' The Lord of the Universe '...

"God incarnates Himself in a human form. It is true that He dwells everywhere, in all living creatures, but the desires of the human soul cannot be fulfilled except by an Avatara or Divine Incarnation.

The human being longs to see Him, touch Him, be with Him and enjoy His Divine company. In order to fulfill such desires, the Incarnation of God is necessary. When an Avatara or Divine Incarnation descends, however, the people at large do not know it. It is known only to a few chosen disciples. Can everyone comprehend the indivisible Absolute Brahman, Existence-Intelligence-Bliss Absolute?

"When the Supreme Lord incarnated Himself as Rama, only twelve sages knew it. The other saints and sages knew Him as the prince of the Raja Dasaratha.

But those twelve sages prayed to Him, saying: 'O Rama, Thou art the indivisible Existence-Intelligence-Bliss Absolute. Thou hast incarnated in this human form. By Thine own power of Maya Thou appearest as a human being, but in reality Thou art the Lord of the universe.'"



-Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
in The Gospel of Ramakrishna
Ed. by Swami Abhedananda, [1907], p. 409-410