Page:Essays On The Gita - Ghose - 1922.djvu/199

Rh divine nature in the human nature, the apocalypse of its Christhood, Krishnahood, Buddhahood, in order ‘that the human nature may by moulding its principle, thought,. feeling, action, being on the lines of that Christhood, Krishnahood, Buddhahood transfigure it- self into the divine. The law, the Dharma which the Avatar establishes is given for that purpose chiefly ; the Christ, Krishna, Buddha stands in its centre as the gate, he makes through himself the way men shall follow. Thatis why each Incarnation Qolds before men his own example and declares of himself that he is the way and the gate ; he declares too the oneness of his humanity with the divine being, declares that the Son of Man and the Father above from whom he has descended are one, that Krishna in the human body, mdnushim tamen deritam, and the supreme Lord and Friend of all creatures are but two revelations of the same divine Purushottama, revealed there in his own being, revealed here in the type of humanity.

That the Gita contains as its kernel this second and real object of the Avatarhood, is evident even from this passage by itself rightly considered ; but it becomes much clearer if we take it, not by itself,—always the wrong way to deal with the texts of the Gita,—but in its right close connection with other passages and with the whole teaching. We have to remember and take together its doctrine of the one Self in all, of the God- head seated in the heart of every creature, its teaching about the rclations between the Creator and his creat- ion, its strongly emphasised idea of the vibhilti,—noting too the language-in which the Teacher gives his own divine example of selfless works which applies equally