Bhagavan

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File:Vishnu Kumartuli Park Sarbojanin Arnab Dutta 2010.JPG
Statue of Vishnu, Bhagavan in Vaishnavism

The word Bhagavan (Template:Langx; Template:Langx), also spelled as Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord", "God"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is used to signify a deity or an avatar, particularly for Krishna and Vishnu in Vaishnavism, Shiva in Shaivism and Durga or Adi Shakti in Shaktism.[1][2] In Jainism the term refers to the Tirthankaras, and in Buddhism to the Buddha.[3]

In many parts of India and South Asia, Bhagavan represents the concept of a universal God or Divine to Hindus who are spiritual and religious but do not worship a specific deity.[1]

In bhakti school literature, the term is typically used for any deity to whom prayers are offered. A particular deity is often the devotee's one and only Bhagavan.[2] The female equivalent of Bhagavān is Bhagavatī.[4][5] To some Hindus, the word Bhagavan is an abstract, genderless concept of God.

In Buddhism's Pali and Sanskrit scriptures, the term is used to denote The Buddha, referring him as Bhagavā or Bhagavān (translated with the phrase "Lord" or "The Blessed One").[6][7] The term Bhagavan is also found in Theravada, Mahayana and Tantra Buddhist texts.[8][9]

Etymology and meaning

Bhagavān, nominative singular of the adjective Bhagavat, literally means "fortunate", "blessed" (from the noun Template:IAST, meaning "fortune", "wealth"), and hence "illustrious", "divine", "venerable", "holy", etc.[10] Bhagavān is related to the root Bhaj (भज्, "to revere", "adore"), and implies someone "glorious", "illustrious", "revered", "venerable", "divine", "holy" (an epithet applied to gods, holy or respectable personages).[11] The root Bhaj also means "share with", "partake of", "aportion".[12][13] Clooney and Stewart state that this root, in Vaishnava traditions, implies Bhagavān as one perfect creator that a devotee seeks to partake from, share his place with, by living in god, in the way of god, the loving participation between the two being its own reward.[14]

The Vishnu Purana defines Bhagavān as follows, Template:Blockquote

The same text defines Bhaga and provides the etymological roots as follows as translated by Wilson,[15]

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Buddha is referred to as Bhagavan in ancient and medieval Theravada, Mahayana and Tantra Buddhist texts, where it connotes, "Lord", "Blessed One", "Fortunate One".[9][16][17]

Hinduism

Literature

The Vedic texts neither mention nor provide a basis to explain the origin of the Bhagavān concept.[18]

Upanishads

The root of "Bhagavan", "Bhaga" is mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad, but it does not mean or imply "Bhagavan"':

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The Mundaka Upanishad then answers this question in two parts over verses 1.1.4 through 3.2.11.[19] These verses split knowledge into two sections: lower knowledge and higher knowledge. Lower knowledge includes Vedas, phonetics, grammar, etymology, meter, astronomy and ceremony rituals.[20] The higher knowledge indicates, the Upanishad asserts, is Self-knowledge and realizing its oneness with Brahman—the one which cannot be seen, nor seized, which has no origin, no qualities, no hips, nor ears, no hands, nor feet, one that is the eternal, all-pervading, infinitesimal, imperishable.[21]

The term Bhagavān appears in Shvetashvatara Upanishad verse 5.4:

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Later and medieval era Upanishads mention Bhagavān. For example, the very first verse of the Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣhad uses the term, as follows,[22]

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Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa, a minor Upanishad, then proceeds to disclose, among other things, two Bhagavan names in the Hare Krishna mantra in verse 2.[23] This verse is sung by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) devotees.[22]

Purana

In Bhagavata Dharma, it denotes Narayana Vasudeva's four vyuha formations. Ishvara or God is called Bhagavan and the person dedicated to Bhagavan is called a Bhagavata. The Bhagavata Purana (I.iii.28) identifies Krishna as Narayana, Vāsudeva, Vishnu and Hari—Bhagavan present in human form.[24] Bhagavan is the complete revelation of the Divine; Brahman, the impersonal Absolute, is unqualified and therefore, never expressed. Paramatman is Bhagavan in relation to Prakṛti and the Jiva.[25] The Yoga of Devotion implies that if a Bhagavata, the devotee of Bhagavan, seeks and longs for Bhagavan, then Bhagavan too seeks his devotee in equal measure.[26]

