Avatar

see below for other meanings

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An Avatar is the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a god. The term is primarily used in Hindu mythology, where according to some sources, the term applies only to incarnations of the god Vishnu. It has also been used by extension to refer to the incarnations of the Gods in other religions and mythologies eg. Zeus.

The philosophy reflected in the Hindu epics[?] is the doctrine of the avatar (incarnation of God as a human being). The two main avatars of Vishnu that appear in the epics are Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, and Krishna, the friend of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Unlike the superhuman devas (gods) of the Vedic Samhitas and the abstract Upanishadic concept of the all-pervading and formless Brahman, the avatars in these epics are the human intermediaries between the Supreme Being and mere mortals.

This doctrine has had a great impact on Hindu religious life, for it means that God has manifested Himself in a form that could be appreciated even by the least sophisticated. Rama and Krishna have remained beloved and adored manifestations of the Divine for thousands of years among Hindus. The Upanishadic concept of the all-embracing Brahman is undoubtedly the pinnacle of Indian thought, but the concept of the avataras has certainly had more influence on the average Hindu.

Of course, Rama and Krishna are by no means the only divine avatars recognised by Hinduism. Unlike, say, Christianity, Hinduism believes that the divine has taken human (and prior to the emergence of humankind, animal) forms here on earth many times. Little is known of any appearance as an avatar by Brahma, but emanations of the other two aspects of the Trimurti, Shiva and Vishnu, appeared a number of times. Even Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism, is regarded by Hindus as an avatar of Vishnu - a notion many Buddhists find offensive.

The ten avatars of Vishnu are said to be:

1. Matsya, the fish
2. Kurma, the tortoise
3. Varaha, the boar
4. Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion)
5. Vamana, the Dwarf
6. Parashurama
7. Rama
8. Krishna (meaning dark or black)
9. Different views as to the identity of the nineth avatar abound, including but by no means limited to:
   • Gautama Buddha (The most common view; however, Buddhists emphatically deny this)
   • Balarama
   • Caitanya Mahaprabhu
   • Jesus Christ
   • Swaminarayan
10. Kalki ("time"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, in the 431st millennium AD

External links

• http://www.avatara.org/
• http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Religions/Avatars/Vishnu
• http://www.hindunet.org/avatars/index.htm
• http://www.public.iastate.edu/~wsanford/darshan/hindu_deities/ten_avatars

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Usage (by analogy with the above) in hacker culture:

1. Among people working on virtual reality and cyberspace interfaces, an avatar is an icon or representation of a user in a shared virtual reality. The term is sometimes used on MUDs, and also in computer role-playing games.

2. [CMU, Tektronix] root, superuser. There are quite a few Unix machines on which the name of the superuser account is 'avatar' rather than 'root'. This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who found the terms 'root' and 'superuser' unimaginative, and thought 'avatar' might better impress people with the responsibility they were accepting.

Source: the public domain Jargon file

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The Avatar is also the main (player) character in the Ultima series of games.

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Distinguish also the use of the word Avatar to refer to Harry Palmer's self-development system.