231. Annie Besant - Avataras[1]

8/12/2019 231. Annie Besant - Avataras[1]

1/66

Avataras

by

Annie Besant

Four Lectures Delivered at the Twenty-fourth Anniversary

Meetingof the Theosophical Society at Adyar Madras, Decemer !"##

$ontents

! %hat is an Avatara

&The Source of and 'eed forAvataras

( Some Special Avataras

) Shri *rishna

F+ST L$T.

%hat is an Avatara

!/ Brothers0 1 very time that we comehere together to study the fundamental truths of all

religions, + cannot ut feel how vast is the su2ect, howsmall the e3pounder, how mighty the hori4on that opens
http://www.anandgholap.net/#whathttp://www.anandgholap.net/#sourcehttp://www.anandgholap.net/#sourcehttp://www.anandgholap.net/#somehttp://www.anandgholap.net/#shrihttp://www.anandgholap.net/#sourcehttp://www.anandgholap.net/#sourcehttp://www.anandgholap.net/#somehttp://www.anandgholap.net/#shrihttp://www.anandgholap.net/#what


2/66

efore our thoughts, how narrow the words which striveto s5etch it for your eyes/ 6ear after year we meet, timeafter time we strive to fathom some of those greatmysteries of life, of the Self, which form the only su2ectreally worthy of the profoundest thought of man/ All else

is passing7 all else is transient7 all else is ut the toy of amoment Fame and power, wealth and science 1 all thatis in this world elow is as nothing eside the grandeur ofthe ternal Self in the universe and in man, one in all 8ismanifold manifestations, marvellous and eautiful inevery form that 8e puts forth/ And this year, of all themanifestations of the Supreme, we are going to dare tostudy the holiest of the holiest, those manifestations of9od in the world in which 8e shows 8imself as divine,coming to help the world that 8e has made, shining forthin 8is essential nature, the form ut a thin film which

scarce veils the Divinity from our eyes/ 8ow then shallwe venture to approach it, how shall we dare to study it,save with deepest reverence, with profoundest humility7for if there needs for the study of 8is wor5s patience,reverence and humleness of heart, what when we study8im whose wor5s ut partially reveal 8im, when we try tounderstand what is meant y an Avatara, what is themeaning, what the purpose of such a revelation:

&/ ;ur


3/66

whose origin they fail to understand/ The priest and theprophet, to use two well-5nown words, have ever in latertimes come into conflict one with the other/ The priestcarries on the traditions of anti=uity7 too often he has lostthe 5nowledge that made them real/ The prophet 1

coming forth from time to time with the divine word hot asfire on his lips 1 spea5s out the ancient truth andilluminates tradition/ But they who cling to the words oftradition are apt to e linded y the light of the fire andto call out >heretic> against the one who spea5s the truththat they have lost Therefore, in religion after religion,when some great teacher has arisen, there have eenopposition, clamour, re2ection, ecause the truth hespo5e was too mighty to e narrowed within the limits ofhalf-linded men/ And in such a su2ect as we are tostudy to-day, certain grooves have een made, certain

ruts as it were, in which the human mind is running, and +5now that in laying efore you the occult truth, + mustneeds, at some points, come into clash with details of atradition that is rather repeated y memory than eitherunderstood or the truths eneath it grasped/ %hat is anAvatara:> To-morrow we shall put and strive to answer,partly at least, the =uestion, >%ho is the source ofAvataras:> Then later we shall ta5e up special Avataras

oth of the 5osmos and of human races/ Thus + hope toplace efore you a clear, definite succession of ideas on


4/66

this great su2ect, not as5ing you to elieve themecause + spea5 them, not as5ing you to accept themecause + utter them/ 6our reason is the ar to whichevery truth must come which is true for you7 and you errdeeply, almost fatally, if you let the voice of authority

impose itself where you do not answer to the spea5ing/very truth is only true to you as you see it/ and as itilluminates the mind7 and truth however true is not yettruth for you, unless your heart opens out to receive it, asthe flower opens out its heart to receive the rays of themorning sun/

)/ First, then, let us ta5e a statementthat men of every religion will accept Divinemanifestations of a special 5ind ta5e place from time totime as the need arises for their appearance7 and these

special manifestations are mar5ed out from the universalmanifestation of 9od in 8is 5osmos7 for never forget thatin the lowest creature that crawls the earth +shvara ispresent as in the highest Deva/ But there are certainspecial manifestations mar5ed out from this general self-revelation in the 5osmos, and it is these specialmanifestations which are called forth y special needs/Two words especially have een used in 8induism,mar5ing a certain distinction in the nature of themanifestation 1 one the word >Avatara>, the other theword >A?vesha/> ;nly for a moment need we stop on themeaning of the words, important to us ecause the literalmeaning of the words points to the fundamentaldifference etween the two/ The word >Avatara>, as you5now, has as its root >tri>, passing over, and with theprefi3 which is added, the >ava>, you get the idea ofdescent, one who descends/ That is the literal meaningof the word/ The other word has as its root >vish>,permeating, penetrating, pervading, and you have therethe thought of something which is permeated orpenetrated/ So that while in the one case, Avatara, there

is the thought of a descent from aove, from +shvara toman or animal7 in the other, there is rather the idea of anentity already e3isting who is influenced, permeated,pervaded y the divine power, specially illuminated as itwere/ And thus we have a 5ind of intermediate step, ifone may say so, etween the divine manifestation in theAvatara and in the 5osmos 1 the partial divinemanifestation in one who is permeated y the influenceof the Supreme, or of some other eing who practicallydominates the individual, the go who is thus permeated/

@/ 'ow what are the occasions whichlead to these great manifestations: 'one can spea5 with


5/66

mightier authority on this point than 8e who came8imself as an Avatara 2ust efore the eginning of ourown age, the Divine Lord Shri *rishna 8imself/ Turn tothat marvellous poem, the Bhagavad-9ita, to the fourthAdhyaya, Shlo5as and "7 there 8e tells us what draws

8im forth to irth into 8is world in the manifested form ofthe Supreme 0

/ >%hen Dharma, 1 righteousness,law 1 decays, when Adharma 1 unrighteousness,lawlessness 1 is e3alted, then + Myself come forth0 forthe protection of the good, for the destruction of the evil,for the estalishing firmly of Dharma, + am orn from ageto age>/ That is what 8e tells us of the coming forth of theAvatara/ That is, the needs of 8is world call upon 8im tomanifest 8imself in 8is divine power7 and we 5now from

other of 8is sayings that in addition to those which dealwith the human needs, there are certain 5osmicnecessities which in the earlier ages of the world?s storycalled forth special manifestations/ %hen in the greatwheel of evolution another turn round has to e given,when some new form, new type of life is coming forth,then also the Supreme reveals 8imself, emodying thetype which thus 8e initiates in 8is 5osmos, and in thisway turning that everlasting wheel which 8e comes forthas +shvara to turn/ Such then, spea5ing =uite generally,the meaning of the word, and the o2ect of the coming/

/ From that we may fitly turn to themore special =uestion, >%hat is an Avatara:> And it ishere that + must as5 your close attention, nay, yourpatient consideration, where points that to some e3tentmay e unfamiliar are laid efore you7 for as + said, it isthe occult view of the truth which + am going to partiallyunveil, and those who have not thus studied truth need tothin5 carefully ere they re2ect, need to consider long erethey refuse/ %e shall see as we try to answer the

=uestion ow far the great authorities help us tounderstand, and how far the lac5 of 5nowledge in readingthose authorities has led to misconception/ 6ou mayrememer that the late learned T/ Sua ow in thelectures that he gave on the Bhagavad-9ita put to you acertain view of the Avatara, that it was a descent of+shvara 1 or, as he said, using the theosophical term,the Logos, which is only the 9ree5 name for +shvara 1 adescent of +shvara, uniting 8imself with a human soul/%ith all respect for the profound learning of the lamentedpandit, + cannot ut thin5 that that is only a partial

definition/


6/66

having so wide a field to cover in the small numer oflectures that he gave, and he therefore chose out oneform, as we may say, of self-revelation, leavinguntouched the others, which now in dealing with thesu2ect y itself we have full time to study/ Let me then

egin as it were at the eginning, and then give youcertain authorities which may ma5e the view easier toaccept7 let me state without any 5ind of attempt to veil orevade, what is really an Avatara/ Fundamentally 8e isthe result of evolution/ +n far past *alpas, in worlds otherthan this, nay, in universes earlier than our own, thosewho were to e Avataras climed slowly, step y step,the vast ladder of evolution, climing from mineral toplant, from plant to animal, from animal to man, fromman to Civanmu5ta, from Civanmu5ta higher and higheryet, up the mighty hierarchy that stretches eyond Those

who have lierated Themselves from the onds ofhumanity7 until at last, thus climing, They cast off notonly all the limits of the separated go, not only urstasunder the limitations of the separated Self, ut entered+shvara 8imself and e3panded into the all-consciousnessof the Lord, ecoming one in 5nowledge as they hadever een one in essence with that eternal Life fromwhich originally they came forth, living in that life, centreswithout circumferences, living centres, one with theSupreme/ There stretches ehind such a ;ne theendless chain of irth after irth, of manifestation aftermanifestation/ During the stage in which 8e was human,during the long climing up of the ladder of humanity,there were two special characteristics that mar5ed outthe future Avatara from the ran5s of men/ ;ne hisasolute ha5ti, his devotion to the Supreme7 for onlythose who are ha5tas and who to their ha5ti have wedgnyana, or 5nowledge, can reach this goal7 for ydevotion, says Shri *rishna, can a man >enter into Myeing/> And the need of the devotion for the futureAvatara is this0 he must 5eep the centre that he has uilt

even in the life of +shvara, so that he may e ale to drawthe circumference once again round that centre, in orderthat he may come forth as a manifestation of +shvara,one with 8im in 5nowledge, one with 8im in power, thevery Supreme 8imself in earthly life7 he must hence havethe power of limiting himself to form, for no form can e3istin the universe save as there is a centre within it roundwhich that form is drawn/ 8e must e so devoted as toe willing to remain for the service of the universe while+shvara 8imself aides in it, to share the continualsacrifice made y 8im, the sacrifice wherey the

universe lives/ But not devotion alone mar5s this great;ne who is climing his divine path/ 8e must also e, as