Bhagavad Gita

The term Bhagavan appears extensively in the Bhagavad Gita, as Krishna counsels Arjuna.[2] For example,

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Vaishnavism

Template:Vaishnavism The Bhagavata tradition of Hinduism invoke Bhagavan in the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. The devotion to Vishnu (identified as Vasudeva in the Mahabharata) is elaborated to mean the ten incarnations of the deity. This tradition introduced the chaturvyuha concept and laid emphasis on the worship of the five Vrishni warriors, which reached the peak of its popularity during the Gupta Period.[27]

Significance

In Hinduism, the word, Bhagavān, indicates the Supreme Being or Absolute Truth conceived as a Personal God.[28] This personal feature indicated by the word Bhagavān differentiates its usage from other similar terms[29] such as Brahman, the "Supreme Spirit" or "spirit", and thus, in this usage, Bhagavan is analogous to the Christian concept of God the Father. In Vaisnavism, a devotee of Bhagvān Krishna is called a Bhāgavata.

The Bhagavata Purana (1.2.11) states the definition of Bhagavān to mean the supreme being:

The Learned Know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.[lower-alpha 1]

Bhagavān used as a title of veneration is often directly used as Lord, as in Bhagavān Rama, Bhagavān Krishna, Bhagavān Shiva, etc. In Buddhism and Jainism, Gautama Buddha, Mahavira and other Tirthankaras, Buddhas and bodhisattvas are also venerated with this title. The feminine of Bhagavat is Bhagawatī and is an epithet of Durga and other goddesses. This title is also used by a number of contemporary spiritual teachers in India who claim to be Bhagavan or have realized impersonal Brahman.Template:Citation needed The use of term bhagavān also permeates into certain worldly titles such as Seri Begawan (Template:Langx) historically granted to living kings abdicating to their princes in Malay kingdoms; the most recent and famous use is by Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei namesake of its capital Bandar Seri Begawan.[30][31]

Bhakti (devotion to God) consists of actions performed in dedication to the Paramatman, the individuated existence with free-will, and who is the final cause of the world; the Vedic Rishis describe the goals originating from God as Bhagavān, and the Ananda aspect of God where God has manifested His personality is called Bhagavān when consciousness (pure self-awareness) aligns with those goals to cause the unified existence and commencement of works follow.[32]

Buddhism

Template:Buddhism

Literature

Bhagavān in Buddhist texts

In Pali Literature

Bhagava is the Pali word used for Bhagavan. Some Buddhist texts, such as the Pali suttas, use the word Bhagavā for the Buddha, meaning "the fortunate one".[33] The term Bhagavā has been used in Pali Anussati or recollections[34] as one of the terms that describes the "Tathāgata" as one full of good qualities, as arahant, sammā-sambuddho and sugato (Dīgha Nikāya II.93).[35]

Bhagavan is one of the nine qualities of the Buddha. In the Buddha Anussati, Bhagavan is defined the following way:

Template:IAST
Thus is the Buddha, deserving homage, perfectly awakened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, well gone to Nibbana, knower of the worlds, incomparable leader (lit. charioteer) of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, awakened one and Blessed One.[36]

In Sanskrit Literature

Several Tibetan Buddhist tantra texts use the word Bhagavān. For example, the Pradipoddyotana manuscript of Guhyasamāja tantra-Samdhivyakarana uses the word Bhagavān, which Alex Wayman translates as "Lord".[17] The text, elsewhere refers to "Bhagavan Sarvatathagatakayavakcittadipatih", which John Campbell translates as "Lord, Master of the Vajras of Body, Speech, and Mind of all Buddhas."[37] Elsewhere, it states,[8]

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The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a sutra of Mahāyāna Buddhism, uses the word Bhagavān over three hundred times.[38] Scholars either leave the term untranslated or render it as "Lord" or "Blessed One."[39][40] The devotional text Sukhavati Vyuhopadesa by Vasubandhu uses the term Bhagavān in its invocations.[41][42]

Variants

Other variants of the term Bhagavan, such as Bhagavant and Bhagavata can also be found throughout Buddhist texts. For instance, it is used in the initial chant, which is recited before almost every Sutta chanting, Template:Blockquote

