Double Purpose of Avatarhood

Double Purpose of Avatarhood...................................Shrikant Soman
In this note we will study : The real mission of Avatar, various aspects of the work of Avatar, double purpose of the incarnation of God, Popular Mythology and its shortcomings / misgivings.

Gita states that the outward action of the Avatar is to restore Dharma. This happens when over the ages the Dharma fades, languishes, loses force and strong and oppressive Adharma arises. At this juncture, the Avatar comes and raises it again to power. In the most human and outward terms, the mission of Avatar seems to be to relieve the seekers of the Dharma who are oppressed by the reign of the reactionary darkness. It is to destroy the wrong-doers who seek to maintain the denial of the Dharma. This is the most popular perception of the Avatarhood as interpreted by the humanity of the Gita’s messages as per their inclinations and preference. This is the poor and insufficient connotation, though not totally baseless or wrong, of the mission of Avatar. This has the most important error of ignoring the SPIRITUAL DEPTH of meaning. The word Dharma has different meanings – ethical and practical, a natural and philosophical and a religious and spiritual significance. It may be used in any one of these meanings to the exclusion of all the others. It can thus be used in a purely ethical, a purely philosophical or a purely religious sense. Ethical aspect of Dharma indicates the law of righteousness, the moral rule of conduct. On a still more outward and practical significance, it can also indicate social and political justice. It may even mean simply the observation of the social law. If we use this meaning of the word Dharma, then we have to construe that Avatar descends when unrighteousness, injustice and oppression prevail in the society. He delivers the good and destroys the wicked. He breaks down injustice and oppression and restores the ethical balance of mankind.

In this ethical sense, the Krishna Avatar is generally understood by the masses. This is the popular and mythical account of Krishna Avatar. The unrighteousness of the Kurus as incarnated in Duryodhana and his brothers had become a great burden to the earth. It was therefore necessary to call upon God to descend and lighten her load. In answer to her call, the God Vishnu incarnated as Krishna. He delivered the oppressed Pandavas and destroyed the unjust Kauravas. Similarly, the previous Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the form of Rama is understood. Rama came to destroy the unrighteous oppression of Ravan. Similarly, Parashuram Avatar was incarnated to destroy the unrighteous license of the military and princely caste, the Kshatriyas. The dwarf Vaman Avatar came to destroy the rule of Titan Bali. This is the most popular and mythical form of an Avatar on the aspect of purely practical, ethical or social and political mission. Unfortunately, it does NOT give a right account of the phenomenon of Avatarhood. It misses the most important aspect of the Avatarhood – that of the spiritual mission. Buddha and Christ were also Avatar. However, they do not ‘fit’ into the popular and mythical sense of the Avatar as explained above. Their mission was NOT at all to DESTROY the evil-doers and deliver the good, as is the common perception of the mission of an Avatar. Instead, their mission was to bring to all men a new spiritual message and a new law of divine growth and spiritual realization. This problem is solved if we give to the word Dharma its religious sense – meaning a law of religious and spiritual life. We will then get to the kernel of the matter. At the same time, we are susceptible to another error. We are in the danger of excluding a most important part of the WORK done by the Avatar. In the history of the divine incarnations we always see the double work. This is inevitable. The Avatar takes up the workings of God in human life, the way of the divine Will and Wisdom in the world. This always fulfils itself EXTERNALLY as well as IINTERNALLY. It works by INNER progress of the SOUL and by an OUTER change in the LIFE of humanity.

Based on Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita
The Divine Birth and Divine Works ....First Series – Chapter 17....
Note 2