{"id":3763,"date":"2013-07-13T01:51:04","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3763"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:51:04","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:04","slug":"18-avatarhood-and-evolution-vol-02-second-series-1949","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/letters-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-second-series-1949\/18-avatarhood-and-evolution-vol-02-second-series-1949","title":{"rendered":"-18_Avatarhood and Evolution.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\nSECTION FOURTEEN <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nAVATARHOOD AND EVOLUTION <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\nConnection of Avatarhood with Evolution<\/b><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n(1) <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nAVATARHOOD would have little meaning if it were not connected with the evolution. The
\nHindu procession of the ten Avatars is itself, as it
\nwere, a parable of evolution. First the Fish Avatar,
\nthen the amphibious animal between land and water,
\nthen the land animal, then the Man-Lion Avatar,
\nbridging man and animal, then man as dwarf,
\nsmall and undeveloped and physical but containing
\nin himself the godhead and taking possession of
\nexistence, then the rajasic, sattwic, nirguna Avatars,
\nleading the human development from the vital
\nrajasic to the sattwic mental man and again the
\novermental superman. Krishna, Buddha and Kalki
\ndepict the last three stages, the stages of the spiritual development\u2014Krishna opens the possibility
\nof Overmind, Buddha tries to shoot beyond to the
\nsupreme liberation but that liberation is still negative, not returning upon earth to complete positively
\nthe evolution; Kaiki is to correct this by bringing <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 493<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe Kingdom of the Divine upon earth, destroying
\nthe opposing Asura forces. The progression is
\nstriking and unmistakable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs for the lives in between the Avatar lives, it
\nmust be remembered that Krishna speaks of many
\nlives in the past, not only a few supreme ones,
\nand secondly that while he speaks of himself as the
\nDivine, in one passage he describes himself as a
\nVibhuti, vrishninam vasudevah.<\/i> We may therefore
\nfairly assume that in many lives he manifested as
\nthe Vibhuti veiling the fuller Divine Consciousness.
\nIf we admit that the object of Avatarhood is to lead
\nthe evolution, this is quite reasonable, the Divine
\nappearing as Avatar in the great transitional stages
\nand as Vibhutis to aid the lesser transitions. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n(2) <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI only took the Puranic list of Avatars and interpreted it as a parable of evolution, so as to show
\nthat the idea of evolution is implicit behind the
\ntheory of Avatarhood. As to whether one accepts
\nBuddha as an Avatar or prefers to put others in his
\nplace (in some lists Balaram replaces Buddha), is
\na matter of individual feeling. The Buddhist Jatakas
\nare legends about the past incarnations of the
\nBuddha, often with a teaching implied <\/b> in them, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 494<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nand are not a part of the Hindu system. To the
\nBuddhists Buddha was not an Avatar at all, he
\nwas the soul climbing up the ladder of spiritual
\nevolution till it reached the final stage of emancipation\u2014although Hindu
\ninfluence did make Buddhism develop the idea of an eternal Buddha above,
\nthat was not a universal or fundamental Buddhistic idea. Whether the Divine in
\nmanifesting his Avatarhood could choose to follow the line of evolution from the
\nlowest scale, manifesting on each scale as a Vibhuti is a question again to which the answer
\nis not inevitably in the negative. If we accept the
\nevolutionary idea, such a thing may have its place.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n If Buddha taught something different from
\nKrishna, that does not prevent his advent from
\nbeing necessary in the spiritual evolution. The
\nonly question is whether the attempt to scale the
\nheights of an absolute Nirvana through negation
\nof cosmic existence was a necessary step or not,
\nhaving a view to the fact that one can make the
\nattempt to reach the Highest on the neti neti<\/i> as well
\nas the iti iti<\/i> line. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n30-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 495<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n. (3)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nToo much importance need not be attached to the
\ndetails about Kalki\u2014they are rather symbolic than
\nan attempt to prophesy details of future history.
\nWhat is expressed is something that has to come,
\nbut it is symbolically indicated, no more. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSo too, too much weight need not be put on the
\nexact figures about the Yugas in the Purana. Here
\nagain, the Kala and the Yugas indicate successive
\nperiods in the cyclic wheel of evolution,\u2014the perfect.