Significance

The term Bhagavān is found in liturgical practices of Theravada Buddhism, where it is used as an epithet that means the "Blessed One". Examples of such usage is found in Sri Lanka's Bodhi Puja (or Atavisi Buddha Puja, Worship of the Twenty Eight Buddhas).[43]

The word Bhagavan is the most common word for the Buddhist texts to refer to the Buddha. For example, almost every sutra in Buddhist canonical and commentarial texts starts with the line like

Evaṃ me suttaṃ – ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṃ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. (Pali)

evaṃ mayā śrutam | ekasmin samaye bhagavān śrāvastyāṃ viharati sma jetavane'nāthapiṇḍadasyārāme. (Sanskrit)

Thus have I heard - Once the Bhagavan was dwelling in Savatthi, at the Anathpindaka's monastery in Jetavana. (English Translation)

Inscriptions

File:Heliodorus-Pillar2.jpg
Heliodorus Khamba (pillar) in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Installed about 100 BCE, the pillar's Brahmi-script inscription states that Heliodorus is a Bhagvatena (devotee) of Vishnu.[44]

Greek

A word derived from Bhagavan is documented epigraphically from around 100 BCE, such as in the inscriptions of the Heliodorus pillar; in which Heliodorus, an Indo-Greek ambassador from Taxila to the court of a Shunga king, addresses himself as a Bhagvatena (devotee) of Vishnu. ("Heliodorena Bhagavata", Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909)):[45]

This Garuda-standard of Vasudeva (Vishnu), the God of Gods was erected here by the Bhagavatena (devotee) Heliodoros, the son of Dion, a man of Taxila, sent by the Great Greek (Yona) King Antialcidas, as ambassador to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior son of the princess from Benares, in the fourteenth year of his reign."[lower-alpha 2]

Buddhist vase

Sākamunisa bhagavato is recorded in the kharoshthi dedication of a vase placed in a Buddhist stupa by the Greek meridarch (civil governor of a province) named Theodorus:[46]

"Theudorena meridarkhena pratithavida time sarira sakamunisa bhagavato bahu-Jana-stitiye":
"The meridarch Theodorus has enshrined relics of Lord Shakyamuni, for the welfare of the mass of the people"
– (Swāt relic vase inscription of the Meridarkh Theodoros[47])

Brass pillars and stupas

James Prinsep identified several engravings and inscriptions on ancient Buddhist artifacts that include the word Bhagavan and related words. For example,[48]

Bhagawana-sarirahi Sri Tabachitrasa Khamaspada putrasa dana.
"(Casket) containing relics of Bhagwan, the gift of Sri Tabachitra, the son of Khamaspada
– The Tope of Manikyala[48]

