The Project Gutenberg EBook of Avataras, by Annie Besant

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Title: Avataras
Four lectures delivered at the twenty-fourth anniversary
meeting of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras,
December, 1899

Author: Annie Besant

Release Date: March 6, 2009 [EBook #28262]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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AVATARAS

FOUR LECTURES DELIVERED AT THE TWENTY-FOURTH
ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY AT ADYAR,
MADRAS, DECEMBER, 1899

BY

ANNIE BESANT

_ENGLISH EDITION_

Theosophical Publishing Society
3 Langham Place, London, W.
1900

* * * * *

CONTENTS.

PAGE

LECTURE I.--

WHAT IS AN AVATARA? 7

LECTURE II.--

THE SOURCE OF AND NEED FOR AVATARAS 31

LECTURE III.--

SOME SPECIAL AVATARAS 65

LECTURE IV.--

SHRI KRISHNA 95

* * * * *

AVATARAS.

FIRST LECTURE.

BROTHERS:--Every time that we come here together to study the
fundamental truths of all religions, I cannot but feel how vast is the
subject, how small the expounder, how mighty the horizon that opens
before our thoughts, how narrow the words which strive to sketch it for
your eyes. Year after year we meet, time after time we strive to fathom
some of those great mysteries of life, of the Self, which form the only
subject really worthy of the profoundest thought of man. All else is
passi