Avatara - Descent of God for the Ascent of
Man
Divine Life
Society Publication: The Purpose of
Avatara by Swami Krishnananda
 |
| Gurudev Swamiji Sivananda Maharaj |
Sanatana Dharma has the capacity to include everything in itself because of its universality. It sees God everywhere. The idea of Avatara makes this concept easy of understanding. Avatara means coming down. It is the descent of God into the world. How can God descend when He is universal? Then, what is Avatara? It is not so much like a person coming down the steps; it is grander and more profound. Avataras, as generally understood, are possible only when there is a collective cry of humanity for redeeming humanity from some calamity. Then such Avataras, as the Ten Avataras, come. We also have lesser Avataras, like Sankara, Sivananda etc, called Amsavataras.
It is impossible to think of
God as He is. Avatara is the connecting link between the ordinary human nature
and the divine. Avatara is the manifestation of God through Mula Prakrati. That
is why we have to worship Avatara, though God is everywhere and can be
worshipped as such.
Literally, Avatara means
descent or manifestation, as also told in the Gita. When the need for the
higher life is felt more, the Avatara becomes necessary. The farther we are
from God, the greater is the need we feel for the higher life. When humanity
drifts too much from Truth, the Avatara becomes very necessary.
God tolerates our mistakes to
some extent. When we go too far, He comes with a rod to correct us. Just as a
mother allows her child to play and go here and there, but when the child is
about to fall into a pit she runs to help it, God manifests when it is
necessary to correct mankind. The Avatara comes when evil is too much or when sattva is too much – when we are in
a high state of spiritual consciousness. In both cases, he comes. Avatara is
divinity manifested into prakriti to draw
humanity. It is the grace of God on man. It is the descent of God for the
ascent of man, as Sri Gurudev put it.
Excerpts from:
The Purpose of
Avatara by Swami Krishnananda
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