Short answer
No. In the Gita, Krishna says he is unborn, yet born age after age by his own power. Hindu teachers disagree about what that means. Shankara says the birth only seemed real. Ramanuja says it was real, in a divine body. The epics tell of divine signs, but they also show a man's limits. In the Ramayana, Rama tells the gods he deems himself a mortal man, and asks who he is. In the Mahabharata, a hunter's arrow pierces Krishna's heel, and Arjuna later has his body burnt. The Qur'an says God (﷾) is not born, and nothing is like Him. He lives and never dies, and He knows all things. It gives the same answer about Jesus: his birth was a miracle, but he was a servant of God (﷾).
Full explanation
The Hindu teaching: the Lord's descents
Hindus call the Lord's comings into the world avatars, or descents. In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he teaches, that he is unborn and the lord of all beings. Yet he is born by his own power. Whenever piety declines, he is born age after age, to protect the good, destroy evil-doers and establish piety. Whoever truly knows his divine birth and work, he says, is not born again. The Bhagavata Purana, a sacred Hindu book about Vishnu's descents, above all Krishna, lists twenty-two such descents. They run from a boar and a fish to Balarama and Krishna, and it says they are numberless. All the others, it says, are portions or emanations, but Krishna is the Lord himself. Ramanuja, a Hindu teacher of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, explains why the Lord comes in person. His devotees cannot live without seeing him, so he comes to let them see him, watch his deeds and speak with him.
“Even though I am unborn and inexhaustible in (my) essence, even though I am lord of all beings, still I take up the control of my own nature, and am born by means of my delusive power.”
“Whensoever, O descendant of Bharata! piety languishes, and impiety is in the ascendant, I create myself. I am born age after age, for the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, and the establishment of piety.”
“Whoever truly knows thus my divine birth and work, casts off (this) body and is not born again. He comes to me, O Arguna!”
The chapter counts the Lord's descents in order. Among the twenty-two it names are a boar that lifted the earth out of the waters, a fish that saved Manu in the flood, a tortoise that bore the mountain Mandara on its back, Mohini (a female form that charmed the demons), the man-lion Narasimha and the dwarf. It also names sages and kings, among them a god-king (Dutt: "Naradeva") who tamed the sea, whom its commentators identify as Rama, and then Balarama and Krishna, born among the Vrishnis. It foretells the Buddha and, last, Kalki.
“The incarnations, O Brāhmanas, of Hari—the spring of purity, are numberless; even as a thousand streams issue from one lake—whose waters withal remain unexhausted. The sages, the Manus, the gods, the sons of the Manus—all these mighty beings with the Prajāpatis are parts of God. All these are either portions or emanations of the Person; but Krishna is the Lord Himself. From cycle to cycle do they ease the world, panting under the oppression of demons.”
“Sādhus: are the good and virtuous, the godly, the eminent Vaishṇavas (or worshippers of the All-Pervading Spirit=Vishṇu), who are seeking Me out as their Shelter. They are those who feel that without seeing Me—Whose names and wonderful works transcend the powers of speech and mind—they cannot live and move, cannot support their very being. They are those to whom a single moment of My absence from their memory, is as it were a kalpa. For the protection of these holy men,—lest they, in their agony at not seeing Me, pine away—, I grant them the privilege (or right) to be able to see Me and My doings, and hold converse with Me, and so on.”
How the teachers explain the birth
The Gita calls Krishna unborn, yet born. Its great commentators explain this in different ways. Shankara, the teacher of Advaita, lived about the eighth century. He says the Lord appears to be born and embodied through his own maya (his power of illusion), but not in reality, as others are. K. T. Telang, the Hindu judge who translated the Gita in the nineteenth century, writes that the power is called delusive because he is still really unborn. The nature he takes up, Telang adds, is what goes to form the material form in which he is born. Ramanuja, the teacher of Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism: one God (﷾), with souls and the world as His body), reads the passage the other way. Krishna's words about his many births, he says, affirm that the incarnations are real, no illusion or magic, as real as Arjuna's own birth. Yet the Lord never lays aside his divine attributes. He takes on forms like those of gods and men, as if he were of their nature. His incarnations are divine, immaterial and unique.
