The word "avatar" conjures up images of blue human-like beings with tails from James Cameron's popular science fiction movie. However, "avatar" is a Sanskrit word that describes the Supreme being or God when He descends to Earth. "Ava" means "down" and "tr" refers to "cross over." Thus it refers to God who crosses over the line between the spiritual realm and comes down to the material sphere. In the movie, the consciousness and mind of the human being are linked to their avatar counterparts on the planet Pandora. In the Hindu tradition, God is said to descend in varying forms, at different times, and those forms are known as avatars.
Shri Chaitanya, the most recent avatar of Krishna or God, took birth on this day, in the small town of Navadvip in West Bengal in the year 1486. In the Bengali language, Navadvip means "nine islands." He is known as the golden avatar of love because his skin resembled the color of molten gold and because he came to freely distribute love of God to anyone who was willing to accept it. He didn't consider a person's caste or creed when distributing spiritual knowledge and welcomed all to partake in the spiritual practice of calling out the names of God.
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