\nstate, decline and disintegration of successive ages
\nof humanity followed by a new birth\u2014the mathematical calculations are not the important element.
\nThe argument of the end of the Kali Yuga already
\ncome or coming and a new Satya Yuga coming is
\na very familiar one and there have been many who
\nhave upheld it. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n14-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nTwo Sides of Avatarhood<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHERE are two sides of the phenomenon of Avatarhood, the Divine Consciousness and the instrumental personality in Nature under the conditions <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 496<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nof Nature which it uses according to the rules of
\nthe game. If Avatarhood is only a flashing miracle
\nthen I have no use for it. If it is a coherent part
\nof the arrangement of the Omnipotent Divine in
\nNature, then I can understand and accept it. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nDouble Element in the Divine Descent<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nAs for the Divine and the human, that also is a
\nmind-made difficulty. The Divine is there in the
\nhuman, and the human fulfilling and exceeding its
\nhighest aspirations and tendencies becomes the
\nDivine. That is what your depression could not
\nunderstand\u2014that when the Divine descends, he
\ntakes upon himself the burden of humanity in order
\nto exceed it\u2014he becomes human in order to show
\nhumanity how to become Divine. But that cannot
\nbe if there is only a weakling without any divine
\nPresence within or divine Force behind him\u2014he
\nhas to be strong in order to put his strength into all
\nwho are willing to receive it. There is therefore in
\nhim a double element\u2014human in front. Divine
\nbehind\u2014and it is that which gives the impression
\nof unfathomableness of which you complained.
\nIf you look upon the human alone, looking with the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 497 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nexternal eye only and not willing or ready to see
\nanything else, you will see a human being only\u2014if
\nyou look for the Divine, you will find the Divine. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nHuman Ideas of Divine Manifestation<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nMEN’S way of doing things well is through a clear
\nmental connection; they see things and do things
\nwith the mind and what they want is a mental and
\nhuman perfection. When they think of a manifestation of Divinity, they think it must be an extraordinary perfection in doing ordinary human
\nthings\u2014an extraordinary business faculty, political,
\npoetic or artistic faculty, an accurate memory, not
\nmaking mistakes, not undergoing any defeat or
\nfailure. Or else, they think of things which they
\ncall superhuman like not eating food or telling
\ncotton-futures or sleeping on nails or eating them.
\nAll that has nothing to do with manifesting the
\nDivine.. ., These human ideas are false. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Divinity acts according to another consciousness, the consciousness of the Truth above and
\nthe Lila below and It acts according to the need of the
\nLila, not according to men’s ideas of what It should
\nor should not do. This is the first thing one must <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 498 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ngrasp, otherwise one can understand nothing about
\nthe manifestation of the Divine. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n18-5-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nOmnipotence and Self-limitation of the
\nDivine<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIF the Divine were not in essence omnipotent, he
\ncould not be omnipotent anywhere\u2014whether in the
\nsupramental or anywhere else. Because he chooses
\nto limit or determine his action by conditions, it
\ndoes not make him less omnipotent. His self-limitation is itself an act of omnipotence…. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhy should the Divine be tied down to succeed
\nin all his operations? What if failure suits him better
\nand serves better the ultimate purpose? What rigid
\nprimitive notions are these about the Divine! <\/font><\/p>\n

\nCertain conditions have been established for the
\ngame and so long as those conditions remain unchanged certain things are not done, so we say they
\nare impossible, can’t be done. If the conditions are
\nchanged then the same things are done or. at least become licit\u2014allowable, legal according to the
\nso-called laws of Nature, and then we say they can <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 499<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbe done. The Divine also acts according to the
\nconditions of the game. <\/b> He may change them, but he has to change them
\nfirst, not proceed, while maintaining the conditions, to act by a series of miracles. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe heart has its intuitions as well as the mind
\nand these are as true as any mental perceptions.
