Chapter Five: Avatāra Doctrine and Rama Worship

Seeing Rama’s gentle, enchanting form, the ascetic sages of Dandakaranya wished to embrace him. Rama told them that when he appeared in his Krishna avatāra, they would manifest as gopīs and then receive the touch of his body.¹ In the Rama avatāra devotees received only the nectar of Bhagavan’s feet; in the Krishna avatāra they gained the fortune of drinking the nectar of his lips.

The primacy of moral order in Rama-bhakti; surrender as its sole means

The Rama-bhakti current gives primacy to sacred propriety, and prapatti or surrender is its chief discipline. Surrender has six limbs:

1. Resolving to act favourably (ānukūlyasya saṅkalpa): the resolve always to remain favourably disposed toward Bhagavan and the firm determination to remain his possessionless servant.
2. Rejecting what is unfavourable (prātikūlyasya varjanam): always turning away from attitudes, feelings, and speech opposed to Bhagavan; firmly abandoning whatever turns the mind away from him.
3. Trust that he will protect (rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāsa): unwavering confidence that Bhagavan will certainly protect us always, everywhere, and in every way.
4. Choosing him as guardian (goptṛtva-varaṇam): accepting Bhagavan—and Bhagavan alone—as one’s sole guardian and protector.
5. Self-offering (ātma-nikṣepa, ātma-samarpaṇa): offering oneself and everything one possesses—all action, duty, and conduct—at Bhagavan’s feet.
6. Humility (kārpaṇya): remembering the master’s boundless, causeless grace and one’s own unworthiness, so that profound humility arises:

Who is greater than Rama, and who smaller than I?
Who is truer than Rama, and who more false than I?

Or:

Rama is the perfect master; I, a wretched servant.
Treasure of mercy, look to your own nature and sustain me.