Avatar

===Types===
[[File:Mohini in Belur temple.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Mohini]], the female avatar of Vishnu (statue at [[Belur, Karnataka|Belur]] temple, Karnataka.)]]
The ''avatar'' concept was further developed and refined in later Hindu texts. One approach was to identify full avatars and partial avatars. Krishna, Rama, and Narasimha were full avatars (''purna avatars''), while others were partial avatars (''ansha avatars'').{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=99}} Some declared, states Noel Sheth, that every living creature is an ''avatar'' of Vishnu.{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=99}} The [[Pancharatra]] text of Vaishnavism declares that Vishnu's avatars include those that are direct and complete ({{transliteration|hi|sakshad}}), indirect and endowed ({{transliteration|hi|avesha}}), cosmic and salvific ({{transliteration|hi|vyuha}}), inner and inspirational ({{transliteration|hi|antaryamin}}), consecrated and in the form of image ({{transliteration|hi|archa}}).{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=99}}

Yet another classification, developed in Krishna schools, centers around ''Guna-avatars'', ''Purusha-avatars'' and ''Lila-avatars'', with their subtypes.{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=100}}<ref name="Holdrege2015p50">{{cite book|author=Barbara A. Holdrege |title=Bhakti and Embodiment: Fashioning Divine Bodies and Devotional Bodies in Krsna Bhakti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9FgCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-66910-4|pages=50–67 }}</ref> The ''Guna-avatar'' classification of ''avatars'' is based on the [[Guṇa]]s concept of the [[Samkhya]] school of Hindu philosophy, that is Rajas (Brahma), Sattva (Vishnu), and Tamas (Shiva).{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=100}}<ref name="Holdrege2015p50"/> These personalities of the [[Trimurti]] are referred to as ''Guna avatars''.{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=100}} The ''Purushavatara'' are three. The first evolves all matter (Prakriti), the second is the soul present in each individual creature, the third is the interconnected oneness or Brahman that connects all souls.{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=100}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Janmajit Roy |title=Theory of Avatāra and Divinity of Chaitanya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lr9pFQPwhXYC |year=2002|publisher=Atlantic Publishers |isbn=978-81-269-0169-2 |pages=190–191 }}</ref> The ''Lilavataras'' are partial or full manifestations of Vishnu, where either some powers (Shakti) or material parts of him exist.{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=100}}<ref name="Holdrege2015p50"/>

Vishnu is Purushavatara.<ref name="Bassuk1987p143">{{cite book|author=Daniel E Bassuk |title=Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3iwCwAAQBAJ |year=1987|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-08642-9 |pages=143–144}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mittal|first=Sushil|title=The Hindu World|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-67414-7|pages=164}}</ref> The Matsya, Kurma, and Vamana avatars of Vishnu are Lilavataras.<ref name="Holdrege2015p50"/><ref name="Bassuk1987p143"/> A ''Purnarupa'' in this classification, is when Vishnu manifests completely along with his qualities and powers. In Bengal Vaishnavism, Krishna is the ''Purnarupa''.{{sfn|Sheth|2002|p=100}} In Shaivism, Bhairava is the purnarupa of Shiva.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Smith |title=The Dance of Siva: Religion, Art and Poetry in South India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTLlcGlkdjkC |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52865-8|page=186}}</ref>