Although the avatar wields power beyond imagination, he relates to each
of us as our closest friend. He reads the heart and mind of each. To
each man, woman, or child, he appears not as a powerful sovereign, but
as our dearest companion. His power manifests to us as love and wisdom,
not as force or dominion.
The avatar is a child to the children, a boy to the boys, a
man among men, a woman among women, so that the avatar’s message might
reach each heart and receive enthusiastic response as ananda (bliss).
It is the compassion of the avatar that prompts his every activity.
Sathya Sai Speaks 7
The history of India is resonant with the traditions of the avatars
and of great saints. In India, spiritual realization is considered to
be the pinnacle of human achievement. It is a testimony to the spiritual
greatness of India that poorna avatars are incarnated only in that land.
it is a land replete with the language and the teachings of divinity.
However, even in India it is not easy for human beings to recognize
an avatar. Rama and Krishna were recognized as divine by very few people
in their times. Despite the transcendental greatness of those days,
even family and kin did not recognize the divinity of these incarnations.
The incarnations of the Lord were not accepted as such by many. Even
their parents, kinsmen, and comrades hesitated to adore them. Only
a few sages who had cultivated the inner vision through study and
sadhana knew their reality.
Sathya Sai Speaks 6
Lack of recognition resulted partly because Rama and Krishna were born
into royal families. They were not available to the public, nor did
they announce their missions. The avatars of old were only recognized
by the masses after they dropped their physical forms.
On previous occasions when God incarnated on earth, the bliss or
recognizing him in the incarnation was vouchsafed only after the physical
embodiment had left the world, in spite of plenty of patent evidences
of his grace. And the loyalty and devotion they commanded from men
arose through fear and awe at their superhuman powers and skills,
or at their imperial and penal authority.
Sathya Sai Speaks 6
