ORIENTAL SERIES.

38 A VA TARA A YODHYA.
The moon-like or gentle Kama,
f
7. Kama or Rama-chandra,
the hero of the Kaniayam. He was the son of Dasaratha, king
of Ayodhya, of the Solar race, and was born in the Treta-yuga,
or second age, for the purpose of destroying the demon Kavamu
8. Kn'shwa,
*
The black or dark coloured' This is the most
popular of all the later deities, and has obtained such preeminence,
that his votaries look upon him not simply as an
incarnation, but as a perfect manifestation of Yishrcu. When
Krishna is thus exalted to the full godhead, his elder brother, ,
Bala-rama takes his place as the eighth Avatara. See Krishna
and Bala-rama.
9. Buddha, The great success of Buddha as a religious
teacher seems to have induced the Brahmans to adopt him as
their own, rather than to recognise him as an adversary. So
Yishmi is said to have appeared as Buddha to encourage demons
and wicked men to despise the Yedas, reject caste, and deny the
existence of the gods, and thus to effect their own destruction.
10. Kalki or Kalkin.
' The white horse. 5
This incarnation
of Yislmu is to appear at the end of the Kali or Iron Ago,
seated on a white horse, with a drawn sword blazing like a
comet, for the final destruction of the wicked, the renovation of
creation, and the restoration of purity.
The above are the usually recognised Avataras, but the number
is sometimes extended, and the Bhagavata Purawa, which is the
most fervid of all the Puranas in its glorification of Yislmu,
enumerates twenty-two incarnations: (r.) Purusha, the male,
the progenitor; (2.) Yaraha, the boar; (3.) Narada, the great
sage; (4.) Kara and Naxayawa (q.v.); (5.) Kapila, the great
sage; (6.) Dattatreya, a sage; (7.) Yajna, sacrifice; (8.) JBishabha,
a righteous king, father of Bharata; (9.) Pnthu, a king; (10.)
Matsya, the fish; (n.) Kiirma, the tortoise; (12 and 13.)
Dhanwantari, the physician of the gods ; (14.) Nara-sinha, the
man-lion; (15.) Yamana, the dwarf; (16.) Parasu-rama; (17.)
Yeda-Yyasa; (18.) Kama; (19.) Bala-rama; (20.) Knslma; (21.)
Buddha; (22.) KalkL But after this it adds "The incarnations
of Yislmu are innumerable, like the rivulets flowing from-
an inexhaustible lake. JMshis, Manus, gods, sons of Maims,
Prajapatis, are all portions of him."
AYATAE4JVA. An abode of the Kakshasas.
AYODHYA. The modern Oude, The capital of Ikshwaku,