Bhagavan

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Bhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem bhaga-vant- (nominative/vocative भगवान् Bhagavān) literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" (from the noun bhaga, meaning "fortune, wealth", cognate to Slavic bog "god"), 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 as a respectful form of address for a number of contemporary spiritual teachers in India.

Definitions

The Bhagavata Purana (1.2.11) clearly states the meaning 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.

In the Vishnu Purana (6.5.79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines six bhagas as follows:

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

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

Bhagavat

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

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 anusati, Bhagavan is defined the following way:

Iti pi so Bhagavan

Thus is Buddha,

1) Arham - deserving homage.

2) Sammasambuddho - perfectly awakened.

3) Vijja carana sampanno - at whose feet knowledge is completed.

4) Sugato - well gone (to Nibbana)

5) Lokvidu - knower of the world

6) Anuttaro - the highest

7) Purisa damma sarathi - charioteer of heroes.

8) Satta deva manusanam - counselar of gods and men

9) Buddho - awakened one.

10) 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

• Bhagavata Purana
• Bhagavad Gita
• Brahman
• Ishvara
• Paramatma
• Om Tat Sat
• Turiya

Notes

References

• 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.