The Avatar or Human Form of God

Most villages have several temples. If you go to visit the one down the road, you will see that it enshrines little Gopala, the Baby Krishna, just as at Christmas one sees in many churches a cradle in which lies the Baby Jesus. Mothers of the village come to adore him as their very own child. Rama and Krishna were human beings, who lived a very long time ago; so long that it is now difficult to say how much of their story is history and how much is legend. But millions of Hindus look upon them even today as God in human form. You will hear their stories a little later. Many Christians consider Jesus Christ as God born on earth as man. In a similar way Hindus look upon Rama, Krishna and others, and call them avatars. To the Christian, however, God can be born here only once -- which he was, as Jesus; Hindus believe he can come again and again, whenever men grow very sinful and require his mercy. Most Hindus of today would include the Buddha and the Christ among the avatars, and revere them all.