“I have passed through many births, O Arguna! and you also. I know them all, but you, O terror of (your) foes! do not know them.”
“Even though I am unborn and inexhaustible in (my) essence, even though I am lord of all beings, still I take up the control of my own nature, and am born by means of my delusive power.”
“Though I am unborn, though by nature my power of vision (jnâna-sakti) is undecaying, though I am by nature the Lord of all creatures from Brahmâ down to grass, yet ruling over My Nature—the Prakriti, the Mâyâ of Vishnu, which is made up of the three energies of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, to which this whole universe is subject, and by which deluded the whole world knows not Vâsudeva, its own Self,—I appear to be born and embodied, through my own Mâyâ, but not in reality, unlike others.”
“Nature is what goes to the formation of the material form in which he is born; the ‘power’ includes knowledge, omnipotence, &c. It is delusive because he is still really ‘unborn.’”
“This statement: ‘Many births have past for Me’ is an affirmation of the reality of Incarnations, (and therefore it is no illusion or magic). The example (or analogy) of Arjuna intended by the phrase, ‘tavacha’ (for thee also), is as a proof of that reality. (That is to say, My Incarnation now is as real as your present birth is real,’ and so the past Incarnations of both of us are real).”
“By My (free)-will, thus, I am born, but not laying aside My essential (godly) attributes of, viz; the being evil-Opposed, the being the Abode of Glorious Perfections, the being the Lord of all, etc. I take on forms as pertain to the devas (celestial beings), man (terrestrial creatures), and so on: and manifest Myself as if I were of their nature, by My own free choice.”
“Whoso, in verity, comprehends the divine, immaterial and unique nature of My Incarnations, and My Acts (connected therewith) which are solely designed for the benefit of those who seek Me as their Rest; and which are intended for the protection of the good (sādhu);—whoso understands the real nature of Incarnate-manifestations (viz; Vibhava manifestation’, No 3 from Para)—and Works thereof,—as different from the compulsory births which come to beings as a consequence of their past deeds (karma), arising from the union between pure ātmā (spirit) and the triple-natured impure prakṛiti (matter);—whoso knows the Incarnations to be of Him, Who is possessed of such Glorious Attributes, such as Lordship over all, Omniscience, Firm-will etc.,—such a man does not return to re-birth after departing from his present body. He reaches Me alone.”
Unborn, yet born
The Gita itself raises the problem. When Krishna says he taught this teaching to the sun, Arjuna objects that Krishna's birth is later than the sun's. Krishna answers that he has passed through many births, and that he is unborn, yet born by his own power. Neither of the two great readings of that answer says that God became a man as we are men. On Shankara's reading, the birth only appeared to happen. What people saw was an appearance, and God (﷾) Himself was never born. On Ramanuja's reading, the birth was real, but the Lord kept every divine attribute and only took a form as if of human nature. The epics, however, describe the life itself. They tell of divine signs, and the next two sections give them. But beside those signs they show a man's limits. Rama, born a son of Dasharatha, deems himself a mortal man and asks the gods who he is. It is Brahma who tells him. Krishna, born later than the sun, is pierced by a hunter's arrow, and in the Mahabharata his body is burnt.
“This everlasting (system of) devotion I declared to the sun, the sun declared it to Manu, and Manu communicated it to Ikshvâku. Coming thus by steps, it became known to royal sages. But, O terror of (your) foes! that devotion was lost to the world by long (lapse of) time. That same primeval devotion I have declared to you to-day, seeing that you are my devotee and friend, for it is the highest mystery.”
“Later is your birth; the birth of the sun is prior. How then shall I understand that you declared (this) first?”
“I have passed through many births, O Arguna! and you also. I know them all, but you, O terror of (your) foes! do not know them.”
“Even though I am unborn and inexhaustible in (my) essence, even though I am lord of all beings, still I take up the control of my own nature, and am born by means of my delusive power.”
