Havaa Maseeh nafas gusht va baad naafaa kushaa
Darakht sabz shudo murg dar kharosh aamad
The air is now invigorating and the breeze scatters scent
The trees are turning green and the nightingales are singing
Is it possible for us to imagine God in human form, walking in the midst of a modern, materialistic world? Our concepts of Avatars, hover around personalities of ancient history, like Rama, and Krishna. But what if the avatar were to don a modern dress and step into the world of today. Would we recognize him? Would we believe in him?
And yet, such a thing could happen. If God could come down to the earth in human form in the past, there is nothing to prevent Him from coming down in human form in the present. After all, He can do as He wills. He can come down to earth as often as He wishes to. He can come down to this earth every century if it so pleases Him, or else He can come down after gaps of thousands of years. He can come down to save only a limited few. He can come down and be recognised by the whole world or else He can come down and be recognised by no one.
Imagine, then, the ‘Avatar’ in the twentieth century, born in one of the poorest countries in the whole world, India, walking in the midst of mankind like a stranger; only the hearts of genuine seekers may spot him and understand him. His entry into the world is not attended to by any fanfare of thunderbolts and lightning flashes or celestial music. He steals into the darkness of the world like a thief at night, takes a human shape inside a womb, and is born a mortal amongst mortals.
Such an event occurred in the beginning of the twentieth century. It was 1902 A.D. and the place was Abottabad, District Peshawar, then in the Punjab in India. There, in the hills, on June 23, at 5:45 a.m. in the early hours of the morning, a light was born to illumine mankind. The Avatar of God upon earth came into this world in the form of Bhola Nathji, the son of Shri Devi Das Mehta.