7/66

+shvara is, a lover of humanity/ .nless within him thereurns the flame of love for men 1 nay, men, do + say: itis too narrow 1 unless within him urns the flame of lovefor everything that e3ists, moving and unmoving, in thisuniverse of 9od, he will not e ale to come forth as the

Supreme whose life and love are in everything that 8ehas rought forth out of 8is eternal and ine3haustile life/>There is nothing>, says the Beloved, >moving orunmoving, that may e3ist ereft of me7> Bhagavad-9ita,3/ (# E and unless the man can wor5 that into his nature,unless he can love everything that is, not only theeautiful ut the ugly, not only the good ut the evil, notonly the attractive ut the repellent, unless in every formhe sees the Self, he cannot clim the steep path theAvatara must tread/

"/ These, then, are the two greatcharacteristics of the man who is to ecome the specialmanifestation of 9od 1 ha5ti, love to the ;ne in whomhe is to merge, and love to those whose very life is thelife of 9od/ ;nly as these come forth in the man is he onthe path that leads him to e 1 in future universes, infar, far future 5alpas 1 an Avatara coming as 9od toman/

#/ 'ow on this view of the nature of anAvatara difficulties, + 5now, arise7 ut they are difficultiesthat arise from a partial view, and then from that viewhaving een merely accepted, as a rule, on the authorityof some great name, instead of on the thin5ing out andthorough understanding of it y the man who repeats theshioleth of his own sect or school/ The view onceta5en, every te3t in Shruti or Smriti that goes against thatview is twisted out of its natural meaning, in order to emade to agree with the idea which already dominates themind/ That is the difficulty with every religion7 a manac=uires his view y tradition, y hait, y irth, y pulic

opinion, y the surroundings of his own time and of hisown day/ 8e finds in the scriptures 1 which elong to notime, to no day, to no one age, and to no one people, utare e3pressions of the eternal eda 1 he finds in themmany te3ts that do not fit into the narrow framewor5 thathe has made7 and ecause he too often cares for theframewor5 more than for the truth, he manipulates thete3t until he can ma5e it fit in, in some dislocated fashion7and the ingenuity of the commentator too often appearsin the s5ill with which he can ma5e words appear tomean what they do not mean in their grammatical and

ovious sense/ Thus, men of every school, under themighty names of men who 5new the truth 1 ut who


8/66

could only give such portion of truth as they deemed manat the time was ale to receive 1 use their names touttress up mista5en interpretations, and thus walls arecontinually uilt up to loc5 the advancing life of man/

!G/ 'ow let me ta5e one e3ample fromone of the greatest names, one who 5new the truth hespo5e, ut also, li5e every teacher, had to rememer thatwhile he was man, those to whom he spo5e werechildren that could not grasp truth with virileunderstanding/ That great teacher, founder of one of thethree schools of the edanta, Shri amanu2acharya, inhis commentary on the Bhagavad-9ita 1 a pricelesswor5 which men of every school might read and profit y1 dealing with the phrase in which Shri *rishna declaresthat 8e has had >ahuni 2anmani> >many irths>, points

out how vast the variety of those irths had een/ Then,confining himself to 8is manifestations as +shvara 1 thatis after 8e had attained to the Supreme 1 he says =uitetruly that 8e was orn y 8is own will7 not y 5arma thatcompelled 8im, not y any force outside 8im thatcoerced 8im, ut y 8is own will 8e came forth as+shvara and incarnated in one form or another/ But thereis nothing said there of the innumerale steps traversedy the mighty ;ne ere yet 8e merged 8imself in theSupreme/ Those are left on one side, unmentioned,unnoticed, ecause what the writer had in his view wasto present to the hearts of men a great ;2ect foradoration, who might gradually lift them upwards andupwards until the Self should lossom in them in turn/ 'oword is said of the previous 5alpas, of the universesstretching ac5ward into the illimitale past 8e spea5s of8is irth as Deva, as 'aga, as 9andharva, as thosemany shapes that 8e has ta5en y 8is own will/ As you5now, or as you may learn if you turn to Shrimad-Bhagavata, there is a much longer list of manifestationsthan the ten usually called Avataras/ There are given one

after another the forms which seem strange to thesuperficial reader when connected in modern thoughtwith the Supreme/ But we find light thrown on the=uestion y some other words of the great Lord7 and wealso find in one famous oo5, full of occult hints 1though not with much e3planation of the hints given 1the 6oga asishtha, a clear definite statement that thedeities, as Mahadeva, ishnu and Brahma, have allclimed upward to the mighty posts They hold/


9/66

separated in the universe as +shvara, or separated in thecopy of the universe in man7 there is ut ;ne without asecond7 there is no life ut 8is, no independence ut 8is,no self-e3istence ut 8is, and from 8im 9ods and menand all ta5e their root and e3ist for ever in and y 8is one

eternal life/ Different stages of manifestation, ut the ;neSelf in all the different stages, the ;ne living in all7 and ifit e true, as true it is, that the Self in man is >unorn,constant, eternal, ancient>, it is ecause the Self in manis one with the ;ne Self-e3istent, and +shvara 8imself isonly the mightiest manifestation of that ;ne who 5nowsno second near 8imself/ Says an nglish poet0

!!/ $loser is 8e than reathing, nearerthan hands and feet/

!&/ The Self is in you and in me, as muchas the Self is in +shvara, that ;ne, eternal, unchanging,un-decaying, whereof every manifested e3istence is utone ray of glory/ Thus it is true, that which is taught in the6oga asishtha7 true it is that even the greatest, eforewhom we ow in worship, has climed in ages past allhuman rec5oning to e one with the Supreme, and, everthere, to manifest 8imself as 9od to the world/

!(/ But now we come to a distinction thatwe find made, and it is a real one/ %e read of afull> as applied to the Avatara:The name is given, as we 5now, to Shri *rishna/ 8e ismar5ed out specially y that name/ Truly the word>purna> cannot apply to the +llimitale, the +nfinite7 8emay not e shown forth in any form7 the eye may neverehold 8im7 only the spirit that is 8imself can 5now the;ne/ %hat is meant y it is that, so far as is possilewithin the limits of form, the manifestation of the formlessappears, so far as is possile it came forth in that great

;ne who came for the helping of the world/ This mayassist you to grasp the distinction/ %here themanifestation is that of a


10/66

*uru5shetra, as5ed his Teacher to repeat that teachingonce again/ And Shri *rishna, reu5ing him for thefic5leness of his mind and stating that 8e was muchdispleased that such 5nowledge should y fic5lenesshave een forgotten, uttered these remar5ale words0 >+t

is not possile for me to state it in full in that way/ +discoursed to thee on the Supreme Brahman, havingconcentrated myself in 6oga/> And then 8e goes on togive out the essence of that teaching, ut not in the samesulime form as we have it in the Bhagavad-9ita/ That isone thing that shows you what is meant y a


11/66

the limits which serve the creatures whom 8e has cometo help/ Ah, how different 8e is, this Mighty ;ne, fromyou and meH %hen we are tal5ing to some one who5nows a little less than ourselves, we tal5 out all we 5nowto show our 5nowledge, e3panding ourselves as much as

we can so as to astonish and ma5e marvel the one towhom we spea57 that is ecause we are so small that wefear our greatness will not e recognised unless wema5e ourselves as large as we can to astonish, ifpossile to terrify7 ut when 8e comes who is reallygreat, who is mightier than anything which 8e produces,8e ma5es 8imself small in order to help those whom 8eloves/ And do you 5now, my rothers, that only inproportion as 8is spirit enters into us, can we in our littlemeasure e helpers in the universe of which 8e is theone life7 until we, in all our doings and spea5ings, place

ourselves within the one we want to help and not outsidehim, feeling as he feels, thin5ing as he thin5s, 5nowingfor the time as he 5nows, with all his limitations, althoughthere may e further 5nowledge eyond, we cannot trulyhelp7 that is the condition of all true help given y man toman, as it is the only condition of the help which is givento man y 9od 8imself/

!@/ And so in other Avataras, 8e limits8imself for men?s sa5e/ Ta5e the great 5ing, Shri ama/%hat did he come to show: The ideal 5shattriya, in everyrelation of the 5shattriya life7 as son 1 perfect as sonali5e to loving father and to 2ealous and for the timeun5ind step-mother/ For you may rememer that whenthe father?s wife who was not 8is own mother ade himgo forth to the forest on the very eve of 8is coronation asheir, 8is gentle answer was0 >Mother, + go>/


12/66

so that they might give the oedience and the loyalty,which men can only give to one whom they 5now asgreater than themselves, then even 8is wife was putaside7 then the test of the fire for Sita, the unsullied andthe suffering7 then She must pass through it to show that

no sin or pollution had come upon 8er y the foul touchof avana, the a5shasa7 then the demand that erehusand?s heart that had een riven might again claspthe wife/ She must come forth pure as woman7 and allthis, ecause 8e was 5ing as well as husand, and onthe throne the people honoured as divine there must onlye purity, spotless as driven snow/ Those limitationswere needed in order that a perfect e3ample might egiven to man, and man might learn to clim yreproducing virtues, made small in order that his smallgrasp might hold them/

