in connection with his former births. He says that it is his object to look after the welfare of humanity, and that whenever a special incarnation is necessary, he unites himself with the soul of a particular individual; and that he appears in various forms for the purpose of establishing ḍharma, and of rectifying matters on the plane of human life, if aḍharma gets the ascendancy. From the words he uses, there is reason to suppose that the number of his man incarnations has been very great, more so than our books are willing to admit. He apparently refers to human incarnations; if the janmas or incarnations referred to are simply the recognised human incarnations of Viṣṇnu, there would perhaps be only two incarnations before Kṛṣhṇa, Rāma and Parasurāma, for the Maṭsya, Kūrma, Varāha and Narasimha Avaṭārs were not, strictly speaking, human incarnations. Even Vāmana was not born of human father or mother.
The mysteries of these incarnations lie deep in the inner sanctuaries of the ancient arcane science, and can only he understood by unveiling certain hidden truths. The human incarnations can, however, be understood by the remarks I have already made. It may be that this Logos, which has taken upon itself the care of humanity, has incarnated not merely in connection with two individuals whose history we see narrated in the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhāraṭa, but also perhaps in connection with various individuals who have appeared in different parts of the world
