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| Bhagwan is a term used to refer to ] in ], a major language of ]. The term usually means the One and the Supreme ] (also called ], the Supreme Lord or ], the Supreme Spirit) in a monotheistic sense. Rarely, the term is also applied as an epithet to some other particular deities or ]s like ], ], ] and ], especially because the ] and the ] like to visualize God in the form of ] or ]. The exclamation "Hey Bhagwān" is used similarly to "Oh Jesus" or "Oh God". | Bhagwan is a term used to refer to ] in ], a major language of ]. The term usually means the One and the Supreme ] (also called ], the Supreme Lord or ], the Supreme Spirit) in a monotheistic sense. Rarely, the term is also applied as an epithet to some other particular deities or ]s like ], ], ] and ], especially because the ] and the ] like to visualize God in the form of ] or ]. The exclamation "Hey Bhagwān" is used similarly to "Oh Jesus" or "Oh God". | ||
| There was an |
There was an anti-governmental religious group in ] known as the ]. They followed Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and were at Big Muddy Ranch in ] from 1981-1985. They attempted to destabilize the local government by assassinating the State Attorney General and poisoning salad bars and coffee creamers at local restaurants. Over 750 people were sickened, and the group was shut down as an unlawful cult. 5 cult members were tried and found guilty of various crimes. | ||
| ] often refer to ] as "Bahá Bhagwan". | ] often refer to ] as "Bahá Bhagwan". | ||
Revision as of 19:59, 11 September 2006
 | It has been suggested that Sri Bhagavan be merged into this article. (Discuss) |
Template:IndicText Bhagavan - also written Bhagawan or Bhagwan (भगवान् in devanagari script, Bhagavān in IAST) is a Sanskrit word meaning Holy or Blessed one. Historically, it has been used by many spiritual masters in India including Gautama Buddha. More recent and contemporary teachers with the title include Ramana Maharshi, Rajneesh, and Bhagavan Nityananda. A title of veneration, it is often translated as "Lord" as in "Lord Krishna" or "Lord Siva".
Usage
The actual word is Bhagavat (भगवत् in Devanagari script, pronounced as "bəgəvət"), and its nominative singular form under nominal declination is Bhagavān. It literally means "possessing fortune, fortunate" (from the root "Bhaga", meaning fortune, glory) , and hence "glorious, divine, venerable, holy", etc. It is also an epithet of some devas like Vishnu, his incarnation Krishna and Shiva. Other religions like Buddhism and Jainism also use the epithet of Bhagavan before their founders Gautama Buddha and Mahavira respectively, but it is not to be confused with the sense of "God", because they are respectively agnostic and atheistic. They use the term in the sense of "Blessed One" or "Venerable". It is also the title of the sacred scripture Gita. Many other gurus in India also use it in a similar sense. The feminine of Bhagavat is Bhagawatī and is an epithet of Durga and many other goddesses.
Bhagwan is a term used to refer to God in Hindi, a major language of India. The term usually means the One and the Supreme God (also called Ishvara, the Supreme Lord or Paramatman, the Supreme Spirit) in a monotheistic sense. Rarely, the term is also applied as an epithet to some other particular deities or devas like Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu and Krishna, especially because the Shaivites and the Vaishnavites like to visualize God in the form of Vishnu or Shiva. The exclamation "Hey Bhagwān" is used similarly to "Oh Jesus" or "Oh God".
There was an anti-governmental religious group in Oregon known as the Rajneeshees. They followed Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and were at Big Muddy Ranch in Wasco County from 1981-1985. They attempted to destabilize the local government by assassinating the State Attorney General and poisoning salad bars and coffee creamers at local restaurants. Over 750 people were sickened, and the group was shut down as an unlawful cult. 5 cult members were tried and found guilty of various crimes.
Bahá'ís in India often refer to Bahá'u'lláh as "Bahá Bhagwan".
The worshippers of a Bhagavat were called Bhāgavata.
Early epigraphical evidence
Devotional Hinduism
The Bhāgavat religion 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 vasa Garudadhvajo ayam
- karito i Heliodorena bhaga-
- vatena Diyasa putrena Takhasilakena
- Yonadatena agatena maharajasa
- Amtalikitasa upata samkasam-rano
- Kasiputasa agabhadrasa tratarasa
- vasena 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))
There is a possibility that "Heliodorena bhagavatena" could only mean that Heliodorus was devoted to a personal deity, not specifically Vishnu-Krishna, possibly to the Buddha, who is also known to have been referred to as a Bhagavat.
In Hinduism, the Bhagavat religion later in history included the Buddha (Buddhadeva) as the ninth avatar of Vishnu, instead of Balarama. The religious texts developing the Bhagavat concept are the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana.
Devotional Buddhism
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The word "Bhagavat" is also known to have been used to qualify the Buddha (sakamunisa bhagavato), also around the 1st century BCE, as 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 )
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.
- "Bagwhan Shree Rajneesh in the News"