\nBut neither all feelings nor all perceptions nor all
\nrational conclusions can be true. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFebruary, 1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPurpose of the Avatar<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI HAVE said that the Avatar is one who comes to
\nopen
\nthe Way for humanity to a higher consciousness\u2014 if nobody can follow the Way,
\nthen either our conception of the thing, which is also that of Christ
\nand Krishna and Buddha also, is all wrong or the
\nwhole life and action of the Avatar is quite futile.
\nN seems to say that there is no way and no possibility
\nof following, that the struggles and sufferings of the
\nAvatar are unreal and all humbug,\u2014there is no possibility of struggle for one who represents the Divine.
\nSuch a conception makes nonsense of the whole idea
\nof Avatarhood; there is then no reason in it, no necessity <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 500<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nin it, no meaning in it. The Divine being all-powerful can lift people up without bothering to
\ncome down on earth. <\/b> It is only if it is a part of the world-arrangement
\nthat he should take upon himself the burden of humanity and open the Way that
\nAvatarhood has any meaning. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n7-3-1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nWork of the Avatar<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIF the Avatars are shams, they have no value for
\nothers nor any true effect, Avatarhood becomes
\nperfectly irrational and unreal and meaningless.
\nThe Divine does not need to suffer or struggle for
\nhimself; if he takes on these things, it is in order to
\nbear the world-burden and the world and men; and if the sufferings and struggles are to be of any
\nhelp, they must be real. A sham or falsehood cannot help\u2014they must be as real as
\nthe struggles and sufferings of men themselves\u2014the Divine bears them and at the
\nsame time shows the way out of them. Otherwise, his assumption of human nature has no meaning
\nand no utility and no value. What is the use of admitting Avatarhood if you take all the meaning out of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 501<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nit?…. The manifestation of the Divine in the
\nAvatar is of help to man because it helps him to
\ndiscover his own divinity and find the way to realise
\nit. If the difference is so great that the humanity by
\nits very nature prevents all possibility of following the Way opened by the Avatar, it merely means that
\nthere is no divinity in man that can respond to the
\nDivinity in the Avatar. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI repeat, the Divine when he takes on the burden
\nof terrestrial nature takes it fully, sincerely and
\nwithout any conjuring tricks or pretence. If he
\nhas something behind him which emerges always
\nout of the coverings, it is the same thing in essence,
\neven if greater in degree, that is behind others, and
\nit is to awaken that that he is there…. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe psychic being does the same for all who are
\nintended for the spiritual way; men need not be
\nextraordinary beings to follow it. That is the mistake
\nyou are making, to harp on greatness as if only the
\ngreat can be spiritual…<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf absolute surrender, faith, etc. from the beginning
\nwere essential for Yoga, then nobody could do it.
\nI myself could not have done it if such a condition
\nhad been demanded of me…. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n8-3-1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 502<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Descending Power<\/i><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE Descending Power (Avatar) chooses its own
\nplace, body, time for the manifestation. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n17-9-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRama and Avatarhood<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

\n(I) <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI AM rather perplexed by your strictures on Rama. Cowardice is the last thing that can be charged
\nagainst Valmiki’s Rama; he has always been
\nconsidered as a warrior and it is the "martial races"
\nof India who have made him their god. Valmiki everywhere paints him as a great warrior. His
\nemployment of ruse against an infrahuman enemy
\ndoes not prove the opposite\u2014for that is always
\nhow the human (even great warriors and hunters)
\nhas dealt with the infrahuman. I think it is Madhusudan who has darkened Valmiki’s hero in Bengali
\neyes and turned him into a poor puppet, but that is
\nnot the authentic Rama who, say what one will, was
\na great epic figure,\u2014Avatar or no Avatar. As for
\nconventional morality, all morality is a convention <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 503<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\u2014man cannot live without conventions, mental
\nand moral, otherwise he feels himself lost in
\nthe rolling sea of the anarchic forces of the vital
\nNature. Even the Russells and Bernard Shaws can
\nonly end by setting up another set of conventions
\nin the place of those they have skittled over. Only
\nby rising above mind can one really get beyond
\nconventions\u2014Krishna was able to do it because he was not a mental human being
\nbut an overmental godhead acting freely out of a greater
\nconsciousness than man’s. Rama was not that,
\nhe was the Avatar of the sattwic mind\u2014mental,
\nemotional, moral\u2014and he followed the Dharma of the age and race. That may make
\nhim temperamentally congenial to Gandhi and the reverse to
\nyou; but just as Gandhi’s temperamental recoil
\nfrom Krishna does not prove Krishna to be no
\nAvatar, so your temperamental recoil from Rama
\ndoes not establish that he was not an Avatar.