“Though I am unborn, though by nature my power of vision (jnâna-sakti) is undecaying, though I am by nature the Lord of all creatures from Brahmâ down to grass, yet ruling over My Nature—the Prakriti, the Mâyâ of Vishnu, which is made up of the three energies of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, to which this whole universe is subject, and by which deluded the whole world knows not Vâsudeva, its own Self,—I appear to be born and embodied, through my own Mâyâ, but not in reality, unlike others.”
“This statement: ‘Many births have past for Me’ is an affirmation of the reality of Incarnations, (and therefore it is no illusion or magic). The example (or analogy) of Arjuna intended by the phrase, ‘tavacha’ (for thee also), is as a proof of that reality. (That is to say, My Incarnation now is as real as your present birth is real,’ and so the past Incarnations of both of us are real).”
“By My (free)-will, thus, I am born, but not laying aside My essential (godly) attributes of, viz; the being evil-Opposed, the being the Abode of Glorious Perfections, the being the Lord of all, etc. I take on forms as pertain to the devas (celestial beings), man (terrestrial creatures), and so on: and manifest Myself as if I were of their nature, by My own free choice.”
“Thus addressed by Indra, Brahmá and the other gods, Ráma the descendant of Raghu, lord of the world and the best of the virtuous, spoke to the chief of the gods. “As I take myself to be a man of the name of Ráma and son of Daśaratha, therefore, sir, please tell me who I am and whence have I come.” “O thou whose might is never failing,” said Brahmá to Kákutstha the foremost of those who thoroughly know Brahmá, “Thou art Náráyaṇa, almighty, possessed of fortune, and armed with the discus.”
“He had thought before this of everything that had been foreshadowed by the words uttered by Gāndhāri in former days. He also recollected the words that Durvāsas had spoken at the time his body was smeared by that Rishi with the remnant of the Pāyasa he had eaten (while a guest at Krishna's house). The high-souled one, thinking of the destruction of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas, as also of the previous slaughter of the Kurus, concluded that the hour (for his own departure from the world) had come. He then restrained his senses (in Yoga). Conversant with the truth of every topic, Vāsudeva, though he was the Supreme Deity, wished to die for dispelling all doubts and establishing a certainty of results (in the matter of human existence), simply for upholding the three worlds and for making the words of Atri's son true. Having restrained all his senses, speech, and mind, Krishna laid himself down in high Yoga. A fierce hunter of the name of Jarā then came there, desirous of deer. The hunter, mistaking Keçava, who was stratched on the earth in high Yoga, for a deer, pierced him at the heel with a shaft and quickly came to that spot for capturing his prey. Coming up, Jarā beheld a man dressed in yellow robes, rapt in Yoga, and endued with many arms. Regarding himself an offender, and filled with fear, he touched the feet of Keçava. The high-souled one comforted him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire welkin with splendour.”
“Searching out the bodies then of Rāma and Vāsudeva, Arjuna caused them to be burnt by persons skilled in that act.”
What the Ramayana says of Rama
The Ramayana is the epic of Rama. After the death of the demon king Ravana, the gods come to Rama and ask whether he does not yet recognise his heavenly nature. Rama answers that he deems himself a mortal man, of the line of Ikshvaku, sprung from Dasharatha, king of Kosala. In the literal translation printed in Griffith's notes, he asks them to tell him who he is and where he has come from. Brahma, the creator god of Hindu belief, then tells him that he is Narayana, a name of Vishnu. Brahma says he assumed the form of a man to kill Ravana. The Sanskrit words atmanam manusham manye mean 'I consider myself a human being'. The text does not say that Rama is acting, or that he knows more than he says. He speaks as a man, and the gods answer him.
“Dost thou not yet, supremely wise, Thy heavenly nature recognize?’ They ceased: and Ráma thus began: ‘I deem myself a mortal man. Of old Ikshváku's line, I spring From Daśaratha Kosal's king.’ He ceased: and Brahmá's self replied: ‘O cast the idle thought aside. Thou art the Lord Náráyaṇ, thou The God to whom all creatures bow.”
