Vishnu tells us, on seeing Baba's face immediately after the accident, when Baba lay in the front seat of the car with blood on His clothes and face: "Never in my life have I seen such utter radiance and lustre as was on Baba's face then! He was like a King, a victorious King who had won a great battle. Lord Krishna must have looked like that in His chariot on the victorious battlefield. The radiance was blinding. I could see nothing else, not the car nor the surroundings, only Baba's face in glorious triumph."

It is as He wills it. Who knows what calamities, inward and outward, personal and impersonal, the Compassionate One has taken upon Himself at this crucial time in history? If, like a Divine Lightning Rod, He has absorbed the full shock of the blow for us all, we can only reciprocate by sending Him, in return, our fullest measure of love, reverence and obedience; and, by following His command to "Be happy!" to lessen, by whatever human fraction we are capable of, the burden we put upon Him.*

*We are happy to report Baba's recovery is progressing well; also that of the mandali. All those who wish to receive the circulars should write to The Awakener.         —P. F.

AVATARHOOD

             or The Dedicated Life

From His very birth, an Avatar or Divine Incarnation differs from an ordinary being, in much the same way a diamond is distinguished from carbon. A definite "action" follows an Avatar, while the birth of the ordinary being is for the "balancing" of past acts or "karma" (sanskaras). An ordinary "incarnate" takes birth to work out sanskaras for his evolution and to expiate for certain actions performed in the past life or lives. But the Avatar or Divine Incarnate dedicates the "Avatarhood" for the upliftment of the universe.

Some idea of the beauty of the dedication and sacrifice of a Divine Incarnate can be gleaned when it is remembered that the Avatar holds in reserve all His Divine Powers and cheerfully submits to the limitations imposed by earthly existence. It is a life full of hazards, rigorous discipline and the highest sacrifices from which even an "iron will" would shrink. Yet the Avatar undergoes all the trials and tribulations of an ordinary