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Bhagavan Krishna with Radharani

Bhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem bhaga-vant- (nominative भगवान् Bhagavān) literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" (from the noun bhaga, meaning "fortune, wealth", cognate to Slavic bog "god", Russian богач (boga'ch) "wealthy"), and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.^[1]

In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to indicate the Supreme Being or Absolute Truth, but with specific reference to that Supreme Being as possessing a personality (a personal God).^[2] This personal feature indicated in Bhagavan differentiates its usage from other similar terms^[3] such as Brahman, the "Supreme Spirit" or "spirit", and thus, in this usage, Bhagavan is in many ways analogous to the general Christian conception of God.

Bhagavan used as a title of veneration is often translated as "Lord", as in "Bhagavan Krishna", "Bhagavan Shiva", "Bhagavan Swaminarayan", 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.

The title is also used by a number of contemporary spiritual teachers in India who claim to be Bhagavan or have realized impersonal Brahman.

Definitions[link]

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

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

tattvam yaj jnanam advayam

brahmeti paramatmeti

bhagavan iti sabdyate

The Learned Know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.

The Sanskrit word bhagavan is explained in the Vishnu Purana (6.5.79) by the great authority, Parashara Muni, the father of Vyasa Deva, defines Bhagavan as one who possesses six opulences completely, as follows:

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

The Supreme Personality who possesses all riches, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation is called Bhagavan. There are many persons who are very rich, very powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very much detached, but no one can claim that he possesses all riches, all strength, etc., entirely. Only Krishna can claim this because He is Svayam Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No living entity, including Brahma, Lord Siva, or Narayana, can possess opulences as fully as Krsna. Therefore it is concluded in the Brahma Samhita by Lord Brahma himself that Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one is equal to or above Him. He is the primeval Lord, or Bhagavan, known as Govinda, and He is the supreme cause of all causes.

isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

"There are many personalities possessing the qualities of Bhagavan, but Krsna is the supreme because none can excel Him. He is the Supreme Person, and His body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the primeval Lord Govinda and the cause of all causes." (Brahma-samhita 5.1) In the Bhagavatam also there is a list of many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krsna is described as the original Personality of Godhead, from whom many, many incarnations and Personalities of Godhead expand:

ete camsa-kalah pumsah krsnas tu bhagavan svayam indrari-vyakulam lokam mrdayanti yuge yuge

"All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme Godhead, but Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself." (Bhag. 1.3.28) Therefore, Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, the source of both the Supersoul and the impersonal Brahman.

Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in his Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15.73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46.10:

jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ

bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ

"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni) are unlimited (aśes.atah.) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities (guṇādibhiḥ)."

Early epigraphical evidence[link]

Bhagavat[link]

The Bhāgavat religion of early Hinduism 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 Sunga king, describes himself as a Bhagavata ("Heliodorena bhagavatena"):

"Devadevasa Va [sude]vasa Garudadhvajo ayam

karito i[a] Heliodorena bhaga-

vatena Diyasa putrena Takhasilakena

Yonadatena agatena maharajasa

Amtalikitasa upa[m]ta samkasam-rano

Kasiput[r]asa [Bh]agabhadrasa tratarasa

vasena [chatu]dasena rajena vadhamanasa"

"This Garuda-standard of Vasudeva (Vishnu), the God of Gods

was erected here by the Bhagavata 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."

(Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909))

In Buddhism[link]

The word "Bhagava" has also been used to describe the Buddha in the earliest Pali texts. The term "Bhagava" has been used in Pali Anussati or recollections as one of the terms that describes the "Tathagatha".

In the Buddha anussati, Bhagavan is defined the following way:

Iti pi so Bhagava

Thus is Buddha,

1) Araham - deserving homage.

2) Samma-sambuddho - perfectly awakened.

3) Vijja-carana sampanno - perfect in true knowledge and conduct.

4) Sugato - well gone (to Nibbana)

5) Lokavidu - knower of the worlds

6) Anuttaro purisa damma sarathi - incomparable leader (lit. charioteer) of persons to be tamed.

7) Satta deva manusanam - teacher of gods and humans.

8) Buddho - awakened one.

9) Bhagavan - Blessed One.

(Sakamunisa 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 (Tarn, p391):

"Theudorena meridarkhena pratithavida ime 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 [1])

See also[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1-58115-203-5
• Buddhism in Central Asia by B.N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) ISBN 81-208-0372-8
• The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.

v t e Avatars of Vishnu Dashavatara Matsya Kurma Varaha Narasimha Vamana Parashurama Rama Krishna Balarama1 Buddha1 Kalki Other avatars Catursana Narada Nara-Narayana Kapila Dattatreya Yajna Rishabha Prithu Dhanvantari Mohini Vyasa Prsnigarbha Hayagriva Hamsa 1 Buddha or Balarama is considered the avatar of Vishnu, depending on the tradition. In North India, Buddha is included and in South India, Balarama.