“Thus addressed by Indra, Brahmá and the other gods, Ráma the descendant of Raghu, lord of the world and the best of the virtuous, spoke to the chief of the gods. “As I take myself to be a man of the name of Ráma and son of Daśaratha, therefore, sir, please tell me who I am and whence have I come.” “O thou whose might is never failing,” said Brahmá to Kákutstha the foremost of those who thoroughly know Brahmá, “Thou art Náráyaṇa, almighty, possessed of fortune, and armed with the discus.”
“Sítá (thy wife) is Lakshmí; and thou art the God Vishṇu, Krishṇa, and Prajápati. To kill Rávaṇ thou hast assumed the form of a man; therefore, O best of the virtuous, thou hast completed this task imposed by us (gods).”
What the Mahabharata says of Krishna's death
The Mahabharata is the great epic that holds the Gita. Its sixteenth book, the Mausala Parva, tells how Krishna's life ended. His own people had been destroyed. He thought of the words once spoken by Gandhari, a queen who lost her sons in the great war. He concluded that his hour had come. The text says that, though he was the Supreme Deity, he wished to die. It gives his reasons: to dispel all doubts, to uphold the three worlds, and to make true the words of Durvasas, Atri's son. Its translator, Ganguli, explains that Durvasas had made Krishna's body proof against wounds everywhere except the soles of his feet. Krishna lay down in yoga (deep self-control). A hunter named Jara, mistaking him for a deer, pierced his heel with an arrow. Coming up, the hunter saw a man in yellow robes, rapt in yoga and with many arms. Krishna comforted him and ascended, filling the sky with splendour. The epic says he reached his own inconceivable region. Afterwards, it says, Arjuna searched out the bodies of Krishna and his brother Balarama and had them burnt.
“He had thought before this of everything that had been foreshadowed by the words uttered by Gāndhāri in former days. He also recollected the words that Durvāsas had spoken at the time his body was smeared by that Rishi with the remnant of the Pāyasa he had eaten (while a guest at Krishna's house). The high-souled one, thinking of the destruction of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas, as also of the previous slaughter of the Kurus, concluded that the hour (for his own departure from the world) had come. He then restrained his senses (in Yoga). Conversant with the truth of every topic, Vāsudeva, though he was the Supreme Deity, wished to die for dispelling all doubts and establishing a certainty of results (in the matter of human existence), simply for upholding the three worlds and for making the words of Atri's son true. Having restrained all his senses, speech, and mind, Krishna laid himself down in high Yoga. A fierce hunter of the name of Jarā then came there, desirous of deer. The hunter, mistaking Keçava, who was stratched on the earth in high Yoga, for a deer, pierced him at the heel with a shaft and quickly came to that spot for capturing his prey. Coming up, Jarā beheld a man dressed in yellow robes, rapt in Yoga, and endued with many arms. Regarding himself an offender, and filled with fear, he touched the feet of Keçava. The high-souled one comforted him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire welkin with splendour.”
“The allusion is to the impenetrability of every part of Krishna's body save his feet. Atri's son, Durvāsas, had made Krishna invulnerable except the soles of the feet. Krishna wished to die in such a manner as would make the Rishi's words true.”
“When he reached Heaven, Vāsava and the twin Açwins and Rudra and the Adityas and the Vasus and the Viçwedevas, and Munis and Siddhas and many foremost ones among the Gandharvas, with the Apsaras, advanced to receive him. Then, O king, the illustrious Nārāyana of fierce energy, the Creator and Destroyer of all,—that preceptor of Yoga—filling Heaven with his splendour, reached his own inconceivable region.”
“Searching out the bodies then of Rāma and Vāsudeva, Arjuna caused them to be burnt by persons skilled in that act.”
Two accounts of Krishna's body
The Bhagavata Purana tells the end differently. It too says that the hunter Jara mistook Krishna's foot for a deer and pierced it with an arrow, and then saw the four-armed Lord. But it says that Krishna entered his own abode without burning his body by the yogic fire. Devotees take this to mean that the Lord took his own body with him. So the body Arjuna burnt was not his. The two scriptures cannot both be right about the same body. Yet both show a form that was born, and was pierced by a hunter's arrow. And if what people saw in the forest was only a display, the same can be said of the birth and the whole life. That is Shankara's reading. On it, God (﷾) Himself was never born as a man.
