# दशावतार (daśāvatāra)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/dashavatara

दशावतार (daśāvatāra) is a Sanskrit word meaning Vishnu. Its 6 recorded definitions are grouped into 2 contexts, among them Vishnu or His Ten Incarnations, A Religious Observance.

- **Etymology:** E. दश ten, and अवतार descent; the deity of whom there are ten descents from heaven, for the purpose of protecting or punishing mankind: see अवतार । — E. daśa ten, and avatāra descent; the deity of whom there are ten descents from heaven, for the purpose of protecting or punishing mankind: see avatāra
- **SLP1:** `daSAvatAra`  **IAST:** daśāvatāra  **Devanagari:** दशावतार
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashavatara
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/dashavatara/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### Vishnu or His Ten Incarnations (5 definitions)
- Vishnu  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H3) [Printed book page 472,3] दशा (daśā) वतार (vatāra) m. (= ° श - रूप (°śa-rūpa) ) Viṣṇu, L. [ ID=91027 ]
- an epithet of Vishnu  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दश (daśa) ावतार (daśāvatāra) [Printed book page 403 ] दश (daśa) ावतार (daśāvatāra) m. ( - रः (-raḥ) ) A name of VIṢṆU. E. दश (daśa) ten, and अवतार (avatāra) descent; the deity of whom there are ten descents from heaven, for the purpose of protecting or punishing mankind: see अवतार (avatāra). [ ID=18719 ]
- A name of Vishnu.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दशावतार (daśāvatāra) [Printed book page 358-a ] दशा _ वतार (daśā_vatāra) ( रः ) ((raḥ)) 1. m. A name of Vishnu. [ ID=18192 ]
- the ten incarnations of Vishnu  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दशावतार (daśāvatāra) [Printed book page 327-17 ] दशन् - अवतार (avatāra) (daśan-avatāra) m. pl. the ten incarnations of Vishṇu. See under अवतार (avatāra). [ ID=16597 ]
- an epithet of Vishnu  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दश (daśa) ावतार (daśāvatāra) [Printed book page 335-b ] दश (daśa) ावतार (daśāvatāra) m. ( - रः (-raḥ) ) A name of VISHNU. E. दश (daśa) ten, and अवतार (avatāra) descent; the deity of whom there are ten descents from heaven, for the purpose of protecting or punishing mankind: see अवतार (avatāra) । (avatāra.) [ ID=18704 ]

### A Religious Observance (1 definition)
- an observance performed on the tenth day of the light half of Bhadrapada  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > दशा (daśā) वतार (vatāra) n. N. of an observance (performed on the 10th day of the light half of Bhādrapada, Vrata-prakāśa [Cologne Addition] (Title) x ), Bhaviṣya-purāṇa, khaṇḍa 1 and 2: Bhaviṣya-purāṇa and Bhaviṣyottara-purāṇa (Title) ii, 60 [ ID=91028 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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