\nHowever, my main point will be that Avatarhood
\ndoes not depend upon these questions at all, but
\nhas another basis, meaning and purpose. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n(2) <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI have no intention of entering into a supreme
\ndefence of Rama\u2014I only entered into the points <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 504<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nabout Bali etc. because these are usually employed
\nnowadays to belittle him as a great personality
\non the usual level. But from the point of view of
\nAvatarhood I would no more think of defending
\nhis moral perfection according to modern standards
\nthan I would think of defending Napoleon or
\nCaesar against the moralists or the democratic
\ncritics or the debunkers in order to prove that they
\nwere Vibhutis. Vibhuti, Avatar are terms which
\nhave their own meaning and scope, and they are not concerned with morality or
\nimmorality, perfection or imperfection according to small human standards or setting an example to men or showing
\nnew moral attitudes or giving new spiritual teachings. These may or may not be done, but they are
\nnot at all the essence of the matter. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAlso, I do not consider your method of dealing
\nwith the human personality of Rama to be the
\nright one. It has to be taken as a whole in the
\nsetting that Valmiki gave it (not treated as if it were
\nthe story of a modern man) and with the significance that he gave to his hero’s personality, deeds
\nand works. If it is pulled out of its setting and
\nanalysed under the dissecting knife of a modern
\nethical mind, it loses all its significance at once.
\nKrishna so treated becomes a debauchee and
\ntrickster who no doubt did great things in politics <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 505<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\u2014but so did Rama in war. Achilles and Odysseus
\npulled out of their setting become, one a furious.
\negoistic savage, and the other a cruel and cunning
\nsavage. I consider myself under an obligation to
\nenter into the spirit, significance, atmosphere of
\nthe Mahabharata, Iliad, Ramayana and identify
\nmyself with their time-spirit before I can feel what
\ntheir heroes were in themselves apart from the
\ndetails of their outer action. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs for the Avatarhood, I accept it for Rama
\nbecause he fills a place in the scheme\u2014-and seems
\nto me to fill it rightly\u2014and because when I read the Ramayana I feel a great
\nafflatus which I recognise and which makes of its story\u2014mere faery-tale though it seems\u2014a parable of a great critical
\ntransitional event that happened in the terrestrial
\nevolution and gives to the main character’s personality and action a significance of the large typical
\ncosmic kind which these actions would, not have
\nhad, if they had been done by another man in
\nanother scheme of events. The Avatar is not
\nbound to do extraordinary actions, but he is bound to
\ngive his acts or his work or what he is\u2014any of these
\nor all\u2014a significance and an effective power that
\nare part of something essential to be done in the
\nhistory of the earth and its races. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll the same, if anybody does not see as I do and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 506<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwants to eject Rama from his place, I have no
\nobjection\u2014I have no particular partiality for Rama
\n\u2014provided somebody is put in who can worthily fill up the gap his absence
\nleaves. There was somebody there, Valmiki’s Rama or another Rama or
\nsomebody not Rama. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAlso, I do not mean that I admit the validity of
\nyour remarks about Rama, even taken as a piecemeal criticism, but that I have no time for it today. I maintain my position about the killing of Ball
\nand the banishment of Sita in spite of Bali’s preliminary objection to the procedure, afterwards
\nretracted, and in spite of the opinion of Rama’s
\nrelatives, necessarily from the point of view of the
\nantique dharma\u2014not from that of any universal
\nmoral standard\u2014which besides does not exist,
\nsince the standard changes according to clime or
\nage. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n23-8-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(3) <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nNo, certainly not\u2014an Avatar is not at all bound
\nto be a spiritual prophet\u2014he is never in fact merely
\na prophet, he is a realiser, an establisher\u2014not of
