Why did the Divine Descend as Rama?

On April 14, 2008 falls the holy festival of Rama Navami, the day celebrating the Advent of Lord Rama. Bhagavan Baba has often elaborated on the Sacred Life of Lord Rama, and exhorted one and all to emulate the ideals set by the Lord during that Incarnation. Here is an extract from one such discourse delivered by Bhagavan on March 24, 1991.

All objects in the world are liable to change. All living beings must pass some day. But ideals and sacred objectives established in human hearts shine forever. If one has to live up to an ideal, he/she must be prepared to face many ordeals, difficulties, calumnies, trials and tribulations.

These ideals have continued up to the present day to glow in the hearts of the people, because they have been upheld in spite of vicissitudes and ordeals. Aeons may come and go, continents may appear and disappear, people may pass away, but ideals and values remain a perennial source of inspiration to the world….

Unfortunately, even when the Formless Absolute assumes a form, there are persons, who impelled by their own attitudes, attribute their own human foibles to the Avatar. “When He has the same Form as ours, the same physical features, and eats, talks and moves about like any of us, what is the difference between the Avatar and ourselves?” they ask.

Because of this narrow-minded approach, these persons distance themselves from the Divine. An effort must be made to understand the nature of Divinity. “Daivam maanusharoopena (God in Human Form)“ declares the scripture….

The descent of the Avatar means the Divine coming down to the level of the human. No blemish attaches to the Divine as a result of this descent. There is no diminution in His puissance. Here is the example of a child playing on the ground. If the mother feels it is beneath her dignity to bend, and calls upon the child to leap into her arms, the child cannot do so. But out of her love for the child, the mother herself stoops and picks up the baby.

By bending down to take the child, does the mother bow to the child? Likewise, the Avatar descends to the level of the human to bless and rescue those who cannot rise to the level of the Divine. The ignorant assumes that because the Divine has descended with a human form, God has lowered Himself to the human level. This is a case of bending and not kneeling down. It is an act of benediction and not of submission…