How Hinduism Inspired Pop-Culture Avatars

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"Avatar" became a household word in the 2000s with Avatar: The Last Airbender and James Cameron's movie series Avatar. But what is an avatar? The idea actually derives from Hinduism.

Thumbnail art by @hotcyder

Bibliography:
-Barbara Holdrege, Bhakti and Embodiment, 2015.
-Couture, André, “Avatāra”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online, Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. Consulted online on 02 February 2024
-Couture, André, “Viṣṇu”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online, Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. Consulted online on 02 February 2024
-Couture, André, “From Vishnu’s Deeds to Vishnu’s Play,” Journal of Indian Philosophy, June 2001.
-Simon Brodbeck, Divine Descent of the Four World-Ages in the Mahabharata, 2022.
Noel Sheth, “Hindu Avatar and Christian Incarnation: A Comparison,” Philosophy East and West, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jan 2002). 98 - 125.
-Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2, N-Z, 2002.
-Gitagovinda of Jayadeva, editor and translator Barbara Stoler Miller. (Columbia University Press: 1977)
-Tracy Coleman, Avatara, Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2018.
-Cush et. al., Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Routledge: 2008.
-Kinnard, “When is the Buddha Not the Buddha? The Hindu/Buddhist Battle over Bodhgaya and Its Buddha Image,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 66/4.
-Freda Matchett, Krsna: Lord or Avatara?, (Routledge: 2001).
-Devadatta Kali, In Praise of the Goddess: The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning, (Nicolas-Hays, Inc.: 2003).
-Suvira Jaiswal, The Origin and Development of Vaisnavism,1981.

00:00 The rise of "avatar"
1:21 Avatar = Divine Descent
4:35 Vishnu and his avataras
9:20 Avataras outside Vaishnavism
11:16 How avatar was adopted in English

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