The doctrine of divine descent into the world in tangible form, most fully developed within Vaishnavism and directly stated within the Bhagavad Gita itself.
Avatara names the doctrine that the divine periodically descends into the world in a tangible, embodied form, and this archive already introduced the concept in its discussion of Vaishnavism, but it earns its own page here because the doctrine does independent conceptual work worth examining directly.
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A 700-verse philosophical dialogue set within the Mahabharata, addressing duty, action, and the nature of the self.
A cluster of ideas around duty, order, and right conduct that is understood differently across Indian traditions.
A path of loving devotion to the divine — one of the most influential and socially far-reaching currents in Indian religious thought.
A major devotional tradition centered on Vishnu, distinguished by the doctrine of avatara — divine descent into the world across cosmic time to restore right order.