar .

This classification does not imply that any one Avatar is 

bigger than the other .Ved Vyas ,who is himself an Avatar 

,clearly states this :

sarve purnah shashvatashcha dehastasya parmatmanah 

(Padam Puran)

"All the descensions of God are replete with all divine 

powers ;they are all perfect and complete ."Hence ,we 

should not differentiate one Avatar as bigger and another as 

smaller .However in each descension ,God manifests his 

powers based on the objectives he wishes to accomplish 

during that particular descension .The remaining powers 


reside latently within the Avatar .Hence ,the above 

classifications were created .