The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (301 page)

a's half-brother), and
Para
ur
ma
(R
ma with the Axe) entered the group. Even the
Buddha
was appropriated by certain traditions. A future manifestation is connected with
Kalkin
.
Many other figures were regionally, or at times envisaged as avat
ra of Vi
u, e.g. Nayagr
va,
Datt
treya
, the Ha
sa (Goose), etc. But by the close of the first millennium CE a set of ten had acquired the widest currency (Baladeva, the Buddha, and Para
ur
ma being somewhat less rigidly included in such lists of ten). Another extension of the concept that proved particularly useful was the idea of an
arcâvat
ra
, viz., the descent and permanent residence of a deity (particularly Vi