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from Part VI - The Indian Jesus
Jesus as Avatara
Of the many meanings attributed to Jesus in India in Hinduism – sannyasin (monk), yogi (yoga practitioner), guru, avatara, etc. – the latter two stand out with respect to this study, because they are the two that are situated most explicitly on the interface between the divine and the human.
Avatara means, literally, “descent” but is often used in a broader sense as a term for the divine manifestation in human form and in that sense can also refer to an “ascending” movement. Strictly speaking, the concept avatara is not the same as incarnation, for the latter, from a Christian point of view, refers to the radical becoming human of the divine and not simply to taking on human form. One would do better to employ the distinction here between a theophany, a divine appearance among people, and an incarnation, in which the divine becomes completely human. An avatara is actually “merely” a theophany.
The classsic place in the Bhagavadgita where the role of the avatara in the person of Krishna appears is chapter 4:5–9. There Krishna says:
“I have been born many times, Arjuna, and many times hast thou been born. But I remember my past lives, and thou hast forgotten thine.
Although I am unborn, everlasting, and I am the Lord of all, I come to my realm of nature and through my wondrous power I am born.
When righteousness is weak and faints and unrighteousness exults in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth.
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