!/ %e come to the second great class ofmanifestations, that to which + alluded in the eginning ascovered y the wide term Avesha/ +n that case it is notthat a man in past universes has climed upward andhas ecome one with +shvara7 ut it is that a man hasclimed so far as to ecome so great, so perfect in hismanhood, and so full of love and devotion to 9od andman, that 9od is ale to permeate him with a portion of8is own influence, 8is own power, 8is own 5nowledge,and send him forth into the world as a superhumanmanifestation of 8imself/ The individual go remains7that is the great distinction/ The man is there, though thepower that is acting is the manifested 9od/ Therefore themanifestation will e coloured y the specialcharacteristics of the one over whom this overshadowingis made7 and you will e ale to trace in the thoughts ofthis inspired teacher, the characteristics of the race, ofthe individual, of the form of 5nowledge which elongs tothat man in the incarnation in which the greatovershadowing ta5es place/ That is the fundamental

difference/

!/ But here we find that we come atonce to endless grades, endless varieties, and down theladder of lesser and lesser evolution we may tread, stepy step, until we come to the lower grades that we callinspiration/ +n a case of Avesha it generally continuesthrough a great portion of the life, the latter portion, as arule, and it is comparatively seldom withdrawn/+nspiration, as generally understood, is a more partialthing, more temporary/ Divine power comes down/

illuminates and irradiates the man for the moment, andhe spea5s for the time with authority, with 5nowledge,


13/66

which in his normal state he will e unale proaly tocompass/ Such are the prophets who have illuminatedthe world age after age7 such were in ancient days therahmanas who were the mouth of 9od/ Then truly thedistinction was not that + spo5e of etween priest and

prophet7 oth were 2oined in the one illumination, and theteaching of the priest and the preaching of the prophetran on the same lines and gave forth the same greattruths/ But in later times the distinction arose y thefailure of the priesthood, when the priest turned aside formoney, for fame, for power, for all the things with whichonly younger souls ought to concern themselves 1human toys with which human aies play, and do wiselyin so playing, for they grow y them/ Then the priestsecame formal, the prophets ecame more and morerare, until the great fact of inspiration was thrown ac5

wholly into the past, as though 9od or man had altered,man no longer divine in his nature, 9od no longer willingto spea5 words in the ears of men/ But inspiration is afact in all its stages7 and it goes far farther than some ofyou may thin5/ The inspiration of the prophets, spirituallymighty and convincing, is needed, and they come to theworld to give a new impulse to spiritual truth/ But there isa general inspiration that any one may share who strivesto show out the divine life from which no son of man ise3cluded, for every son of man is sun of 9od/ 8ave youever een drawn away for a moment into higher, morepeaceful realms, when you have come across somethingof eauty, of art, of the wonders of science, of thegrandeur of philosophy: 8ave you for a time lost sight ofthe pettinesses of earth, of trivial troules, of smallworries and annoyances, and felt yourself lifted into acalmer region, into a light that is not the light of commonearth: 8ave you ever stood efore some wondrouspicture wherein the palette of the painter has een ta3edto light the canvas with all the hues of eauteous colourthat art can give to human sight: ;r have you seen in

some wondrous sculpture, the gracious living curves thatthe chisel has freed from the roughness of the marle:;r have you listened while the diviner spell of music haslifted you, step y step, till you seem to hear the9andharvas singing and almost the divine flute is eingplayed and echoing in the lower world: ;r have youstood on the mountain pea5 with the snows around you,and felt the grandeur of the unmoving nature that showsout 9od as well as the human spirit: Ah, if you have5nown any of these peaceful spots in life?s desert, thenyou 5now how all-pervading is inspiration7 how wondrous

the eauty and the power of 9od shown forth in man andin the world7 then you 5now, if you never 5new it efore,


14/66

the truth of that great proclamation of Shri *rishna theBeloved0 >%hatever is royal, good, eautiful, and mighty,understand thou that to go forth from My Splendour>7 Bhagavad-9ita, 3/ )!E all is the reflection of that te2asSplendour, radiance E which is 8is and 8is alone/ For as

there is nought in the universe without 8is love and life,so there is no eauty that is not 8is eauty, that is not aray of the illimitale splendour, one little eam from theunfailing source of life/

!"/

SECOND LECTURE

The Source of and Need for Avataras

!#/

Brothers0 1 6ou will rememer thatyesterday, in dividing the su2ect under different heads, +put down certain =uestions which we would ta5e in order/%e dealt yesterday with the =uestion0 >%hat is anAvatara:> The second =uestion that we are to try toanswer, >%hat is the source of Avataras:> is a =uestionthat leads us deep into the mysteries of the 5osmos, andneeds at least an outline of 5osmic growth and evolutionin order to give an intelligile answer/ + hope to-day to eale also to deal with the succeeding =uestion, >8owdoes the need for Avataras arise:> This will leave us for

to-morrow the su2ect of the special Avataras, and + shallendeavour, if possile, during to-morrow?s discourse, totouch on nine of the Avataras out of the ten recognisedas standing out from all other manifestations of theSupreme/ Then, if + am ale to accomplish that tas5, weshall still have one morning left, and that + propose togive entirely to the study of the greatest of the Avataras,the Lord Shri *rishna 8imself, endeavouring, if possile,to mar5 out the great characteristics of 8is life and 8iswor5, and, it may e, to meet and answer some of theo2ections of the ignorant which, especially in these later

days, have een levelled against 8im y those whounderstand nothing of 8is nature, nothing of the mightywor5 8e came to accomplish in the world/

&G/ 'ow we are to egin to-day ysee5ing an answer to the =uestion, >%hat is the sourceof Avataras:> and it is li5ely that + am going to ta5e a lineof thought somewhat unfamiliar, carrying us, as it does,outside the ordinary lines of our study which deals morewith the evolution of man, of the spiritual nature withinhim/ +t carries us to those far off times, almost

incomprehensile to us, when our universe was cominginto manifestation, when its very foundations, as it were,


15/66

were eing laid/ +n answering the =uestion, however, themere answer is simple/ +t is recognised in all religionsadmitting divine incarnations 1 and they include thegreat religions of the world 1 it is admitted that thesource of Avataras, the source of the Divine incarnations,

is the second or middle manifestation of the sacredTriad/ +t matters not whether with 8indus we spea5 of theTrimurti, or whether with $hristians we spea5 of theTrinity, the fundamental idea is one and the same/Ta5ing first for a moment the $hristian symology, youwill find that every $hristian tells you that the one divineincarnation ac5nowledged in $hristianity 1 for in$hristianity they elieve in one special incarnation only1 you will find in the $hristian nomenclature the divineincarnation or Avatara is that of the second person of theTrinity/ 'o $hristian will tell you that there has ever een

an incarnation of 9od the Father, the primeval Source oflife/ They will never tell you that there has een anincarnation of the third


16/66

names which in philosophy show the attriutes of theSupreme Brahman 1 ta5ing the concrete idea, we haveMahadeva or Shiva, ishnu, and Brahma0 three names,2ust as in the other religion we have three names7 ut thesame fact comes out, that it is the middle or central one

of the Three who is the source of Avataras/ There hasnever een a direct Avatara of Mahadeva, of Shiva8imself/ Appearances: 6es/ Manifestations: 6es/$oming in form for a special purpose served y thatform: ;h yes/ Ta5e the Mahaharata, and you find 8imappearing in the form of the hunter, the *irata, andtesting the intuition of Ar2una, and struggling with him totest his strength, his courage, and finally his devotion to8imself/ But that is a mere form ta5en for a purpose andcast aside the moment the purpose is served7 almost, wemay say, a mere illusion, produced to serve a special

purpose and then thrown away as having completed thatwhich it was intended to perform/ ;ver and over againyou find such appearances of Mahadeva/ 6ou mayrememer one most eautiful story, in which 8e appearsin the form of a $handala An outcaste, e=uivalent to ascavenger E at the gateway of 8is own city of *ashi,when one who was especially overshadowed y amanifestation of 8imself, Shri Shan5aracharya, wascoming with his disciples to the sacred city7 veiling8imself in the form of an outcaste 1 for to 8im all formsare the same, the human differences are ut as thegrains of sand which vanish efore the ma2esty of 8isgreatness 1 8e rolled 8imself in the dust efore thegateway, so that the great teacher could not wal5 acrosswithout touching 8im, and he called to the $handala toma5e way in order that the rahmana might go onunpolluted y the touch of the outcaste7 then the Lord,spea5ing through the form 8e had chosen, reu5ed thevery one whom 8is power overshadowed, as5ing him=uestions which he could not answer and thus aasinghis pride and teaching him humility/ Such forms truly 8e

has ta5en, ut these are not what we can call Avataras7mere passing forms, not manifestations upon earthwhere a life is lived and a great drama is played out Sowith Brahma7 8e also has appeared from time to time,has manifested 8imself for some special purpose7 utthere is no Avatara of Brahma, which we can spea5 of ythat very definite and well understood term/

&!/ 'ow for this fact there must e somereason/ %hy is it that we do not find the source ofAvataras ali5e in all these great divine manifestations:

%hy do they come from only one aspect and that theaspect of ishnu: + need not remind you that there is ut


17/66

one Self, and that these names we use are the names ofthe aspects that are manifested y the Supreme7 wemust not separate them so much as to lose sight of theunderlying unity/ For rememer how, when a worshipperof ishnu had a feeling in his heart against a worshipper

of Mahadeva, as he owed efore the image of 8ari, theface of the image divided itself in half, and Shiva or 8araappeared on one side and ishnu or 8ari appeared onthe other, and the two, smiling as one face on theigoted worshipper, told him that Mahadeva and ishnuwere ut one/ But in Their functions a division arises7They manifest along different lines, as it were, in the5osmos and for the helping of man7 not for 8im ut forus, do these lines of apparent separateness arise/

