What is the concept of autar in Hinduism?
Are they like Prophets or God incarnated as human-beings?
I read that there is also a concept similar to trinity in Hinduism . Three Gods… Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Only Vishnu got autars. Is it true and what is the reason behind it?
Also who was ‘Maha-dev’? Are all the three Gods are referred as Mahadev or anyone of them is referred as so.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
mahadeva is shiva's synonym as far as i know.
avatars are incarnations of vishnu, there are ten, not all of them are as humans.
the hindu trinity is brahma - the creator, vishnu - the sustainer of life, and shiva - the destroyer.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
Personally I think the original meaning of autar or avatar in English stemmed from - a person who represented God ... i.e. prophets or even angels.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
btw, the word is Avataar and not autar. bas itnaa hii maiN contribute kar saktaa huN! :D
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
blasphemy right there, brah. how bout some respect for other people’s blind faiths?
and avatar is a sanskrit word that got borrowed into english. why reinvent fake meanings to suit your blind faith’s agenda? 
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
mahadeva is shiva's synonym as far as i know.
avatars are incarnations of vishnu, there are ten, not all of them are as humans.
the hindu trinity is brahma - the creator, vishnu - the sustainer of life, and shiva - the destroyer.
so no avtaars for other Gods? I read that Devis also got avtar and Sita was avtar of vishnu's wife.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
so no avtaars for other Gods? I read that Devis also got avtar and Sita was avtar of vishnu's wife.
You asked the same question I was going to ask. I wanted to know that if the trinity is masculine, then ate the goddesses completely different from them or are they avatars of the males that make up the trinity. So, shiva is the destroyer, then is kaali his avatar or connected to him?
And how is one judged? By just one diety of the trinity or all three?
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
You asked the same question I was going to ask. I wanted to know that if the trinity is masculine, then ate the goddesses completely different from them or are they avatars of the males that make up the trinity. So, shiva is the destroyer, then is kaali his avatar or connected to him?
And how is one judged? By just one diety of the trinity or all three?
I read whenever Gods appear as avtaar, their wives (devis) also appear with them as female avtar of devi. So, when Vishnu appeared as Rama, his wife Lakshmi devi appeared as Sita.
Interesting to know that Gautam Budha has been categorised as ninth avtar of Vishnu, though basic teachings of Budha denied existence of any diety.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
That's interesting. So, on what basis was Budha made the ninth avatar of vishnu then? And apart from Budha, were any other figures thus categorized?
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
I didn’t say Avatar was an English word … I said autar is spelt AVATAR in English …
They are currently viewed as a personification of a deity … by the Hindu culture … But my statement is that I feel the origins of these figures were not as gods but as representatives of God
…
I’m not reinventing either … It is a way to consolidate two cultures - the approach is to find common ground not difference … Let me see what I can find in the way of references.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
That's interesting. So, on what basis was Budha made the ninth avatar of vishnu then? And apart from Budha, were any other figures thus categorized?
King Asoka was strong enough to promote and spread Buddhism across India. This period last for 4 centuries. In those four centuries the region became vegetarian (as this was preached by Budha) and as we see different depiction of Budhas life in form of sculpture, etc at Taxila, Hinduism got influence to make murtis during that era. As per some historians, before Buddha there were no murtis of Hindu Gods and first temples in India were of Buddhism.
Interestingly, one of the most influential religious personality of India (Buddha) has been portrayed as negative avtar of Vishnu, who came to spread evil and Vishnu will now appear as tenth avtar in the form of Kalki avtar to eradicate these evils. It is rather interesting that this tenth avtar Kalki has been connected with Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by some scholars.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
I think they have been considered as Gods, because they all are referred as Bhagwan like Bhagwan Krishna, Baghwan Rama.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
I think concept of avtar in Hinduism is near Christian concept of Jesus (God incarnated) than Muslims concept of Prophet / Khalifa (representative).
I have been through this confusion to consider them as representative. Interestingly, when Ismaili started preaching in India they came with the concept of avtars as representative. One of popular book from that era is ‘Dus avtar’ where Prophets and companions of the Prophet have been called avtaar.
Das Avtar - 1. Karta Yuga | Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
Linguistically Avatara means "Descent" - So this can be bring down or reveal ... Revelation is linked to prophets or angels ...
Kalki could be Jesus (AS) as Kalki has a white horse and will return ... Things like this may point at some kind of connection.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
I agree with you, but I think this is a modern take … Even Christianity took time to turn Isa (AS) in to an incarnation … before that as you believe Isa (AS) never claimed to be God …
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
The Hindu trinity is nothing like the Christian trinity except for sharing the name 'trinity'.It is actually called Trimurthi which is the manifestation of the Brahman into 3 forms - Creator, Destroyer and Sustainer. An avatar is the Physical human/part-human manifestation of God. Nothing at all like Prophets. Prophets are not a manifestation of incarnation of God. They are more like sages and saints.
Yes. All the trimurthi have avatars not just Lord vishnu. Buddha was incorpoared into the avatar fold to be incusive to Buddhists. Orthodox hindus do not consider Buddha as avatar. They consider Balarama as the avatar in his place.
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
Is this the same Balarama who also related to Sheshnag?
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
Could it be that the descent of God was a metaphor and not a literal statement that was then altered through time ... ???
re: Avtar in Hinduism?
could it be that the whole angel reciting divine words could be a metaphor? dude, come on - you want to radically reinterpret other people’s faiths but will write essays on how god makes humans with clay and animals with water.
Why man? Why?
Its one thing to ask questions. Totally different when you tell them theyve misinterpretated their faith. Not cool.