\noutward things only, though he does realise something<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 507<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nin the outward also, but, as I have said, of
\nsomething essential and radical needed for the
\nterrestrial evolution which is the evolution of the
\nembodied spirit through successive stages towards
\nthe Divine. It was not at all Rama’s business to
\nestablish the spiritual stage of that evolution\u2014so
\nhe did not at all concern himself with that. His
\nbusiness was to destroy Ravana and to establish
\nthe Rama-rajya\u2014in other words, to fix for the
\nfuture the possibility of an order proper to the sattwic
\ncivilised human being who governs his life by the
\nreason, the finer emotions, morality, or at least
\nmoral ideals, such as truth, obedience, co-operation
\nand harmony, the sense of domestic and public
\norder,\u2014to establish this in a world still occupied by
\n.anarchic forces, the Animal mind arid the powers of the vital Ego making its own satisfaction the
\nrule of life, in other words, the Vanara and Rakshasa. This is the meaning of Rama and his life-work and it is according as he fulfilled it or not
\nthat he must be judged as Avatar or no Avatar.
\nIt was not his business to play the comedy of the
\nchivalrous Kshatriya with the formidable brute beast that was Bali, it was his business to kill him and get the Animal mind under his control. It was his business to be not necessarily a perfect, but a largely representative sattwic Man, a faithful <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 508<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nhusband and a lover, a loving and obedient son,
\na tender and perfect brother, father, friend\u2014he
\nis friend of all kinds of people, friend of the outcast Guhaka, friend of the Animal leaders, Sugriva,
\nHanumana, friend of the vulture Jatayu, friend of
\neven Rakshasa Vibhishana. All that he was in a
\nbrilliant, striking but above all spontaneous and
\ninevitable way, not with forcing of this note or that
\nlike Harishchandra or Shivi, but with a certain
\nharmonious completeness. But most of all, it was
\nhis business to typify and establish the things on
\nwhich the social idea and its stability depend, truth
\nand honour, the sense of Dharma, public spirit and
\nthe sense of order. To the first, to truth and honour,
\nmuch more than to his filial love and obedience to
\nhis father\u2014though to that also\u2014he sacrificed his personal rights as the elect
\nof the King and the assembly and fourteen of the best years of his life and
\nwent into exile in the forests. To his public spirit
\nand his sense of public order (the great and supreme civic virtue in the eyes of
\nthe ancient Indians, Greeks,
\nRomans, for at that time the maintenance of the
\nordered community, not the separate development
\nand satisfaction of the individual was the pressing
\nneed of the human evolution) he sacrificed his own
\nhappiness and domestic life and the happiness of Sita. In that he was at one with the moral sense <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 509<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nof all the antique races, though at variance with the
\nlater romantic individualistic sentimental morality
\nof the modern man who can afford to have that less
\nstern morality just because the ancients sacrificed
\nthe individual in order to make the world safe for
\nthe spirit of social order. Finally, it was Rama’s
\nbusiness to make the world safe for the ideal of the
\nsattwic human being by destroying the sovereignty of Ravana, the Rakshasa menace. All this he did
\nwith such a divine afflatus in his personality and
\naction that his figure has been stamped for more
\nthan two millenniums on the mind of Indian culture,
\nand what he stood for has dominated the reason and
\nidealising mind of man in all countries, and in spite
\nof the constant revolt of the human vital, is likely to
\ncontinue to do so until a greater ideal arises. And
\nyou say in spite of all these that he was no Avatar? If you like-\u2014but at any
\nrate he stands among the few
\ngreatest Vibhutis. You may dethrone him now\u2014 for man is no longer satisfied
\nwith the sattwic ideal
\nand is seeking for something more\u2014but his work
\nand meaning remains stamped on the past of the
\nearth’s evolving race. When I spoke of the gap that
\nwould be left by his absence, I did not mean a gap
\namong the prophets and intellectuals, but a gap in
\nthe scheme of Avatarhood\u2014there was somebody who was the Avatar of the sattwic Human as Krishna <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 510<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwas the Avatar of the overmental Superman\u2014
\nI can see no one but Rama who can fill the place.