&&/ Loo5ing thus at it, we shall e ale to

find the answer to our =uestion, not only who is thesource of Avataras, ut why ishnu is the source/ And itis here that + come to the unfamiliar part where + shallhave to as5 for your special attention as regards theuilding of the universe/ 'ow + am using the word>universe>, in the sense of our solar system/ There aremany other systems, each of them complete in itself,and, therefore, rightly spo5en of as a 5osmos, auniverse/ But each of these systems in its turn is part of amightier system, and our sun, the centre of our ownsystem, though it e in very truth the manifested physicalody of +shwara 8imself, is not the only sun/ +f you loo5through the vast fields of space, myriads of suns arethere, each one the centre of its own system, of its ownuniverse7 and our sun, supreme to us, is ut, as it were,a planet in a vaster system, its orit curved round a sungreater than itself/ So in turn that sun, round which oursun is circling, is planet to a yet mightier sun, and eachset of systems in its turn circles round a more centralsun, and so on 1 we 5now not how far may stretch thechain that to us is illimitale0 for who is ale to plum the

depths and heights of space, or to find a manifestedcircumference which ta5es in all universesH 'ay, we saythat they are infinite in numer, and that there is no endto the manifestations of the one Life/

&(/ 'ow that is true physically/ Loo5 atthe physical universe with the eye of spirit, and you seein it a picture of the spiritual universe/ A great word wasspo5en y one of the Masters or ishis, whom in thisSociety we honour and whose teachings we follow/Spea5ing to one of 8is disciples, or pupils, 8e reu5ed

him, ecause, 8e said in words never to e forgotten ythose who have read them0 >6ou always loo5 at the


18/66

things of the spirit with the eyes of the flesh/ %hat youought to do is to loo5 at the things of the flesh with theeyes of the spirit>/ 'ow, what does that mean: +t meansthat instead of trying to degrade the spiritual and to limit itwithin the narrow ounds of the physical, and to say of

the spiritual that it cannot e ecause the human rain isunale clearly to grasp it, we ought to loo5 at the physicaluniverse with a deeper insight and see in it the image,the shadow, the reflection of the spiritual world, and learnthe spiritual verities y studying the images that e3ist ofthem in the physical world around us/ The physical worldis easier to grasp/ Do not thin5 the spiritual is modelledon the physical7 the physical is fundamentally modelledon the spiritual, and if you loo5 at the physical with theeye of spirit, then you find that it is the image of thehigher, and then you are ale to grasp the higher truth y

studying the faint reflections that you see in the worldaround you/ That is what + as5 you to do now/ Cust asyou have your sun and suns, many universes, each onepart of a system mightier than itself, so in the spiritualuniverse there is hierarchy eyond hierarchy of spiritualintelligences who are as the suns of the spiritual world/;ur physical system has at its centre the great spiritual+ntelligence manifested as a Trinity, the +shvara of thatsystem/ Then eyond 8im there is a mightier +shvara,round whom Those who are on the level of the +shvara ofour system circle, loo5ing to 8im as Their central life/And eyond 8im yet another, and eyond 8im othersand others yet, until as the physical universes areeyond our thin5ing, the spiritual hierarchy stretches alsoeyond our thought, and, da44led and linded y thesplendour, we sin5 ac5 to earth, as Ar2una was lindedwhen the aishnava form shone forth on him, and wecry0 >;hH show us again Thy more limited form that wemay 5now it and live y it %e are not yet ready for themightier manifestations/ %e are linded, not helped, ysuch la4e of divine splendour/>

&)/ And so we find that if we would learnwe must limit ourselves 1 nay, we must try to e3pandourselves 1 to the limits of our own system/ %hy: +have met people who have not really any grasp of thislittle world, this grain of dust in which they live, whocannot e content unless you answer =uestions aoutthe ;ne 3istence, the


19/66

are some things eyond the grasp of his intellect,e3istences so mighty that he cannot even dream of thelowest of the attriutes that mar5 them out/ And formyself, who 5now myself ignorant, who 5now that manyan age must pass ere + shall e ale to thin5 of dealing

with these profounder prolems, + sometimes gauge theignorance of the =uestioner y the =uestions that he as5sas to the ultimate e3istences, and when he wants to5now what he calls the primary origin, + 5now that he hasnot even grasped the one-thousandth part of the originout of which he himself has sprung/ Therefore, + say toyou fran5ly that these mighty ;nes whom we worship arethe 9ods of our system7 eyond them there stretchmightier ;nes yet, whom, perhaps, myriads of 5alpashence, we may egin to understand and worship/

&@/ Let us then confine ourselves to ourown system and e glad if we can catch some ray of theglory that illumines it ishnu has 8is own functions, asalso have Brahma and Mahadeva/ The first wor5 in thissystem is done y the third of the sacred great ;nes ofthe Trimurti, Brahma, as you all 5now, for you have readthat there came forth the creative +ntelligence as the thirdof the divine manifestations/ + care not what is thesymology you ta5e7 perchance that of the ishnu


20/66

y the meditation of Brahma/ 8e gives to matter ainding force7 8e gives to it those energies that hold formtogether/ 'o form e3ists without 8im, whether it emoving or unmoving/ 8ow often does Shri *rishna,spea5ing as the supreme ishnu, lay stress on this fact

8e is the life in every form7 without it the form could note3ist, without it it would go ac5 to its primeval elementsand no longer live as form/ 8e is the all-pervading life7the >Supporter of the .niverse> is one of 8is names/Mahadeva has a different function in the universe7especially is 8e the great 6ogi7 especially is 8e the greatTeacher, the Mahaguru7 8e is sometimes calledCagatguru, the Teacher of the world/ ;ver and overagain 1 to ta5e a comparatively modern e3ample, as the9urugita 1 we find 8im as Teacher, to whom


21/66

universe e3ists, inds 8imself that the universe may liveand ultimately share 8is freedom: 8e is ound that theuniverse may e free/ %ho else then should come forthwhen special need arises:

&/ And 8e gives the great types/ Let meremind you of the Shrimad-Bhagavata, where in an earlychapter of the first Boo5, the (rd chapter, a very long listis given of the forms that ishnu too5, not only the greatAvataras, ut also a large numer of others/ +t is said 8eappeared as 'ara and 'arayana7 it is said 8e appearedas *apila7 8e too5 female forms, and so on, a whole longlist eing given of the shapes that 8e assumed/ And,turning from that to a very illuminative passage in theMahaharata, we find 8im in the form of Shri *rishnae3plaining a profound truth to Ar2una/

&"/ There 8e gives the law of theseappearances0 >%hen, ; son of A profound truth, a truththat few in modern times recognise/ very type in theuniverse, in its own place, is good7 every type in theuniverse, in its own place, is necessary/ There is no lifesave 8is life7 how then could any type come intoe3istence apart from the universal life, ereft whereofnothing can e3ist:

/ %e spea5 of good forms and evil, andrightly, as regards our own evolution/ But from the widerstandpoint of the 5osmos, good and evil are relativeterms, and everything is very good in the sight of the

Supreme who lives in every one/ 8ow can a type comeinto e3istence in which 8e cannot live: 8ow cananything live and move, save as it has its eing in 8im:ach type has its wor57 each type has its place7 the typeof the a5shasa as much as the type of the Deva, of theAsura as much as of the Sura/ Let me give you onecurious little simple e3ample, which yet has a certaingraphic force/ 6ou have a pole you want to move, andthat pole is on a pivot, li5e the mountain which churnedthe ocean, a pole with its two ends, positive and negativewe will call them/ The positive end, we will say, is pushed

in the direction of the river Ithe river flowing eyond oneend of the hall at AdyarJ/ The negative pole is pushed 1


22/66

in what direction: +n the opposite/ And those who arepushing it have their faces turned in the oppositedirection/ ;ne man loo5s at the river, the other man hashis ac5 to it, loo5ing in the opposite direction/ But thepole turns in the one direction although they push in

opposite directions/ They are wor5ing round the samecircle, and the pole goes faster ecause it is pushed fromits two ends/ There is the picture of our universe/ Thepositive force you call the Deva or Sura7 his face isturned, it seems, to 9od/ The negative force you call thea5shasa or Asura7 his face, it seems, is turned awayfrom 9od/ Ah noH 9od is everywhere, in every point ofthe circle round which they tread7 and they tread 8iscircle and do 8is will and no otherwise7 and all at lengthfind rest and peace in 8im/

(G/ Therefore Shri *rishna 8imself canincarnate in the form of a5shasa, and when in that form8e will act as a5shasa and not as Deva, doing that partof the divine wor5 with the same perfection as 8e doesthe other, which men in their limited vision call the good/A great truth hard to grasp/ + shall have to return to itpresently in spea5ing of avana, one of the mightiesttypes of, perhaps the greatest of, all the a5shasas/ Andwe shall see, if we can follow, how the profound truthwor5s out But rememer, if in the minds of some of youthere is some hesitation in accepting this, that the wordsthat + read are not mine, ut those of the Lord who spo5eof 8is own emodying7 8e has left on record for yourteaching, that 8e has emodied 8imself in the form ofa5shasa and has acted after the manner of that order/

(!/ Leaving that for a moment, there isone other point + must ta5e, ere spea5ing of the need forAvataras/ and it is this0 when the great central Deitieshave manifested, then there come forth from Themseven Deities of what we may call the second order/ +n

