The Hindu : God incarnates for humanity's sake

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

God incarnates for humanity's sake

CHENNAI MARCH 22 . The scriptural statement describing the Almighty's nature "He who does not have birth manifests in myriad forms" may appear paradoxical but it is not so. The Lord has incarnated time and again in the world out of compassion for humanity. But His birth unlike that of human beings is out of His will and thus not due to Karma. Lord Krishna has clarified this in the Bhagavad Gita, "Though without birth and deathless, and the Lord of all beings as well, yet I take birth by My inherent mysterious power employing the pure aspect of My material nature." Even though the Lord's incarnations are said to be 10, they are numerous. Among them His manifestation in human form as Rama is important for mankind. The Ramayana of Valmiki is hailed as the foremost epic in verse.

In his discourse, Kalyanapuram Sri R.Aravamudan said the Vedas were hailed as the breath of the Supreme Being. They eulogise the Lord and in His incarnation as Rama in the world, the Vedas were written as the Ramayana. The sages have composed the epics and the Puranas with the intention of making available the teachings of the Vedas for humanity in an easy manner. The Mahabharata is called the fifth Veda due to its encyclopaedic nature. Both the epics are thus on a par with the Vedas. The most important teachings highlighted in the epics are: it is man's ego, which leads to downfall and that Dharma protects the person who upholds it.

Further, Valmiki's life is a pointer to the transformation that can happen in the life of any spiritual aspirant. No one is eternally doomed and thus there is the hope of turning over a new leaf from moral decrepitude to the highest level of God-realisation. "Valmiki" meaning one, who emerged from an anthill, was a hunter before he became a sage by chanting the name "Rama". His spiritual stature was such that he was chosen to write the Ramayana by Sage Narada. He had the blessing of the Goddess of speech as the curse he uttered spontaneously emanated in verse form and the creator, Brahma, blessed him that the work he composed would be revered as long as this Earth existed. Another greatness of this epic is due to the reason that it was recited before Rama Himself by Lava and Kusa to whom it was directly taught by Valmiki.

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