The hunter Jara, mistaking Krishna's foot for a deer, pierced it with an arrow made from the last iron fragment of the club. In the next verse he sees the four-armed Lord and falls at his feet in fear.
The verse says that Krishna entered his own abode without burning his own body by the yogic concentration on fire. It calls that body the delight of the worlds and the auspicious object of meditation.
“Searching out the bodies then of Rāma and Vāsudeva, Arjuna caused them to be burnt by persons skilled in that act.”
“Later is your birth; the birth of the sun is prior. How then shall I understand that you declared (this) first?”
“Though I am unborn, though by nature my power of vision (jnâna-sakti) is undecaying, though I am by nature the Lord of all creatures from Brahmâ down to grass, yet ruling over My Nature—the Prakriti, the Mâyâ of Vishnu, which is made up of the three energies of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, to which this whole universe is subject, and by which deluded the whole world knows not Vâsudeva, its own Self,—I appear to be born and embodied, through my own Mâyâ, but not in reality, unlike others.”
The God (﷾) who is not born
The Qur'an answers the question directly. God (﷾) begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is nothing whatever like Him. He originated the heavens and the earth, created all things and has full knowledge of all things. No vision can grasp Him, though His grasp is over all vision. When He decides a matter, He only says to it "Be", and it is. So He needs no birth to act in His world. The same verse that says He has power over all things calls it blasphemy to say that God (﷾) is Christ. It asks who could stop God (﷾) if He willed to destroy Christ, his mother and everyone on earth. Power over all things is the power to create, not to become a creature.
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: How can He have a son when He hath no consort? He created all things, and He hath full knowledge of all things.”
“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.”
“It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.”
“In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: "Who then hath the least power against Allah, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every - one that is on the earth? For to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things."”
The marks of a creature
The Qur'an sets the Creator apart from His creatures by birth, need, knowledge and death. God's (﷾) messengers were men who ate food and walked through the streets. Jesus and his mother both had to eat their daily food. God (﷾), by contrast, is the Living, whom no slumber or sleep can seize. He is the One who lives and dies not, and when all that is on earth perishes, His Face remains. He never errs and never forgets. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was told to say that he was only a man like his hearers. What set him apart was the revelation that their God is one God. He forbade his followers to over-praise him as Christians had over-praised Jesus. He told them to call him the servant of Allah (﷾) and His Messenger.
“And the messengers whom We sent before thee were all (men) who ate food and walked through the streets: We have made some of you as a trial for others: will ye have patience? for Allah is One Who sees (all things).”
“Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!”
“Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).”
“And put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not; and celebrate his praise; and enough is He to be acquainted with the faults of His servants;-”
“All that is on earth will perish: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.”
“He replied: "The knowledge of that is with my Lord, duly recorded: my Lord never errs, nor forgets,-”
“Say: "I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your Allah is one Allah: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner.”
Umar reports that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: do not over-praise me as the Christians over-praised the son of Mary; I am only a servant, so call me the servant of Allah and His Messenger.
A man as the example
The Bhagavata gives a further reason for Rama's human life. In it Hanuman, Rama's devoted servant, sings a hymn. The hymn says the Lord came as a mortal not only to kill the Rakshasa (the demon king Ravana), but to teach mankind. The Qur'an agrees that people need a human example. That is why God (﷾) sends men as His messengers. When people asked why God (﷾) had sent a man, the Qur'an answered: if angels walked the earth, He would have sent them an angel. A messenger can be followed because he is what his followers are: a servant of God (﷾). The Prophet (ﷺ) is called "a beautiful pattern" for anyone whose hope is in Allah (﷾). An example who is God playing a man shows only what God (﷾) would do. No man can copy that.