Theosophy, they are spo5en of as the planetary Logoi, todistinguish them from the great solar Logoi, the centralLife/ ach of These has to do with one of the sevensacred planets, and with the chain of worlds connectedwith that planet/ ;ur world is one of the lin5s in thischain, and you and + pass round this chain in successiveincarnations in the great stages of life/ The world 1 ourpresent world 1 is the midway gloe of one such chain/;ne Logos of the secondary order presides over theevolution of this chain of worlds/ 8e shows out threeaspects, reflections of the great Logoi who are at the

centre of the system/ 6ou have read perhaps of theseven-leaved lotus, the Saptaparnapadma7 loo5ed at


23/66

with the higher sight, ga4ed at with the open vision of theseer, that mighty group of creative and directing Beingsloo5s li5e the lotus with its seven leaves and the great;nes are at the heart of the lotus/ +t is as though youcould see a vast lotus-flower spread out in space, the

tips of the seven leaves eing the mighty +ntelligencespresiding over the evolution of the chains of worlds/ Thatlotus symol is no mere symol ut a high reality, asseen in that wondrous world wherefrom the symol haseen ta5en y the sages/ And ecause the great ishisof old saw with the open eye of 5nowledge, saw thelotus-flower spread in space, they too5 it as the symolof 5osmos, the lotus with its seven leaves, each one amighty Deva presiding over a separate line of evolution/%e are primarily concerned with our own planetary Devaand through 8im with the great Devas of the solar

system/

(&/ 'ow my reason for mentioning this isto e3plain one word that has pu44led many students/Mahavishnu, the great ishnu, why that particularepithet: %hat does it mean when that phrase is used: +tmeans the great solar Logos, ishnu in 8is essentialnature0 ut there is a reflection of 8is glory, a reflection of8is power, of 8is love, in more immediate connectionwith ourselves and our own world/ 8e is 8isrepresentative, as a viceroy may represent the 5ing/Some of the Avataras we shall find came forth fromMahavishnu through the planetary Logos, who isconcerned with our evolution and the evolution of theworld/ But the


24/66

((/ Leaving that for further elaorationthen to-morrow, let us try to answer the ne3t =uestion,>8ow arises this need for Avataras:> ecause in theminds of some, =uite naturally, a difficulty does arise/The difficulty that many thoughtful people feel may e

formulated thus0 >Surely the whole plan of the world is inthe mind of the Logos from the eginning, and surely wecannot suppose that 8e is wor5ing li5e a humanwor5man, not thoroughly understanding that at which 8eaims/ 8e must e the architect as well as the uilder7 8emust ma5e the plan as well as carry it out 8e is not li5ethe mason who puts a stone in the wall where he is told,and 5nows nothing of the architecture of the uilding towhich he is contriuting/ 8e is the master-uilder, thegreat architect of the universe, and everything in the planof that universe must e in 8is mind ere ever the

universe egan/ But if that e so 1 and we cannot thin5otherwise 1 how is it that the need for specialintervention arises: Does not the fact of specialintervention imply some unforeseen difficulty that hasarisen: +f there must e a 5ind of interference with thewor5ing out of the plan, does that not loo5 as if in theoriginal plan some force was left out of account, somedifficulty had not een seen, something had arisen forwhich preparation had not een made: +f it e not so,why the need for interference, which loo5s as though itwere rought aout to meet an unforeseen event:> Anatural, reasonale, and perfectly fair =uestion/ Let us tryto answer it/ + do not elieve in shir5ing difficulties7 it isetter to loo5 them in the face, and see if an answer epossile/

()/ 'ow the answer comes along threedifferent lines/ There are three great classes of facts,each of which contriutes to the necessity7 and each,foreseen y the Logos, is definitely prepared for asneeding a particular manifestation/

(@/ The first of these lines arises fromwhat + may perhaps call the nature of things/ + remar5edat the eginning of this lecture on the fact that ouruniverse, our system, is part of a greater whole, notseparate, not independent, not primary, in comparativelya low scale in the universe, our sun a planet in a vastersystem/ 'ow what does that imply: As regards matter,


25/66

8is own will/ %hen we spea5 of Mulapra5riti, the root ofmatter, we do not mean that it e3ists as the matter we5now/ 'o philosopher, no thin5er would dream of sayingthat that which spreads throughout space is identical withthe matter of our very elementary solar system/ +t is the

root of matter, that of which all forms of matter aremerely modifications/ %hat does that imply: +t impliesthat our great Lord, who rought our solar system intoe3istence, is ta5ing matter which already has certainproperties given to it y ;ne yet mightier than 8imself/ +nthat matter three gunas e3ist in e=uilirium, and it is thereath of the Logos that throws them out of e=uilirium,and causes the motion y which our system is roughtinto e3istence/ There must e a throwing out ofe=uilirium, for e=uilirium means


26/66

(/ The second need has to do with manhimself, and now we come ac5 in oth the second andthe third to that =uestion of good and evil, of which + havealready spo5en, +shvara, when 8e came to deal with theevolution of man 1 with all reverence + say it 1 had a

harder tas5 to perform than in the evolution of the lowerforms of life/ ;n them the law is imposed and they mustoey its impulse/ ;n the mineral the law is compulsory7every mineral moves according to the law, withoutinterposing any impulse from itself to wor5 against thewill of the ;ne/ +n the vegetale world the law isimposed, and every plant grows in orderly methodaccording to the law within it, developing steadily and inthe fashion of its order, interposing no impulse of its own/'ay, in the animal world 1 save perhaps when we cometo its highest memers 1 the law is still a force

overpowering everything else, sweeping everythingefore it, carrying along all living things/ A wheel turningon the road might carry with it on its a3le the fly thathappened to have settled there7 it does not interpose anyostacle to the turning of the wheel/ +f the fly comes on tothe circumference of the wheel and opposes itself to itsmotion, it is crushed without the slightest 2arring of thewheel that rolls on, and the form goes out of e3istence,and the life ta5es other shapes/

("/ So is the wheel of law in the threelower 5ingdoms/ But with man it is not so/ +n man +shvarasets himself to produce an image of 8imself, which is notthe case in the lower 5ingdoms/ As life has evolved, oneforce after another has come out, and in man thereegins to come out the central life, for the time hasarrived for the evolution of the sovereign power of will,the self-initiated motion which is part of the life of theSupreme/ Do not misunderstand me 1 for the su2ect isa sutle one7 there is only one will in the universe, thewill of +shvara, and all must conform itself to that will, all

is conditioned y that will, all must move according tothat will, and that will mar5s out the straight line ofevolution/ There may e swerving neither to the righthand nor to the left There is one will only which in itsaspect to us is free, ut inasmuch as our life is the life of+shvara 8imself, inasmuch as there is ut one Self andthat Self is yours and mine as much as 8is 1 for 8e hasgiven us 8is very Self to e our Self and our life 1 theremust evolve at one stage of this wondrous evolution thatroyal power of will which is seen in 8im/ And from theAtma within us, which is 8imself in us, there flows forth

the sovereign will into the sheaths in which the Atma isas it were held/ 'ow what happens is this0 force goes out


27/66

through the sheaths and gives them some of its ownnature, and each sheath egins to set up a reflection ofthe will on its own account, and you get the >+> of theody which wants to go this way, and the >+> of passionor emotion which wants to go that way, and the >+> of the

mind which wants to go a third way, and none of theseways is the way of the Atma, the Supreme/ These arethe illusory wills of man, and there is one way in whichyou may distinguish them from the true will/ ach of themis determined in its direction y e3ternal attraction7 theman?s ody wants to move in a particular way ecausesomething attracts it, or something else repels it0 itmoves to what it li5es, to what is congenial to it/ it movesaway from that which it disli5es, from that from which itfeels itself repelled/ But that motion of the ody is utmotion determined y the +shvara outside, as it were,

rather than y the +shvara within, y the 5osmos aroundand not y the Self within, which has not yet achieved itsmastery of the 5osmos/ So with the emotions orpassions0 they are drawn this way or that y the o2ectsof the senses, and the >senses move after theirappropriate o2ects>7 it is not the >+>, the Self, whichmoves/ And so also with the mind/ >The mind is fic5leand restless, ; *rishna, it seems as hard to cur as thewind>, and the mind lets the senses run after o2ects as ahorse that has ro5en its reins flies away with theuns5illed driver/ All these forces are set up7 and there isone more thing to rememer/ These forces reinforce thera2asic guna and help to ring aout that predominanceof which + spo5e7 all these rec5less desires that are notaccording to the one will are yet necessary in order thatthe will may evolve and in order to train and develop theman/

(#/ Do you say why: 8ow would youlearn right if you 5new not wrong: 8ow would youchoose good if you 5new not evil: 8ow would you

recognise the light if there were no dar5ness: 8ow wouldyou move if there were no resistance: The forces thatare called dar5, the forces of the a5shasas, of theAsuras, of all that seem to e wor5ing against +shvara 1these are the forces that call out the inner strength of theSelf in man, y struggling with which the forces of Atmawithin the man are developed, and without which hewould remain in


28/66

against their strength, ma5ing them struggle in order toattain, and so vivifying into outer manifestation the lifethat otherwise would remain enfolded in itself/ +n theseed the life is hidden, ut it will not grow, if you leavethe seed alone/


29/66

retardation, to 5eep a man ac5 till he is ale toovercome them and go on, when they are so reinforcedy men?s unruly wishes that they are eginning, as itwere, to threaten progress, then ere that chec5 ta5esplace, there is reinforcement from the other side0 the

presence of the Avatara of the forces that threatenevolution calls forth the presence of the Avatara thatleads to the progress of humanity/

