GOD’S INCARNATIONS

Jesus said, “No man cometh to the Father, but by me.”  While appearing to rule out any other divine incarnations, there are contrary views.  For instance, in the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna said “Worship me! Follow me! I am the Way!”

When Jesus and Sri Krishna say “Me” or “Mine,” or “I,” they are not speaking as human beings but as Brahman, God.  Both Christ and Sri Krishna are expressing the same truth, in this way.

The same God who came as Sri Krishna came again as Christ and as other divine incarnations, only He chose a different dress.  As Sri Krishna stated in the Gita, “In every age I (God) come back to deliver the holy and to establish righteousness."

In Vedanta, divine incarnations come in the form of avatars.  An avatar is one who is able to transmit divine knowledge by his mere touch, look, or wish.  Among those widely accepted as avatars are Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Christ, and recently, Ramakrishna.

But then any saint or spiritual teacher is an avatar to some degree, being at least in part, if not fully, an embodiment of God.  It is worth noting that Christian theologians familiar with the avatar doctrine do not consider Christ an avatar.