The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1117 page)

 
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(Skt.,
, ‘to have power’). The concept of a personal God as creator of the cosmos. In the
Vedas
,
vara is the power of a ruler, hence divine power (
Atharva Veda
, 7. 102. 1) and thus (19. 6. 4) a title of
Puru
a
as lord of immortality. In
Advaita
Ved
nta,
vara is
Brahman
as Brahman is related to the manifest world of appearance. As, in effect, the personal god (i.e. the way in which God becomes personal to an individual),
vara evokes the attitude of
bhakti
(devotion).