)G/ %e come to the third cause/ TheAvatara does not come forth without a call/ The earth, itis said, is very heavy with its load of evil, >Save us, ;supreme Lord>, the Devas come and cry/ +n answer tothat cry the Lord comes forth/ But what is this that +spo5e of purposely y a strange phrase to catch yourattention, that + spo5e of as an Avatara of evil: By the will

of the one Supreme, there is one incarnated in form whogathers up together the forces that ma5e for retardation,in order that, thus gathered together, they may edestroyed y the opposing force of good, and thus thealance may e re-estalished and evolution go on alongits appointed road/ Devas wor5 for 2oy, the reward of8eaven/ Svarga is their home, and they serve theSupreme for the 2oys that there they have/ a5shasasalso serve 8im, first for rule on earth, and power to graspand hold and en2oy as they will in this lower world/ Bothsides serve for reward, and are moved y the things thatplease/

)!/ And in order, as our time is drawing toa close, that + may ta5e one great e3ample to show howthese wor5, let me ta5e the mighty one, avana ofLan5a, that we may give a concrete form to a ratherdifficult and astruse thought/ avana, as you all 5now,was the mighty intelligence, the a5shasa, who calledforth the coming of Shri ama/ But loo5 ac5 into thepast, and what was he: *eeper of ishnu?s heaven,

door-5eeper of the mighty Lord, devotee, ha5ta,asolutely devoted to the Lord/ Loo5 at his past, andwhere do you find a ha5ta of Mahadeva more asolutein devotion than the one who came forth later asavana: +t was he who cast his head into the fire inorder that Mahadeva might e served/ +t is he in whosename have een written some of the most e3=uisitestotras, reathing the spirit of completest devotion7 in oneof them, you may rememer 1 and you could scarcelycarry devotion to a further point 1 it is in the mouth ofavana words are put appealing to Mahadeva, and

descriing 8im as surrounded y forms the mostrepellent and undesirale, surrounded on every side y


30/66

pisachas and hutas, 9olins and elementals E which tous seem ut the emodiment of the dar5 shadows of theurning ghat, forms from which all eauty is withdrawn/8e cries out in a passion of love0

)&/ Better wear pisacha-form, so wevermore are near and wait on Thee/

)(/ 8ow did he then come to e theravisher of Sita and the enemy of 9od:

))/ 6ou 5now how through lac5 ofintuition, through lac5 of power to recognise the meaningof an order, following the words not the spirit, followingthe outside not the inner, he refused to open the door ofheaven when Sanat *umara came and demanded

entrance/ +n order that that which was lac5ing might efilled, in order that that which was wanting might eearned, that which was called a curse was pronounced,a curse which was the natural reaction from the mista5e/8e was as5ed0 >%ill you have seven incarnations friendlyto ishnu, or three in which you will e 8is enemy andoppose 8im:> And ecause he was a true ha5ta, andecause every moment of asence, from his Lord meantto him hell of torture, he chose three of enmity, whichwould let him go ac5 sooner to the Feet of the Beloved,rather than the seven of happiness, of friendliness/ Bettera short time of utter enmity than a longer remaining awaywith apparent happiness/ +t was love not hatred thatmade him choose the form of a a5shasa rather than theform of a ishi/ There is the first note of e3planation/

)@/ Then, coming into the form ofa5shasa, he must do his duty as a5shasa/ This wasno wea5 man to e swayed y momentary thought, ytransient o2ects/ 8e had all the learning of the edas/%ith him, it was said, passed away edic learning, with

him it disappeared from earth/ 8e 5new his duty/ %hatwas his duty: To put forward every force which was inhis mighty nature in order to chec5 evolution, and so callout every force in man which could e called out yopposing energy which had to e overcome7 to gatherround him all the forces which were opposing evolution7to ma5e himself 5ing of the whole, centre and law-giverto every force that was setting itself against the will of theLord7 to gather them together as it were into one head, tocall them together into one arm7 so that when theirapparent triumph made the cry of the earth go up to

ishnu, the answer might come in ama?s Avatara andthey e destroyed, that the life-wave might go on/


31/66

)/ 'oly he did the wor5, thoroughly hedischarged his duty/ +t is said that even sages areconfused aout Dharma, and truly it is sutle and hard tograsp in its entirety, though the fragment the plain mansees e simple enough/ 8is Dharma was the Dharma of

a a5shasa, to lead the whole forces of evil against ;newhom in his inner soul, then clouded, he loved/ %henShri ama came, when 8e was wandering in the forest,how could he sting 8im into leaving the life of 8is life/ 8iseloved Sita, and into coming out into the world to do 8iswor5: By ta5ing away from 8im the one thing to which8e clung, y ta5ing away from 8im the wife whom 8eloved as 8is very Self, y placing her in the spot whereall the forces of evil were gathered together, so ma5ingone head for destruction, which the arrow of Shri amamight destroy/ Then the mighty attle, then the struggle

with all the forces of his great nature, that the law mighte oeyed to the uttermost, duly fulfilled to the last grain,the det paid that was owed7 and then 1 ah thenH theshaft of the Beloved, then the arrow of Shri ama thatstruc5 off the head from the seeming enemy, from thereal devotee/ And from the corpse of the a5shasa thatfell upon the field near Lan5a, the devotee went up to9olo5a A name for one of the heavens/E to sit at the feetof the Beloved, and rest for awhile till the thirdincarnation had to e lived out/

)/ Such then are some of the reasonsy, the ways in which the coming of the Avatara isrought aout And my last word to you, my rothers, to-day is ut a sentence, in order to avoid the possiility ofa mista5e to which our diving into these depths ofthought may possily give rise/ ememer that thoughall powers are 8is, all forces 8is, a5shasa as much asDeva, Asura as much as Sura7 rememer that for yourevolution you must e on the side of good, and struggleto the utmost against evil/ Do not let the thoughts + have

put lead you into a og, into a pit of hell, in which youmay for the time perish, that ecause evil is relative,ecause it e3ists y the one will, ecause a5shasa is8is as much as Deva, therefore you shall go on their sideand wal5 along their path/ +t is not so/ +f you yield toamition, if you yield to pride, if you set yourselvesagainst the will of +shvara, if you struggle for theseparated self, if in yourselves now you identify yourselfwith the past in which you have dwelt instead of with thefuture towards which you should e directing your steps,then, if your *arma e at a certain stage, you pass into

the ran5s of those who wor5 as enemies, ecause youhave chosen that fate for yourself, at the promptings of


32/66

the lower nature/ Then with itter inner pain 1 even ifwith complete sumission 1 accepting the *arma, utwith profound sorrow, you shall have to wor5 out yourown will against the will of the Beloved, and feel theanguish of the rending that separates the inner from the

outer life/ The will of +shvara for you is evolution7 theseforces are made to help your evolution 1 ut only if youstrive against them/ +f you yield to them, then they carryyou away/ 6ou do not then call out your own strength,ut only strengthen them/ Therefore, ; Ar2una, stand upand fight/ Do not e supine7 do not yield yourself to theforces7 they are there to call out your energies yopposition and you must not sin5 down on the floor of thechariot And my last word is the word of Shri *rishna toAr2una0 >Ta5e up your ow, stand up and fight>

)"/

THIRD LECTURE

)#/ Some Speca! Avataras

@G/ The su2ect this morning, myrothers, is in some ways an easy and in other ways adifficult one7 easy, inasmuch as the stories of theAvataras can e readily told and readily grasped7 difficult,inasmuch as the meaning that underlies these

manifestations may possily e in some ways unfamiliar,may not have een thoroughly thought out y individualhearers/ And + must egin with a general word as tothese special Avataras/ 6ou may rememer that + saidthat the whole universe may e regarded as the Avataraof the Supreme, the Self-revelation of +shvara/ But weare not dealing with that general Self-revelation7 nor arewe even considering the very many revelations that haveta5en place from time to time, mar5ed out y specialcharacteristics7 for we have seen y referring to one ortwo of the old writings that many lists are given of the

comings of the Lord, and we are to-day concerned withonly some of those, those that are accepted specially asAvataras/

@!/ 'ow on one point + confess myselfpu44led at the outset, and + do not 5now whether in youre3oteric literature light is thrown upon the point as to howthese ten were singled out, who was the person whochose them out of a longer list, on what authority that listwas proclaimed/ ;n that point + must simply state the=uestion, leaving it unanswered/ +t may e a matter

familiar to those who have made researches into thee3oteric literature/ +t is not a point of =uite sufficient


33/66

importance for the moment to spend on it time andtroule, in what we may call the occult way of research/ +leave that then aside, for there is one reason why someof these stand out in a way which is clear and definite/They mar5 stages in the evolution of the world/ They

mar5 new departures in the growth of the developing life,and whether it was that fact which underlay the e3otericchoice + am unale to say7 ut certainly that fact y itselfis sufficient to 2ustify the special distinction which ismade/

@&/ There is one other general point toconsider/ Accounts of these Avataras are found in the