\nSpiritual teachers and prophets (as also intellectuals, scientists, artists,
\npoets, etc.)\u2014these are at the greatest Vibhutis but they are not Avatars. For at that
\nrate all religious founders would be Avatars\u2014Joseph
\nSmith (I think that is his name) of the Mormons,
\nSt. Francis of Assisi, Calvin, Loyala and a host
\n<\/b>of <\/b>others as well as Christ, Chaitanya or Ramakrishna. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor faith, miracles, Bijoy Goswami, another occasion. I wanted to say this much more about Rama
\n\u2014which is still only a hint and is not the thing I was going to write about the general principle of Avatarhood. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNor, may I add, is it a complete or supreme defence of Rama. For that I would have to write
\nabout what the story of the Ramayana meant,
\nappreciate Valmiki’s presentation of his chief characters (they are none of them copy-book examples,
\nbut great men and women with the defects and
\nmerits of human nature, as all men even the greatest
\nare), and show also how the Godhead, which has
\nbehind the frontal and instrumental personality we
\ncall Rama, worked out every incident of his life as
\na necessary step in what had to be done. As to the
\nweeping Rama, I had answered that in my other
\nunfinished letter. You are imposing the colder and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 511<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nharder Nordic ideal on the southern temperament
\nwhich regarded the expression of emotions, not its
\nsuppression, as a virtue. Witness the weeping and
\nlamentations of Achilles, Ulysses and other great
\nheroes, Persian and Indian\u2014the latter especially as
\nlovers. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-8-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(4)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nWhy should not Rama have kama<\/i> (lust) as well as
\nprema<\/i> (love) ? They were supposed to go together as
\nbetween husband and wife in ancient India. The
\nperformances of Rama in the viraha <\/i>of Sita are due
\nto Valmiki’s poetic idea which was also Kalidasa’s
\nand everybody else’s in those far-off times about how
\na complete lover should behave in such a quandary. Whether the actual Rama bothered himself to do all
\nthat is another matter. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs for the unconscious Avatar, why not? Chaitanya is supposed to be an Avatar by the Vaishnavas, yet he was conscious of the Godhead behind
\nonly when that Godhead came in front and possessed
\nhim on rare occasions. Christ said, "I and my father
\nare one," but yet he always spoke and behaved as if
\nthere were a difference. Ramakrishna’s earlier period <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 512<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwas that of one seeking God, not aware from the
\nfirst of his identity. These are the reputed religious
\nAvatars who ought to be more conscious than a man
\nof action like Rama. And supposing the full and
\npermanent consciousness, why should the Avatar
\nproclaim himself except on rare occasions to an
\nArjuna or to a few bhaktas or disciples? It is for
\nothers to find out what he is; though he does not
\ndeny when others speak of him as That, he is not
\nalways saying and perhaps never may say or only
\nin moments like that of the Gita, "I am He". <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-9-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(5)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nNo time for a full answer to your renewed remarks
\non Rama tonight. You are intrigued only because
\nyou stick to the modern standard, modern measuring-rods of moral and spiritual
\nperfection (introduced by Seely and Bankim) for the Avatar\u2014while
\nI start from another standpoint altogether and
\nresolutely refuse these standard human measures.