In a hymn to Rama sung by his devotee Hanuman, the Bhagavata says that the Lord's descent as a mortal was not only to kill the Rakshasa, but also to teach mankind. Otherwise, it asks, why should sorrow fall to the lot of him who is the soul of the universe? Three verses later (5.19.8), it calls on everyone, celestial, Asura, man or monkey, to worship Hari in the human form of Rama.
“What kept men back from belief when Guidance came to them, was nothing but this: they said, "Has Allah sent a man (like us) to be (His) Messenger?" Say, "If there were settled, on earth, angels walking about in peace and quiet, We should certainly have sent them down from the heavens an angel for a messenger."”
“If We had made it an angel, We should have sent him as a man, and We should certainly have caused them confusion in a matter which they have already covered with confusion.”
“Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah.”
“Say: "I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your Allah is one Allah: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner.”
The same answer for Jesus
Muslims give the same answer when Christians say that God became a man in Jesus. The Qur'an honours Jesus and affirms his virgin birth, but calls it an act of creation. When Mary asks how she can have a son, she is told that God (﷾) creates what He wills: He says "Be", and it is. Before God (﷾), Jesus is like Adam, whom God (﷾) created from dust. The Qur'an also tells of his wonders: he spoke from the cradle, made a clay bird live and raised the dead. It ties each of them to God (﷾). God (﷾) strengthened him so that he spoke in the cradle, and the bird and the raising of the dead were by His leave. His first words from the cradle were that he is a servant of Allah (﷾). The Qur'an calls it blasphemy to say that God (﷾) is Christ. The site's pages on Jesus ask three things. Can he be both God (﷾) and man? Why has no one seen God (﷾)? How could he be hungry and tempted? The same argument applies to every claim that God (﷾) was born as a man.
“She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!”
“The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.”
“But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"”
“He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;”
“"And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;”
“Then will Allah say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident magic.'”
“They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.”
Near now, seen hereafter
Ramanuja says the Lord comes so that devotees who cannot bear to be without him may see him. The Qur'an answers that longing without making God a creature. God (﷾) is near. He answers the prayer of everyone who calls on Him, and He is nearer to each person than his jugular vein. Hearts find their rest in remembering Him. He is not seen in this world. When Moses asked to see Him, God (﷾) showed His glory to the mountain, and it crumbled to dust. But the believers are promised the sight itself. On the Day of Judgment their faces will shine, looking towards their Lord. Ibn Kathir, a Muslim Qur'an commentator of the fourteenth century, explains that they will see Him with their own eyes. The Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the full moon. He said that the believers will see their Lord as they see that moon.
“Sādhus: are the good and virtuous, the godly, the eminent Vaishṇavas (or worshippers of the All-Pervading Spirit=Vishṇu), who are seeking Me out as their Shelter. They are those who feel that without seeing Me—Whose names and wonderful works transcend the powers of speech and mind—they cannot live and move, cannot support their very being. They are those to whom a single moment of My absence from their memory, is as it were a kalpa. For the protection of these holy men,—lest they, in their agony at not seeing Me, pine away—, I grant them the privilege (or right) to be able to see Me and My doings, and hold converse with Me, and so on.”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
“It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.”
“"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”
“When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: "O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee." Allah said: "By no means canst thou see Me (direct); But look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see Me." When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: "Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe."”
“Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty);- Looking towards their Lord;”
Jarir reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the full moon one night and said: you will see your Lord as you see this moon, with no difficulty in seeing Him; so, if you can, let nothing make you miss the prayer before sunrise and the prayer before sunset. Al-Bukhari places it in the chapter on the verses about faces that look towards their Lord (75:22-23).
The replies, answered
Bhagavata Purana 1.3.26-28 — book 1, chapter 3, verses 26-28
“The incarnations, O Brāhmanas, of Hari—the spring of purity, are numberless; even as a thousand streams issue from one lake—whose waters withal remain unexhausted. The sages, the Manus, the gods, the sons of the Manus—all these mighty beings with the Prajāpatis are parts of God. All these are either portions or emanations of the Person; but Krishna is the Lord Himself. From cycle to cycle do they ease the world, panting under the oppression of demons.”