34/66

is not limited to the manifestations of a few hundredthousands of years, ut goes ac5 million after million,hundreds of millions after hundreds of millions, and thatthe varieties of form, the enormous differences of types,the marvellous 5inds of creatures which have come out

of that creative imagination, transcend in actuality all thatman?s mind can dream of, and that the very wildestimages that man can ma5e fall far short of the realitiesthat actually e3isted in the past 5alpas through which theuniverse has gone/ That word of warning is necessary,and also the warning that on the higher planes thingsloo5 very different from what they loo5 down here/ 6ouhave here a reflection only of part of those higher formsof e3istence/ Space there has more dimensions than ithas on the physical plane, and each dimension of spaceadds a new fundamental variety to form7 if to illustrate

this + may use a simile + have often used, it may perhapsconvey to you a little idea of what + mean/ Two similes +will ta5e each throwing a little light on a very difficultsu2ect Suppose that a picture is presented to you of asolid form7 the picture, eing made y pen or pencil on asheet of paper, must show on the sheet, which ispractically of two dimensions 1 a plane surface 1 athree dimensional form7 so that if you want to represent asolid o2ect, a vase, you must draw it flat, and you canonly represent the solidity of that vase y resorting tocertain devices of light and shade, to the artificial devicewhich is called perspective, in order to ma5e an illusorysemlance of the third dimension/ There on the planesurface you get a solid appearance, and the eye isdeceived into thin5ing it sees a solid when really it isloo5ing at a flat surface/ 'ow as a matter of fact if youshow a picture to a savage, an undeveloped savage, orto a very young child, they will not see a solid ut only aflat They will not recognise the picture as eing thepicture of a solid o2ect they have seen in the worldround them7 they will not see that that artificial

representation is meant to show a familiar solid, and itpasses y them without ma5ing any impression on themind7 only the education of the eye enales you to seeon a flat surface the picture of a solid form/ 'ow, y aneffort of the imagination, can you thin5 of a solid as eingthe representation of a form in one dimension more,shown y a 5ind of perspective: Then you may get avague idea of what is meant when we spea5 of a furtherdimension in space/ As the picture is to the vase, so isthe vase to a higher o2ect of which that vase itself is areflection/ So again if you thin5, say, of the lotus flower +

spo5e of yesterday, as having 2ust the tips of its leavesaove water, each tip would appear as a separate o2ect/


35/66

+f you 5now the whole you 5now that they are all parts ofone o2ect7 ut coming over the surface of the water youwill see tips only, one for each leaf of the seven-leavedlotus/ So is every gloe in space an apparently separateo2ect, while in reality it is not separated at all, ut part of

a whole that e3ists in a space of more dimensions7 andthe separateness is mere illusion due to the limitations ofour faculties/

@(/ 'ow + have made this introduction inorder to show you that when you read the


36/66

represent some of the aspects of the 8ighest/ And may itnot e that from 8is standpoint those great differencesthat we see etween ourselves and those which we callthe lower forms of life may e almost imperceptile,since 8e transcends them all: A little child sees an

immense difference etween himself of perhaps two anda half feet high and a ay only a foot and a half high,and thin5s himself a man compared with that tiny formrolling on the ground and unale to wal5/ But to thegrown man there is not so much difference etween thelength of the two, and one seems very much li5e theother/ %hile we are very small we see great differencesetween ourselves and others7 ut on the mountain topthe hovel and the palace do not differ so very much inheight/ They all loo5 li5e anthills, very much of the samesi4e/ And so from the standpoint of +shvara, in the vast

hierarchies from the mineral to the loftiest Deva, thedistinctions are ut as ant-hills in comparison with8imself, and one form or another is e=ually worthy, sothat it suits 8is purpose, and manifests 8is will/

@/ 'ow for the Matsya Avatara7 the storyyou will all 5now0 when the great Manu, aivasvataManu, the oot Manu, as we call 8im 1 that is, a Manunot of one race only, ut of a whole vast round of 5osmicevolution, presiding over the seven gloes that are lin5edfor the evolution of the world 1 that mighty Manu, sittingone day immersed in contemplation, sees a tiny fishgasping for water7 and moved y compassion, as allgreat ones are, 8e ta5es up the little fish and puts it in aowl, and the fish grows till it fills the owl7 and 8eplaced it in a water vessel and it grew to the si4e of thevessel7 then 8e too5 it out of that vessel and put it into aigger one7 afterwards into a tan5, a pond, a river, thesea, and still the marvellous fish grew and grew andgrew/ The time came when a vast change wasimpending7 one of those changes called a minor pralaya,

and it was necessary that the seeds of life should ecarried over that pralaya to the ne3t manvantara/ Thatwould e a minor pralaya and a minor manvantara/ %hatdoes that mean: +t means a passage of the seeds of lifefrom one gloe to another7 from what we call the gloepreceding our own to our own earth/ +t is the function ofthe oot Manu, with the help and the guidance of theplanetary Logos, to transfer the seeds of life from onegloe to the ne3t, so as to plant them in a new soil wherefurther growth is possile/ As waters rose, waters ofmatter sumerging the gloe which was passing into

pralaya, an ar5, a vessel appeared7 into this vesselstepped the great ishi with others, and the seeds of life


37/66

were carried y Them, and as They go forth upon thewaters a mighty fish appears and to the horn of that fishthe vessel is fastened y a rope, and it conveys thewhole safely to the solid ground where the Manureegins 8is wor5/ A storyH yes, ut a story that tells a

truth7 for loo5ing at it as it ta5es place in the history of theworld, we see the vast surging ocean of matter, we seethe oot Manu and the great +nitiates with 8im gatheringup the seeds of life from the world whose wor5 is over,carrying them under the guidance and with the help ofthe planetary ishnu to the new gloe where newimpulse is to e given to the life7 and the reason why thefish form was chosen was simply ecause in the uildingup again of the world, it was at first covered with water,and only that form of life was originally possile, so far asdenser physical life was concerned/

@/ 6ou have in that first stage what thegeologists call the Silurian Age, the age of fishes, whenthe great divine manifestation was of all these forms oflife/ The


38/66

of physical evolution passed through the stage of thefish7 and geology there gives a true fact, though it doesnot understand, naturally, the hidden meaning7 while theimperishale sacred land>, a preparation for furtherevolution/ There is one part of the gloe that changesnot, that from the eginning has een, and will last whilethe gloe is lasting7 it is called the >imperishale land/>And there the great ishis gather, and thence they evercome forth for the helping of man7 that is theimperishale sacred land, sometimes called the >sacredpole of the earth/>


39/66

as we call them, of classes and creatures, alwaysproduced in preparation for the forward stretch ofevolution/ There came forth one y one the archetypes,the elephant, the horse, the woman, and so on, one afteranother, showing the trac5 along which evolution was to

go/ And first of all, Amrita, nectar of immortality, comesforth, symol of the one life which passes through everyform 1 and that life appears aove the waters the ta5ingof which is necessary in order that every form may live/

!/ %e cannot delay on details7 + can onlytrace hastily the outline, showing you how real is the truththat underlies the story, and as that gradually goes onand the types are ready, there comes the whelming ofthe world under the waters, and the great continentsvanish for a time/

&/ Then comes the third Avatara, thearaha/ 'o earth is to e seen7 the waters of the floodhave overwhelmed it/ The types that are to e producedon earth are waiting in the higher region for place onwhich to manifest/ 8ow shall the earth e rought upfrom the waters which have overwhelmed it: 'ow onceagain the great 8elper is needed, the 9od, the


40/66

(/ Then we come to a strangeincarnation on this Lemurian continent0 frightful conflictse3isted7 we are nearing what in the theosophicalnomenclature is the middle of the third ace, and man asman will shortly appear with all the characteristics of his

nature/ 8e is not yet =uite come to irth7 strange formsare seen, half human and half animal, wholly monstrous7terrile struggles arise etween these monstrous formsorn from the slime as it is said 1 from the remains offormer creations 1 and the newer and higher life inwhich the future evolution is enshrined/ These forms arerepresented in the


41/66

mighty form came forth and slew the Daitya that douted,in order that he might learn the omnipresence of theSupreme/ A story: facts, not fiction7 truth, notimagination7 and if you could loo5 ac5 to the time ofthose struggles, there would seem to you nothing

strange or anormal in the story7 for you would see itrepeated with less vividness in the smaller struggleswhere the Sons of the Fire were purging and redeemingthe earth, in order that the later human evolution mightta5e place/

)/ %e pass from those four Avataras,every one of which comes within what is called the Satya6uga of the earth 1 not of the race rememer, not thesmaller cycle, ut of the earth 1 the Satya 6uga of theearth as a whole, when periods of time were of immense

length, and when progress was marvellously slow/ Thenwe come to the ne3t age, that which we call the Treta6uga, that which is, in the theosophical chronology 1and + put the two together in order that students may eale to wor5 their way out in detail 1 the middle of thethird oot ace, when humanity receives the light fromaove, and when man as man egins to evolve/ 8ow isthat evolution mar5ed: By the coming of the Supreme inhuman form, as amana, the Dwarf/ The Dwarf: 6es7 forman was as yet ut dwarf in the truly human stature,although vast in outer appearance7 and 8e came as theinner man, small, yet stronger than the outer form7against him was Bali, the mighty, showing the outer form,while amana, the Dwarf, showed the man that shoulde/ And when Bali had offered a great sacrifice, theDwarf as a rahmana came to eg/

@/ +t is curious this =uestion of the casteof the Avataras/ %hen we once come to the humanAvataras, They are mostly 5shattriyas, as you 5now, utin two cases They are rahmanas, and this is one of

them7 for 8e was going to eg, and 5shattriya might noteg/ ;nly he to whom the earth?s wealth should e asnothing, who should have no store of wealth to hold, towhom gold and earth should e as one, only he may goto eg/ 8e was an ancient rahmana, not a modernrahmana/

/ 8e came with egging owl in hand,to eg of the 5ing7 for of what use is sacrifice unlesssomething e given at the sacrifice: 'ow Bali was apious ruler, on the side of the evolution that was passing

away, and gladly gave a oon/ >Brahmana, ta5e thyoon>, said he/ >Three steps of earth alone + as5 for>,


42/66

said the Dwarf/ ;f that little man surely three steps wouldnot cover much, and the great 5ing with his world-widedominion might well give three steps of earth to the shortand puny Dwarf/ But one step covered earth, and thene3t step covered s5y/ %here could the third step e

planted, where: so that the gift might e made complete/'othing was left for Bali to give save himself7 nothing toma5e his gift complete - and his word might not ero5en 1 save his own ody/ So, recognising the Lord ofall, he threw himself efore 8im, and the third step,planted on his ody, fulfilled the promise of the 5ing andmade him the ruler of the lower regions, of