\nThe ancient Avatars except Buddha were not either
\nstandards of perfection or spiritual teachers in spite
\nof the Gita which was spoken, says Krishna, in a
\nmoment of supernormal consciousness which he <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 513 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nlost immediately afterwards. They were, if I may
\nsay so, representative cosmic men who were instruments of a divine Intervention for fixing certain
\nthings in the evolution of the earth-race. I stick to
\nthat and refuse to submit myself in this argument
\nto any other standard whatever. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI did not admit that Rama was a blind Avatar,
\nbut offered you two alternatives of which the latter
\nrepresents my real view founded on the impression
\nmade on me by the Ramayana that Rama knew
\nvery well but refused to be talkative about it\u2014his
\nbusiness being not to disclose the Divine but to fix
\nmental, moral and emotional man (not to originate
\nhim, for he was there already) on the earth as
\nagainst the Animal and Rakshasa forces. My
\nargument from Chaitanya (who was for most of
\nthe time to his outward consciousness first a pandit
\nand then a bhakta, but only occasionally the Divine himself) is perfectly rational and logical, if you
\nfollow my line and don’t insist on a high specifically
\nspiritual consciousness for the Avatar. I shall point
\nout what I mean in my next. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBy sattwic man I do not mean a moral or an
\nalways self-controlled one, but a predominantly
\nmental (as opposed to a vital or merely physical
\nman) who has rajasic emotions and passions, but
\nlives predominantly according to his mind and its <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 514<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwill and ideas. There is no such thing, I suppose, as a purely sattwic man\u2014since the three gunas go
\nalways together in a state of unstable equilibrium but a predominantly sattwic man is what I have
\ndescribed. My impression of Rama from Valmiki
\nis such\u2014it is quite different from yours. I am afraid
\nyour picture of him is quite out of focus\u2014you efface
\nthe main lines of the character, belittle and brush
\nout all the lights to which Valmiki gave so much.
\nvalue and prominence and hammer always at some
\ndetails and some parts of shadow which you turn
\ninto the larger part of Rama. That .is what the
\ndebunkers do\u2014but a debunked figure is not the
\ntrue figure. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBy the way, a sattwic man can have a strong
\npassion and strong anger\u2014and when he lets the
\nlatter loose, the normally vicious fellow is simply
\nnowhere. Witness the outbursts of anger of Christ,
\nthe indignation of Chaitanya\u2014and the general
\nevidence of experience and psychology on the
\npoint. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe trait of Rama which you give as that of an undeveloped man, viz., his decisive spontaneous action according to the will and the idea that came
\nlo him, is a trait of the cosmic man and many
\nVibhutis, men of action of the large Caesarian or
\nNapoleonic type. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 515<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nWhen I said, "Why not an unconscious Avatar?"
\nI was taking your statement (not mine) that Rama was unconscious and how could
\nthere be an unconscious Avatar. My own view is that Rama was
\nnot blind, not unconscious of his Avatarhood, only uncommunicative about it. But I said that even taking
\nyour statement to be correct, the objection was not
\ninsuperable. I instanced the case of Chaitanya and
\nthe others, because there the facts are hardly disputable. Chaitanya for the first part of his life was
\nsimply Nimai Pandit and had no consciousness of
\nbeing anything else. Then he had his conversion
\nand became the bhakta Chaitanya. This bhakta
\nat times seemed to be possessed by the presence of
\nKrishna, knew himself to be Krishna, spoke, moved
\nand appeared with the light of the Godhead\u2014none
\naround him could think of or see him as anything
\nelse when he was in this glorified and transfigured condition. But from that he fell back to the ordinary
\nconsciousness of the bhakta and, as I have read in
\nhis biography, refused then to consider himself as
\nanything more; These, I think, are the facts. Well,
\nthen what do they signify? Was he only Nimai Pandit
\nat first? It is quite conceivable that he was so and
\nthe descent of the Godhead into him only took place
\nafter his conversion and spiritual change. But also
\nafterwards when he was in his normal bhakta- <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 516<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nconsciousness, was he then no longer the Avatar? An
\nintermittent Avatarhood? Krishna coming down
\nfor an afternoon call into Chaitanya and then going
\nup again till the time came for the next visit? I find
\nit difficult to believe in this phenomenon. The
\nrational explanation is that in the phenomenon of Avatarhood there is a Consciousness behind, at first
\nveiled or sometimes perhaps half-veiled, which is that
\nof the Godhead and a frontal consciousness, human
\nor apparently human or at any rate with all the
\nappearance of terrestriality which is the instrumental
