FOR WHAT PURPOSE?
paritraanaaya saadhoonaam vinaashaaya cha dushkritam
dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge // 4.8 //
For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age.
Whenever there is a serious tension in life, when the all-pervasive materialism invades the hearts of human souls, to preserve the equilibrium, a responsive manifestation of wisdom and righteousness is essential. The Supreme, though unborn and undying, becomes manifest in human embodiment to overthrow the forces of ignorance and selfishness.
Avatara means descent, one who has descended. The Divine comes down to the earthly plane to raise it to a higher status. The purpose of Avatar is to inaugurate a new world, a new Dharma. By His teaching and example, He shows how a human being can raise himself to a higher grade of life.
The issue between right and wrong is the most crucial one. The Lord works on the side of the right. Love and mercy are more powerful than hatred and cruelty.
Dharma will conquer Adharma, truth wins over falsehood and power behind death will be overthrown by the Reality, Sat Chit Ananda - Being, Intelligence and Bliss.
Dharma means the mode of the being. It is the essential nature of a being that determines its mode of behavior. So long as our conduct is in conformity with our essential nature, we are acting in the right way. Adharma is nonconformity to our nature. Harmony of the world is on account of conformity of all beings to their respective natures; disharmony of the world is due to their nonconformity.
When the freedom given to humans is abused causing disequilibrium The Lord does not merely stand aside and allow the things to drift. He, through His manifestation, sets the matter on the right track and lets it jog along by itself while His loving hand is steering it all the time.
Sri Krishna says that His manifestations in this world in every age are for the following purposes:
1. for the protection of the good: To protect those who lead a life of truth and righteousness, who utilize their bodies in the service of the community, who are free from selfishness, anger, hatred, lust and greed and who devote their life to divine contemplation.
2. for the destruction of the evil-doers: For the elimination of wrong tendencies in those who lead a life of unrighteousness, who break the laws of the society, who are vain, dishonest and greedy, who injure others, who take possession of other's property by force and who commit all sorts of crimes and
3. for the establishment of dharma: When dharma is protected and wickedness destroyed, society lives according to dharma and affords opportunities to its members to lead a spiritual life. It connotes cosmic and moral order.
janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattwatah
tyaktwaa deham punarjanma naiti maameti so'rjuna // 4.9 //
He who thus knows in true light My divine birth and action, will not be born again when he leaves his body: he will attain Me, O Arjuna.
After explaining the reasons for His incarnations in this world Sri Krishna declares that he, who knows the great truth that the Lord though apparently born is ever beyond birth and death, though apparently active in the cause of righteousness, is ever beyond all action - becomes illumined with Self-knowledge, has realized the ultimate truth. Thus he transcends birth and death in the relative world and attains Brahman.
veetaraagabhayakrodhaa manmayaa maam upaashritaah
bahavo jnaana tapasaa pootaa madbhaavamaagataah // 4.10 //
Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire of knowledge, many have attained my being.
The purpose of incarnation is not merely to uphold the world order but to help the human beings to become perfected in their nature.
The steps required to be undertaken by beings in this regard are:
1. renouncing attachments to sense objects
2. becoming desire less
3. getting free from selfishness
4. realizing that he is constant, indestructible, eternal Self and that change is merely a quality of the body.
When an individual has reached this stage of self-development he becomes fearless and sees the Self everywhere and in such a state anger cannot arise in him. He is absorbed in Him and becomes fully devoted to Him. He thus takes absolute refuge in The Lord after getting purified with the fire of this knowledge.
The wisdom is referred to here as fire. Just as fire burns everything the wisdom burns down or completely removes all latent tendencies, impressions, cravings etc in an individual and thus makes him pure.
IS THE LORD PARTIAL TOWARDS SOME?
ye yathaa maam prapadyante taamstathaiva bhajaamyaham
mama vartmaanuvartante manushyaah paartha sarvashah // 4.11 //
In whatever way men worship Me, in the same way I reward them; It is my path, that men follow in all things, O Son of Pritha.
This verse brings out the wide catholicity of the Gita religion. God meets every aspirant with favor and grants to each his heart’s desire. He does not extinguish the hope of any but helps all hopes to grow according to their nature. The Lord bestows pleasure to those who seek pleasure, rewards those who aim liberation, and rescues them from distresses who pray to Him, and so on. In whatever form man worships the Lord, the Lord appears to him in that form. The various deities and cosmic forces, the angels, the prophets, the incarnations, are only different manifestations of the Lord Himself.
As there are innumerable ideals cherished by men, so there are innumerable forms of the Lord corresponding to those ideals. It is to Him alone that man offers worship under different names and forms, through different symbols and rites. Likewise, from Him alone comes the fulfillment of all desires, whether they are secular or spiritual. As the Self within He brings to fruition all wishes when the necessary conditions are fulfilled. The Atharva Veda says “ekam jyoti bahudha vibhati’ - the one light manifests itself in various forms. (XIII.3.17)
“The spiritually immature are unwilling to recognize other Gods than their own. Their attachment to their creed makes them blind to the larger unity of Godhead. This is the result of egotism in the religious ideas. The Gita on the other hand affirms though beliefs and practices may be many and varied, spiritual realization to which these are the means is one”. Dr.S.Radhakrishnan.