“Descent” (Sanskrit) of the divine into the world (human, animal, plant, mineral). In Hinduism, manifestations of Viṣṇu.
Although the Incarnation of Christ does not exclude this general theophanic aspect, it is, essentially, radically different. Indeed, it is not God as such who became flesh, but the Word; it is not the divine nature that assumes human nature, but the Hypostasis of the Son; this metaphysical difference entails a decisive consequence. Christ came in the flesh assuming human nature, together with his divine nature, as the Person of the only-begotten Son. This redemptive assumption of the whole of human nature is the mystery of hypostatic union (two natures, one Person).