ome. For it is He who by His
infinite love dwells in every form that He has made; with patience that
nothing can exhaust, with love that nothing can tire, with quiet, calm
endurance which no folly of man can shake from its eternal peace, He
lives in every form, moulding it as it will bear the moulding, shaping
it as it yields itself to His impulse, binding Himself, limiting Himself
in order that His universe may grow, Lord of eternal life and bliss,
dwelling in every form. If you grasp this, it is not difficult to say
why from Him alone the Avataras come. Who else should take form save the
One who gives form? who else should work with this unending love save
He, who, while the universe exists, binds Himself that the universe may
live and ultimately share His freedom? He is bound that the universe may
be free. Who else then should come forth when special need arises?

And He gives the great types. Let me remind you of the
_Shrimad-Bhagavata_, where in an early chapter of the first Book, the
3rd chapter, a very long list is given of the forms that Vishnu
took, not only the great Avataras, but also a large number of others. It
is said He appeared as Nara and Narayana; it is said He appeared as
Kapila; He took female forms, and so on, a whole long list being given
of the shapes that He assumed. And, turning from that to a very
illuminative passage in the _Mahabharata_, we find Him in the form of
Shri Krishna explaining a profound truth to Arjuna.

There He gives the law of these appearances: "When, O son of Pritha, I
live in the order of the deities, then I act in every respect as a
deity. When I live in the order of the Gandharvas, then I act in every
respect as a Gandharva. When I live in the order of the Nagas, I act as
a Naga. When I live in the order of the Yakshas, or that of the
Rakshasas, I act after the manner of that order. Born now in the order
of humanity, I must act as a human being." A profound truth, a truth
that few in modern times recognise. Every type in the universe, in its
own place, is good; every type in the universe, in its own place, is
necessary. There is no life save His life; how then could any type come
into existence apart from the universal life, bereft whereof nothing can
exist?

We speak of good forms and evil, and rightly, as regards our own
evolution. But from the wider standpoint of the kosmos, good and evil
are relative terms, and everything is very good in the sight of the
Supreme who