What is an Avatar?
One Principle - Two Forms
Shiva/Shakti
Avatar is a Sanskrit word that means “an incarnation of God”. This is distinguished from the ‘reincarnation of a human soul”. It is a choice by the Divine Mother/Father to take human form and to walk amongst humanity at a time of need. This choice has many reasons but behind them is the capacity of the avatar to reflect back one’s own divinity, reminding one and all they are embodiments of divinity. As Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba says, “I am God – so are you! The difference is I know it and you have forgotten it.”
“The significance of an Avatar should be emphasised. It is a great mistake to consider such a being as simply a charismatic spiritual teacher, guru or even saint. The Avatar is not just a cultural phenomenon either, having special significance only for India or the East. The influence of Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha has been global in scale and expansive in time. The appearance of an Avatar is an extremely rare and monumental event in the history of mankind, the appeal being universal. An avatar represents the highest expression of humanities potential: consciousness without limit, love without boundary.”
Baba says, “Whenever there is a languishing of dharma (spiritual duty) or righteousness and an upheaval of unrighteousness, I create Myself, for it is part of the primal resolution, or sankalpa, to protect the spiritual structure of the universe. I lay aside My formless essence and assume a name and form suited to the purpose for which I come. Whenever evil threatens to vanquish good, I have to come and save it from decline.”
It is important to understand that there are different degrees of avatarhood; lesser or amsha and full or total (Purna). Sai Baba is a Purna Avatar.
What is the Nature of an Avatar?
The Nature of Love is to Give and Receive Through the Heart
In our search for understanding of the play of Avatars, it is most helpful to gain insight into the nature of Their Divine presence as both “gross” and “subtle.” It is of paramount importance to qualify two perceptions of the physical Avatar; as God physically incarnate (with attributes – Saguna), and as the Transcendent Principle (without attributes – Nirguna) which has taken form, through Divine Will, as that physical incarnation. The gross, or physical, aspect of Sai Rajarajeshwari and Sathya Sai Baba is defined by the term “sthoola.” The sthoola of Baba and Amma as physical incarnations possess what we would perceive as “deficiencies.” These deficiencies allow for what we observe to be “human error” made on the part of the Avatars. These deficiencies have been specifically adopted by the Avatars at birth, for they are necessary for the fulfilment of the Divine mission in the field of human existence. The subtle, or transcendental, Sai Principle in Shiva/Shakti is defined by the term “sookshma.” In this Principle, in the sookshma of Baba and Amma, there is no taint of any deficiency whatsoever.
Sri Aurobindo speaks to the sthoola and sookshma nature of Avatars in the following passage: “The Avatar is the secret Soul in all coming forward from its governing secrecy behind the veil to possess wholly in a human type, but as the Divine, the birth which ordinarily it only possesses from behind the veil…The Avatar is always a dual phenomenon of Divinity and humanity; the Divine takes upon Himself/Herself the human nature with all of its outward limitations… So surely it must be, since otherwise the object of the Avatar’s descent is not fulfilled; for that object is precisely to show that the human type of consciousness can be compatible with the Divine essence of consciousness made manifest, can be converted into its vessel, drawn into nearer conformity with it by a change of its mould and a heightening of its powers of light and love, and strength and purity… If the Avatar were to act in an entirely supernormal fashion, the object would not be fulfilled. A merely supernormal or miraculous Avatar would be a meaningless absurdity; not that there need be an entire absence of the use of super normal powers…”
Sai Baba has often spoken of Himself in this context. He has specifically illustrated and openly spoken of His own physical display of defects; such as misquoting a scripture or breaking something by “accident.” He does, however, also make it clear that He confounds people. “Besides being Jnana-Shakti and Prema-Shakti,” He says, “I am also Maya-Shakti.” It is the nature of maya to confound. This confounding activity is termed Kshobhanna (agitating, disturbing). One of the circles in the Sri Chakra is Sarva Samskshobhana, which means “confounding all in complete confusion!” While there is much more which could be shared on this topic, for our purposes it is enough that we recall this understanding as we observe the play of the Avatarhood of Baba and Amma and Their display of Divine physical inconsistencies. This play is quite appropriate, for Amma is Mahamaya Herself! When we observe Her omniscience and Her play with devotees who are both known and unknown to Her sthoola, or to the level of personality, it is the Sai sookshma and Her kshobhanna qualities that are behind the veil of maya producing the miracles and expressions of both Divine justice and Divine compassion. Amma, as Mahamaya, as Srimad Sai Rajarajeshwari, can make any decree that She wishes, and if it is in keeping with the Will of Her Lord, Sai Baba, then it will be so. For it is She who resides in the Para-Bindu, within the Sri Chakra, and Her essence is Parabrahman.
As Lalitha Tripurasundari, Amma is the full embodiment of the Omkar, residing in the Para-Bindu. To speak in this way, we are again breaching the veil between the formless Principle of Shiva/Shakti and the forms which the Principle has taken. Amma and Baba are incarnations as opposed to reincarnations. Human beings reincarnate: According to our karma, we are reborn again and again as we climb the upward path back into mergence with the supreme Parabrahman. God, as Shiva/Shakti Purna Avatar, does not take birth by karma, with a karmic debt, but rather wills His/Her form into being in order to both fulfil dosha (debt) and continue the Drama of creation. Hence, when Amma speaks to us about reincarnation, She is very clear about the purpose and intent of human existence and tells us how we should act in our lives.