Bhagavan
Bhagavān or Bhagwan is an epithet for a deity, particularly for Krishna and other avatars of Lord Vishnu in Vaishnavism and for Lord Shiva in the Shaivism tradition of Hinduism. The term is used by Jains to refer to the Tirthankaras, particularly Mahavira, and by Buddhists to refer to Lord Buddha in India. In many parts of India and South Asia, Bhagavān represents the abstract concept of a universal God to Hindus who are spiritual and religious but do not worship a specific deity.
Bhagwan itself is an acronym of the combination of the 5 elements of nature. Bha means Bhoomi, Ga means gaggan, Va means Vayu, A means Agni and finally, N means Neer
The term "Bhagavān" does not appear in Vedas or in the early or middle Upanishads. There is the use of the term "Bhag" in Mundaka Upanishad, but not for the term "God". The word "Ishwar" is not used in Vedic scripture, except Ishawasyopanishad. The oldest Sanskrit texts use the term Brahman to represent an abstract "Supreme Soul" and "Absolute Reality", while using names of deities like Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva to represent Gods and Goddesses. The term "Ishvara" appears in Vedas and Upanishads, where it is used to discuss spiritual concepts. The word Bhagavān is found in later Vedic shaastr, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Puranas.
In Bhakti school literature, the term is typically used for any deity to whom prayers are offered; for example, Rama, Ganesha, Krishna, Brahma, Shiva, or Vishnu. A particular deity is often the devotee's one and only Bhagavan. Bhagavan is male in Bhakti traditions, and the female equivalent of Bhagavān is Bhagavatī. To some Hindus, the word Bhagavan is an abstract, genderless concept of God.
In Buddhism's Pali scriptures, the term is used to denote Gautama Buddha, referring to him as Bhagavān Buddha and Bhagavān Shakyamuni. The term Bhagavān is also found in other Theravada, Mahayana and Tantra Buddhist texts.
Some tribes of India claim that the Sharad Baba Bhagavan is the creator of the universe. It also says that suffering and prosperity happens at the same time for different beings. It acknowledges the randomness of the world and says we should follow our dharma to do what little we can for the universe.
Etymology and meaning
Bhagavān literally means "fortunate", "blessed", and hence "illustrious", "divine", "venerable", "holy", etc.The Vishnu Purana defines Bhagavān as follows,
The same text defines Bhaga and provides the etymological roots as follows as translated by Wilson,
Bhagavan is related to the root Bhaj, and implies someone "glorious", "illustrious", "revered", "venerable", "divine", "holy". The root Bhaj also means "share with", "partake of", "aportion". Clooney and Stewart state that this root, in Vaishnava traditions, implies Bhagavan 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.
Buddha is referred to as Bhagavan in ancient and medieval Theravada, Mahayana and Tantra Buddhist texts, where it connotes, "Lord", "Blessed One", "Fortunate One".
Hinduism
Literature
The Vedic texts neither mention nor provide a basis to explain the origin of the Bhagavān concept.; Upanishads
The root of "Bhagavan, "Bhaga" is mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad, but it does not mean or imply "Bhagavan"':
The Mundaka Upanishad then answers this question in two parts over verses 1.1.4 through 3.2.11. These verses split knowledge into two sections: lower knowledge and higher knowledge. Lower knowledge includes Vedas, phonetics, grammar, etymology, meter, astronomy and ceremony rituals. 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. The word Bhagavan does not appear in the Mundaka Upanishad and other early or middle Upanishads.
Later and medieval era Upanishads mention Bhagavān. For example, the very first verse of the Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣhad uses the term, as follows,
Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa, a minor Upanishad, then proceeds to disclose, among other things, two Bhagavan names in the Hare Krishna mantra in verse 2. This verse is sung by International Society for Krishna Consciousness devotees.
; 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 identifies Krishna as Narayana, Vāsudeva, Vishnu and Hari—Bhagavan present in human form. 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. 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.
; Bhagavad Gita
The term Bhagavan appears extensively in the Bhagavad Gita, as Krishna counsels Arjuna. For example,
[Vaishnavism]
The Bhāgavat traditions of Hinduism invoke Bhagavan in Narayan Upakheyam and in the Bhagavad Gita of Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. The devotion to Lord Vishnu is described as ten incarnations of Vishnu. It introduced the Chatur – vyuha concept and laid emphasis on the worship of five Vrisini-warriors, reached the peak of its popularity during the Gupta Period.Significance
In Hinduism, the word, Bhagavān, indicates the Supreme Being or Absolute Truth conceived as a Personal God. This personal feature indicated by the word Bhagavān differentiates its usage from other similar terms 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 states the definition of Bhagavān to mean the supreme most being:
The Learned Know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.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.
Bhakti consists of actions performed dedicated to the Paramatman, the individuated existence which has free-will and who is the final cause of the world; the Vedic Rishis describe the goals originated from God as Bhagavān, the Ananda aspect of God where God has manifested His personality is called Bhagavān when consciousness aligns with those goals to cause the unified existence and commencement of works follow.
Buddhism
Literature
;Bhagavā in Buddhist textsSome Buddhist texts, such as the Pali suttas, use the word Bhagavā for Buddha, meaning "the fortunate one". The term Bhagavā has been used in Pali Anussati or recollections as one of the terms that describes the "Tathāgata" as one full of good qualities, as arahant, sammā-sambuddho and sugato.
In the Buddha Anussati, Bhagavan is defined the following way:
; Bhagavān in Buddhist texts
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". 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." Elsewhere, it states,
Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a sutra of Mahāyāna Buddhism, for example, uses the word Bhagavān over three hundred times, which is either left untranslated by scholars, or translated as "Lord or Blessed One". The devotional meditational text Sukhavati Vyuhopadesa by Vasubandhu uses the term Bhagavān in its invocations.
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.Inscriptions
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 of Vishnu. :This Garuda-standard of Vasudeva, the God of Gods was erected here by the Bhagavatena Heliodoros, the son of Dion, a man of Taxila, sent by the Great Greek King Antialcidas, as ambassador to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior son of the princess from Benares, in the fourteenth year of his reign."