Cited for
God is almighty and free. The Bhagavata says the descents of Hari are numberless. It counts among them a boar, a fish, a tortoise, a woman, a man-lion and a dwarf, as well as Krishna. To say that God cannot take a form, even a human one, is to set a limit on God.
The response
The question is not what God (﷾) can do, but what He is. The Qur'an says in one verse that God (﷾) has power over all things, and that it is blasphemy to say God (﷾) is Christ. His power is shown in what He creates: when He decides a matter, He only says to it "Be", and it is. To be born, to grow, to need food and to die are not further powers. They are the condition of a creature, and a God who took it on would give up what makes Him God. He begets not, nor is He begotten, and nothing whatever is like Him. The Gita agrees on the point that matters most. Even as Krishna speaks of his birth, he says he is unborn and inexhaustible in his essence. So the question is not whether God's (﷾) essence can be born, but whether the form that was born was God. The site makes the same case about Jesus. Its pages ask whether he can be both God (﷾) and man, why no one has seen God (﷾), and how he could be hungry and tempted.
Where it lands — God (﷾) creates any form He wills. His power does not make Him one of the things He creates.
Qur'an 28:30 — Surat al-Qasas (The Stories), verse 30
“But when he came to the (fire), a voice was heard from the right bank of the valley, from a tree in hallowed ground: "O Moses! Verily I am Allah, the Lord of the Worlds”
Cited for
Muslims believe that God spoke to Moses from a tree and showed His glory to a mountain. He also comes on the Day of Judgment with His angels. If God can speak and act within His creation, He can also enter it in a form. Taking a body is no harder than speaking from a tree.
The response
The Qur'an does tell of a voice from a tree: "O Moses! Verily I am Allah, the Lord of the Worlds." But the tree did not become God, and no one bowed to the tree. The voice told Moses, "So serve thou Me (only)". When God (﷾) showed His glory to the mountain, it crumbled to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. The Qur'an also says how God (﷾) speaks to a man: by inspiration, from behind a veil, or through a messenger. In each case God (﷾) acts on His creation and stays distinct from it. Muslims affirm that "thy Lord cometh" (89:22), as He says, without likening His coming to anything. No verse says that He is born, eats or dies. To speak to a creature is an act of the Creator. To be born and to die is to become a creature. The first is His power; the second would change what He is. That is why nothing whatever is like Him.
Where it lands — God (﷾) speaks to His creation from behind a veil, and it does not become Him. Speaking is His act; being born would make Him a creature.
Bhagavad Gita 4:6 — chapter 4, verse 6
“Even though I am unborn and inexhaustible in (my) essence, even though I am lord of all beings, still I take up the control of my own nature, and am born by means of my delusive power.”
Cited for
Krishna takes up "my own nature" and is born by his own power. His birth is not like ours, caused by past deeds and made of matter. Ramanuja calls the Lord's incarnations divine, immaterial and unique. Devotees of Krishna call his form sat-chit-ananda, made of being, knowledge and bliss, as the Brahma Samhita says. The Gita warns that deluded people disregard Krishna because he has taken a human body. So objections from hunger, ignorance or death miss the point: the avatar's body was divine.
The response
The Hindu teachers do not agree on what "my own nature" means. Telang, the Hindu judge who translated the Gita, explains it as what goes to form "the material form in which he is born". Shankara says the Lord only appears to be born and embodied. Ramanuja says the birth is real and the body divine. The Gita's own verse against those who disregard Krishna calls it "a human body". And the Mahabharata says what happened to that body. A hunter's arrow pierced its heel, and afterwards Arjuna searched out the bodies of Balarama and Krishna and had them burnt. Either that body was God, and then God (﷾) was wounded, died and was burnt. Or it was not God, and then God (﷾) was not born as the man people saw. The Qur'an says God (﷾) is not begotten, and nothing whatever is like Him.
Where it lands — Whatever the body is called, the texts say it was wounded, died and was burnt. The One God (﷾) is none of these things.