\npersonality. In that case, it is possible that the secret Consciousness was all along there, but waited to
\nmanifest until after the conversion and it manifested
\nintermittently because the main work of Chaitanya
\nwas to establish the type of a spiritual and psychic
\nbhakti and love in the emotional vital part of man,
\npreparing the vital in us in that way to turn towards
\nthe Divine\u2014at any rate, to fix that possibility in the
\nearth-nature. It was not that there had not been the emotional type of bhakti
\nbefore; but the completeness of it, the \u00e9lan,<\/i> the vital’s rapture in it had
\nnever manifested as it manifested in Chaitanya. But
\nfor that work it would never have done if he had
\nalways been in the Krishna consciousness; he would
\nhave been the Lord to whom all gave bhakti, but
\nnot the supreme example of the divine ecstatic <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 517<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbhakti. But still the occasional manifestation showed
\nwho he was and at the same time evidenced the
\nmystic law of the Immanence. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nVoila\u2014<\/i>for Chaitanya. But, if Chaitanya, the
\nfrontal consciousness, the instrumental personality,
\nwas all the time the Avatar, yet except in his highest
\nmoments was unconscious of it and even denied it,
\nthat pushed a little farther would establish the possibility of what you call an unconscious Avatar, that
\nis to say, of one in which the veiled consciousness.
\nmight not come in front but always move the
\ninstrumental personality from behind. The frontal
\nconsciousness might, be aware in the inner parts of
\nits being that it was only an instrument of something
\nDivine which was its real Self, but outwardly would
\nthink, speak and behave as if it were only the human
\nbeing doing a given work with a peculiar power
\nand splendour. Whether there was such an Avatar
\nor not is another matter, but logically it is possible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n4-9-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(6)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe question was if certain perfections must not be
\ndemanded of the Divine Manifestation which seemed
\nto me quite irrelevant to the reality. I put forward <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 518<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ntwo propositions which appear to me indispensable; unless we are to reverse all spiritual knowledge in
\nfavour of modern European ideas about things: first,
\nthe Divine Manifestation, even when it manifests in mental and human ways, has
\nbehind it a consciousness greater than the mind and not bound by
\nthe petty mental and moral conventions of this very
\nignorant human race\u2014so that to impose these
\nstandards on the Divine is to try to do what is irrational and impossible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSecondly, this Divine Consciousness behind the
\napparent personality is concerned with only two
\nthings in a fundamental way\u2014the truth above and
\nhere below the Lila and the purpose of the incarnation or manifestation, and it does what is necessary
\nfor that in the way its greater than human consciousness sees to be the necessary and intended way.
\nBut I do not understand how all that can prevent
\nme from answering mental questions. On my own
\nshowing, if it is necessary for the divine purpose, it
\nhas to be done. Sri Ramakrishna himself answered
\nthousands of questions, I believe. But the answers
\nmust be such as he gave and such as I try to give,
\nanswers from a higher spiritual experience, from a
\ndeeper source of knowledge and not lucubrations of
\nthe logical intellect trying to co-ordinate its ignorance. Still less can there be a placing of a divine <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 519<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ntruth before the judgments of the intellect to be
\ncondemned or acquitted by that authority\u2014for the authority here has no
\nsufficient jurisdiction or competence. … <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSeptember, 1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(7)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIn Yoga we do not strive after greatness. It is not a
\nquestion of Sri Krishna’s disciples but of the earth-consciousness. Rama was a mental man, there is no
\ntouch of the Overmind consciousness (direct) in
\nanything he said or did, but what he did was done
\nwith the greatness of the Avatar. But there have
\nsince been men who did live in touch with the planes
\nabove mind\u2014higher mind, illumined mind, intuition. There is no question of asking whether they
\nwere greater than Rama, they might have been less
\ngreat, but they were able to live from a new plane of consciousness. And
\nKrishna’s opening the Overmind certainly made it possible for the attempt at
\nbringing Supermind to the earth to be made. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nRama spoke always from the thinking intelligence,
\nthe common property of developed men; Ramakrishna constantly from a swift and luminous spiritual
\nintuition…. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n11-2-1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 520<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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