See also

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Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 James Lochtefeld (2000), "Bhagavan", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. Template:ISBN, page 94
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Friedhelm Hardy (1990), The World's Religions: The Religions of Asia, Routledge, Template:ISBN, pages 79-83
  3. ↑ The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Princeton University Press(2014)
  4. ↑ Friedhelm Hardy (1990), The World's Religions: The Religions of Asia, Routledge, Template:ISBN, page 84
  5. ↑ Sarah Caldwell (1998), Bhagavati, in Devi: Goddesses of India (Editors: John Stratton Hawley, Donna Marie Wulff), Motilal Banarsidass, Template:ISBN, pages 195-198
  6. ↑ The latter term preferred by Bhikkhu Bodhi in his English translations of the Pali Canon
  7. ↑ Ju-Hyung Rhi (1994), From Bodhisattva to Buddha: The Beginning of Iconic Representation in Buddhist Art, Artibus Asiae, Vol. 54, No. 3/4, pages 207-225
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 John Campbell (2009), Vajra hermeneutics: A study of Vajrayana scholasticism in the "Pradipoddyotana", PhD Thesis accepted by Columbia University (Advisor: Robert Thurman), page 355
    Christian K. Wedemeyer, Aryadeva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryamelapakapradlpa): The Gradual Path of Vajraydna Buddhism According to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition, ed. Robert A. F. Thurman, Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series (New York: The American Institute of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, 2007), Template:ISBN
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Peter Harvey, Buddhism, Bloomsbury Academic, Template:ISBN, page 4
  10. ↑ Macdonell Sanskrit-English dictionary
  11. ↑ The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Digital Dictionaries of South Asia(1957)
  12. ↑ bhaj, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne
  13. ↑ Francis Clooney and Tony Stewart, in S Mittal and GR Thursby (Editors): The Hindu World, Routledge, Template:ISBN, pages 163-178
  14. ↑ The Hindu world{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2007). ISBN 978-0-415-77227-3
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hhwilson
  16. ↑ D Keown (2008), A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, Template:ISBN, page 31
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Alex Wayman (1974), Two Traditions of India: Truth and Silence Philosophy East and West, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct., 1974), pages 389-403, for the original verse see footnote 13 on page 402, for Wayman's translation, see page 391
  18. ↑ World's Religions{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2004-01-14). ISBN 9781136851858
  19. ↑ Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Mundaka Upanishad, Oxford University Press
  20. ↑ Upanishad history, Vedic, Heritage. Upanishad heritage. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  21. ↑ The sacred books of the East. Translated by various oriental scholars and edited by F. Max Müller. Vol. I-[L].{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Clarendon Press(1876)
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named knaiyar
  23. ↑ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
    Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
  24. ↑ The Body of God{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford University Press(2008-09-25). ISBN 9780199709021
  25. ↑ The Sword and the Flute-Kali and Krsna{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Motilal Banarsidass(1995). ISBN 9788120813151
  26. ↑ The Synthesis of Yoga{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Lotus Press(1992). ISBN 9780941524667
  27. ↑ Optional Indian History – Ancient India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Upkar Prakashan
  28. ↑ Who is Krishna? Template:Webarchive "God the person, or Bhagavan"
  29. ↑ Bhag-P 1.2.11 Template:Webarchive "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this the non-dual "Brahman", "Paramatmān " or "Bhagavān"
  30. ↑ Template:Cite encyclopedia
  31. ↑ The Report: Brunei Darussalam 2009{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford Business Group(2009). ISBN 9781907065095
  32. ↑ Vedic Creationism{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. iUniverse(December 2008). ISBN 9780595525737
  33. ↑ A History of Buddhist Philosophy{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. University of Hawaii Press(1992). ISBN 9780824814021
  34. ↑ The numerical discourses of the Buddha: a translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Wisdom Publications(2012). ISBN 978-1-61429-040-7
  35. ↑ Encyclopedia of Buddhism{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2013-12-16). ISBN 9781136985881
  36. ↑ 14. Anussati Meditations, wevauska. Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery(2017-07-06). Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  37. ↑ John Campbell (2009), Vajra hermeneutics: A study of Vajrayana scholasticism in the "Pradipoddyotana", PhD Thesis accepted by Columbia University (Advisor: Robert Thurman), page 210
  38. ↑ Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra{{#if:Suzuki|, Suzuki}. Routledge & Kegan Paul(1930)
  39. ↑ The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge & Kegan Paul(1932)
  40. ↑ English Translation: Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Mahayana Lankavatara Sutra Template:Webarchive Ohio State University;
    Sanskrit: Lankavatara Sutra Template:Webarchive Archived original at a Buddhist Library in Russia
  41. ↑ Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light{{#if:Gómez|, Gómez}. University of Hawaii Press(1996)
  42. ↑ Minoru Kiyota (2009), Mahāyāna Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice, Motilal Banarsidass, Template:ISBN, pages 274-275
  43. ↑ Frank Reynolds and Jason A. Carbine (2000), The Life of Buddhism, University of California Press, Template:ISBN, pages 179-187
  44. ↑ PP Behera, The Pillars of Homage to Lord Jagannatha Template:Webarchive Orissa Review, June 2004, page 65
  45. ↑ John Irvin (1973-1975), Aśokan Pillars: A Reassessment of the Evidence, The Burlington Magazine. v. 115, pages 706-720; v. 116, pages 712-727; v. 117, pages 631-643; v. 118, pages 734-753; Template:Oclc
  46. ↑ The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press, page 391
  47. ↑ The Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project Template:Webarchive University of Washington
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 James Prinsep and Henry Thoby Prinsep, Template:Google books, Volume 1, page 107

References

Sources

  • The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Skyhorse Publishing Inc.(2002). ISBN 978-1-58115-203-6
  • Buddhism In Central Asia{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Motilal Banarsidass Pub(1987). ISBN 978-81-208-0372-5

Further reading

  • Richard Gombrich, "Template:Usurped," Journal of the Pali Text Society, 9 (1981), pages 47–73.

Template:Buddhism topics Template:Hindudharma Template:VishnuAvatars
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