Swami Ramdas
A question is raised whether an avatar and a God-realized soul possess the same power and vision and carry out the same mission in this world. Surely, so far as the knowledge of God is concerned, both are on the same plane, but in the field of action the avatar brings down the light and power of the supreme Truth to a greater mass of humanity than a God-realized soul does.
The avatar embodies not only the inner perfection of the Spirit but also exercises all the power and glory of the Divine: whereas a God-realized soul throws the light and power upon a smaller portion of humanity and works under certain limitations. It is rightly said that the God-realized soul can be compared to a well and an avatar to a river in flood: while the former can satisfy the thirst of a few who seek the well, the swollen river spreads out its water all over the country allaying the thirst of innumerable beings and creatures.
So in the spiritual awakening of humanity the work of an avatar is decidedly more extensive and far-reaching than that of a God-realized soul. Moreover there is a clear assertion made by the avatar that he has descended on the earth with the special mission of liberating mankind from ignorance and bondage. A God-realized soul does not make such a declaration.
We see that the great avatars like Krishna, Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, and Zoroaster are saviors of humanity and redeemers of all fallen souls. Again if we study their teachings, we find avatars have a message for the whole world. They preach universal love as the highest attainment which alone can establish unity, harmony, and brotherhood in the world. Some people would have us believe that the avatars never existed and that their lives have only an allegorical meaning and relate the inner transformation of a soul from ignorance to higher divine nature. This opinion also is not true.
All the avatars, after whom the principal religions of the world are founded, are historical personages. Their historicity is denied because it is hard for some people to accept that God who is infinite and impersonal could manifest Himself within the limitations which the assumption of a physical body imposes upon Him. God, who is all in all, is at once limited and unlimited, finite and infinite, personal as well as impersonal. Encased in relative and perishable bodies as avatars, God has through them exhibited omnipotent powers.
They have done miraculous things which, judged by the unalterable laws of Nature, are impossible. Some may doubt whether the miracles did happen at all. They even go to the length of opining that they are sheer concoctions. This view cannot carry much weight with those faithful devotees who, after a sufficient advance on the spiritual path, have experienced the wonders of the inner life.
In the light of the writer’s unique realizations, he can boldly declare that a person inspired by the spirit of God can reveal miraculous powers. Apart from the power of performing miracles which avatars possess, they release a world-redeeming spiritual force by which they transform men steeped in ignorance and sin into veritable angels of purity, wisdom, love, and peace. Whoever comes in contact with them even in thought and meditation becomes illumined by their light and power. Avatar is God Himself in human form.
Excerpted from ‘The Divine Life’ pp. 152–154. The 136th birth anniversary of Swami Ramdas is being observed on April 10.
