(Skt., ‘black’, ‘dark’). A composite figure in Hinduism, becoming eventually the eighth and most celebrated avat ra (incarnation) of Vi u . In the g Veda , the name appears, but is not connected with divinity. The transformation of K a appears to have been a part of a longing (expressed in Bh gavata Pur a ) for a more personal than philosophical focus for religious devotion and progress: according to 1. 3. 27, K as tu bhagav n svayam