43/66

power, great in its authority, the one warrior ruling caste,and alasH ausing its power, as men will do when soulsare still eing trained, and are young for theirsurroundings/ The 5shattriya caste aused its power,uilt up in order that it might rule7 the duty of the ruler,

rememer, is essentially protection0 ut these used theirpower not to protect, ut to plunder, not to help ut tooppress/ A terrile lesson must e taught the rulingcaste, in order that it might learn, if possile, that the dutyof ruling was to protect and support and help, and not totyrannise and plunder/ The first great lesson was given tothe 5ings of the earth, the rulers of men, a lesson thathad to e repeated over and over again, and is not yetcompletely learnt/ A divine manifestation came in orderthat that lesson might e taught7 and the Teacher wasnot a 5shattriya save y mother/ A strange story, that

story of the irth/ Food given to two 5shattriya women,each of whom was to ear a son, the husand of one ofthem a rahmana7 and the two women e3changed thefood, and that meant to ring forth a 5shattriya son wasta5en y the woman with the rahmana husand/ Anaccident, men would say7 there are no accidents in auniverse of law/ The food which was full of 5shattriyaenergy thus went into the rahmana family, for it wouldnot have een fitting that a 5shattriya should destroy5shattriyas/ The lesson would not thus have een so welltaught to the world/ So that we have the strangephenomenon of the rahmana coming with an a3e toslay the 5shattriya, and three times seven times that a3ewas raised in slaughter, cutting the 5shattriya trun5 offfrom the surface of the earth/ But while


44/66

sprung from the furrow as the plough went through theearth, who had no physical father or physical mother/%ho should wed the peerless maiden, the incarnation ofShri, La5shmi, the consort of ishnu: %ho should wed8er save the Avatara of ishnu 8imself: So the mighty

ow remained unstrung, for who might string it until theoy ama came: And 8e ta5es it up with oyishcarelessness, and ends it so strongly that it rea5s inhalf, the crash echoing through earth and s5y/ 8e wedsSita, the eautiful, and goes forth with 8er, and with 8isrother La5shmana and his ride, and with 8is fatherwho had come to the ridal, and with a vast procession,wending their way ac5 to their own town Ayodhya/ Thisrea5ing of Mahadeva?s ow has rung through earth, thecrashing of the ow has sha5en all the worlds, and all,oth men and Devas, 5now that the ow has een

ro5en/ Among the devotees of Mahadeva,


45/66

of evil and starting the world, as it were, anew/ %e findthe great reign of ama lasting ten thousand years in theDvapara 6uga, the 6uga at the close of which Shri*rishna came/

&/ Then comes the Mighty ;ne, Shri*rishna 8imself, of whom + spea5 not to-day7 we will tryto study that Avatara to-morrow with such insight andreverence as we may possess/


46/66

climed though irth after irth in our own 5alpa, as wellas in the 5alpas that went efore7 and he was incarnatedmany a time when the great Fourth ace dwelt in mightyAtlantis, and rose onward to ta5e the office of theBuddha7 for the Buddha is the title of an office, not of a

particular man/ Finally y his own struggles, the very firstof our race, he was ale to reach that great function inthe world/ %hat is the function: That of the Teacher of9ods and men/ The previous Buddhas had eenBuddhas who came from another planet 8umanity hadnot lived long enough here to evolve its own son to thatheight/ 9autama Buddha was human orn/ 8e hadevolved through the Fourth ace into this first family ofthe Aryan ace, the 8indu/ By irth after irth in +ndia 8ehad completed 8is course and too5 8is final ody inAryavarta, to ma5e the proclamation of the law to men/

)/ But the proclamation was not madeprimarily for +ndia/ +t was given in +ndia ecause +ndia isthe place whence the great religious revelations go forthy the will of the Supreme/ Therefore was 8e orn in+ndia, ut 8is law was specially meant for nations eyondthe ounds of Aryavarta, that they might learn a puremorality, a nole ethic, dis2oined 1 ecause of thedar5ness of the age 1 from all the complicatedteachings which we find in connection with the sutle,metaphysical 8indu faith/

@/ 8ence you find in the teachings of theLord Buddha two great divisions7 one a philosophymeant for the learned, then an ethic dis2oined from thephilosophy, so far as the masses are concerned, noleand pure and great, yet easy to e grasped/ For the Lord5new that we were going into an age of deeper anddeeper materialism, that other nations were going toarise, that +ndia for a time was going to sin5 down forother nations to rise aove her in the scale of nations/

8ence was it necessary to give a teaching of moralityfitted for a more materialistic age, so that even if nationswould not elieve in the 9ods they might still practisemorality and oey the teachings of the Lord/ +n order alsothat this land might not suffer loss, in order that +ndiaitself might not lose its sutle metaphysical teachingsand the widespread elief among all classes of people inthe e3istence of the 9ods and their part in the affairs ofmen, the wor5 of the great Lord Buddha was done/ 8eleft morality uilt upon a asis that could not e sha5eny any change of faith, and, having done 8is wor5,

passed away/ Then was sent another great ;ne,overshadowed y the power of Mahadeva, Shri


47/66

Shan5aracharya, in order that y 8is teaching 8e mightgive, in the Advaita edanta, the philosophy which woulddo intellectually what morally the Buddha had done,which intellectually would guard spirituality and allow amaterialistic age to rea5 its teeth on the hard nut of a

flawless philosophy/ Thus in +ndia metaphysical religiontriumphed, while the teaching of the Blessed ;ne passedfrom the +ndian soil, to do its nole wor5 in lands otherthan the land of Aryavarta, which must 5eep unsha5en itselief in the 9ods, and where highest and lowest ali5emust ow efore their power/ That is the real truth aoutthis much disputed =uestion as to the teaching of theninth Avatara7 the fact was that 8is teaching was notmeant for 8is irthplace, ut was meant for otheryounger nations that were rising up around, who did notfollow the edas, ut who yet needed instruction in the

path of righteousness7 not to mislead them ut to guidethem, was 8is teaching given/ But, as + say, and as +repeat, what in it might have done harm in +ndia had iteen left alone was prevented y the coming of the greatTeacher of the Advaita/ 6ou must rememer, that 8isname has een worn y man after man, through centuryafter century7 ut the Shri Shan5aracharya on whom wasthe power of Mahadeva was orn ut a few years afterthe passing away of the Buddha, as the records of theDwara5a Math show plainly - giving date after dateac5ward, until they ring 8is irth within G or G yearsof the passing away of the Buddha/

/ %e come to the tenth Avatara, thefuture one, the *al5i/ ;f that ut little may e said7 utone or two hints perchance may e given/ %ith 8iscoming will dawn a righter age7 with 8is coming the *ali6uga will pass away7 with 8is coming will also come ahigher race of men/ 8e will come when there is ornupon earth the si3th oot ace/ There will then e agreat change in the world, a great manifestation of truth,

of occult truth, and when 8e comes then occultism willagain e ale to show itself to the world y proofs thatnone will e ale to challenge or to deny7 and 8e in 8iscoming will give the rule over the si3th oot ace to thetwo *ings, of whom you read in the *al5i


48/66

of wisdom and truth/ ach has also its own ruler, theManu/ Those two we can trace in the past, in Their actualincarnations7 and we see Them in the third, the fourth,and fifth aces7 the Manu in each race is the ideal *ing,the Brahmana in each race is the ideal Teacher7 and we

learn that when the *al5i Avatara shall come 8e shallcall from the sacred village of Shamalla 1 the village5nown to the occultist though not to the profane 1 two*ings who have remained throughout the age in order tohelp the world in its evolution/ And the name of the Manuwho will e the *ing of the ne3t ace, is said in the


49/66

#/ Shr #rshna

"G/ My rothers, there are themes so lofty

that tongue of Deva would not suffice to do full 2ustice tothat which they enclose, and when we thin5 of the musicof Shri *rishna?s flute, all human music seems as discordamidst its strains/ 'evertheless since ha5ti grows ythought and word, it is not amiss that we should comenear a su2ect so sacred7 only in dealing with it we mustneeds feel our incompetency, we must needs regret ourlimitations, we must needs wish for greater power ofe3pression than we can have down here/ For, perhaps,amid all the divine manifestations that have glorified theworld, there is none which has aroused a wider, tendererfeeling than the Avatara which we are to study thismorning/

"!/ The austerer glories of Mahadeva, theLord of the urning ground, attract more the hearts ofthose who are weary of the world and who see the futilityof worldly attractions7 ut Shri *rishna is the 9od of thehousehold, the 9od of family life, the 9od whosemanifestations attract in every phase of 8is Self-revelation7 8e is human to the very core7 orn in

humanity, as 8e has said, 8e acts as a man/ As a child,8e is a real child, full of playfulness, of fun, of winsomegrace/ 9rowing up into oyhood, into manhood, 8ee3ercises the same human fascination over the hearts ofmen, of women, and of children7 the 9od in whosepresence there is always 2oy, the 9od in whose presencethere is continual laughter and music/ %hen we thin5 ofShri *rishna we seem to hear the ripple of the river, therustling of the leaves in the forest, the lowing of the 5inein the pasture, the laughter of happy children playinground their parents? 5nees/ 8e is so fundamentally the

9od who is human in everything7 who ends in humansympathy over the cradle of the ae, who sympathiseswith the play of the youth, who is the friend of the lover,the lesser of the ridegroom and the ride, who smileson the young mother when her first-orn lies in her arms1 everywhere the 9od of love and of human happiness7what wonder that 8is winsome grace has fascinated thehearts of menH

"&/ %e are to study 8im, then, thismorning/ 'ow an Avatara 1 + say this to clear away

some preliminary difficulties 1 a

Documents

231. Annie Besant - Avataras[1]