Mahabharata, Mausala Parva, section 4 — the death of Krishna (Ganguli's numbering)
“He had thought before this of everything that had been foreshadowed by the words uttered by Gāndhāri in former days. He also recollected the words that Durvāsas had spoken at the time his body was smeared by that Rishi with the remnant of the Pāyasa he had eaten (while a guest at Krishna's house). The high-souled one, thinking of the destruction of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas, as also of the previous slaughter of the Kurus, concluded that the hour (for his own departure from the world) had come. He then restrained his senses (in Yoga). Conversant with the truth of every topic, Vāsudeva, though he was the Supreme Deity, wished to die for dispelling all doubts and establishing a certainty of results (in the matter of human existence), simply for upholding the three worlds and for making the words of Atri's son true. Having restrained all his senses, speech, and mind, Krishna laid himself down in high Yoga. A fierce hunter of the name of Jarā then came there, desirous of deer. The hunter, mistaking Keçava, who was stratched on the earth in high Yoga, for a deer, pierced him at the heel with a shaft and quickly came to that spot for capturing his prey. Coming up, Jarā beheld a man dressed in yellow robes, rapt in Yoga, and endued with many arms. Regarding himself an offender, and filled with fear, he touched the feet of Keçava. The high-souled one comforted him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire welkin with splendour.”
Cited for
Krishna was not killed against his will. The epic says that though he was the Supreme Deity, he wished to die. He lay down in yoga, and after the hunter's arrow he ascended, filling the sky with splendour. As Narayana, the Creator and Destroyer of all, he reached his own inconceivable region. God chose to leave the world; he did not die as creatures die.
The response
The text does call it a choice: he "wished to die". It also gives his reasons: to dispel all doubts, to uphold the three worlds, and to make true the words of Durvasas, "Atri's son". Before that, thinking of the words Gandhari had spoken, he had concluded that his hour had come. The translator explains that Durvasas had left Krishna's body open to wounds only at the soles of the feet. So Krishna lay down, and a hunter's arrow pierced his heel. Afterwards, the epic says, Arjuna searched out his body and had it burnt. A death that is chosen is still a death, and a body that is burnt was mortal. If only the body died while the Lord ascended, then the body people saw and followed was not the Lord. Either way, what died in the forest was not the One who never dies. The Qur'an calls God "Him Who lives and dies not", the Living whom no slumber can seize. All that is on earth will perish, and the Face of the Lord remains.
Where it lands — The epic describes a chosen death, but a death: the body was pierced and burnt. The God (﷾) of the Qur'an lives and never dies.
Bhagavata Purana 11.31.6 — book 11, chapter 31, verse 6
The verse says that Krishna entered his own abode without burning his own body by the yogic concentration on fire. It calls that body the delight of the worlds and the auspicious object of meditation.
Cited for
The avatar's body is not made of matter, so it cannot die as ours does. The Bhagavata says that Krishna did not burn his body with yogic fire, but entered his own abode. What the world saw in the forest was part of his play. The Lord himself was never harmed.
The response
Then two Hindu scriptures tell different stories. The Mahabharata, which contains the Gita, says that Arjuna searched out the bodies of Balarama and Krishna and had them burnt. The Bhagavata says that Krishna entered his own abode without burning his body. Each is held to be scripture, and they cannot both be right about the same body. Yet on the point that matters they agree. The Bhagavata too says that the hunter's arrow pierced Krishna's foot. Both tell of a form that was born, and both say it was wounded by a hunter. The reply also costs more than it gains. If the death that people saw was only shown to them, the same can be said of the birth, the childhood and the whole life. That is Shankara's reading: the Lord only appears to be born and embodied, "but not in reality". Then what people saw was an appearance, and God (﷾) Himself was not born as a man. The Qur'an needs neither answer. Its God (﷾) lives and never dies, and no vision can grasp Him.
Where it lands — The scriptures disagree on what became of the body, but both show a form that was born and wounded. On either account, God (﷾) Himself was not born as a man. The God (﷾) of the Qur'an lives and never dies.
Bhagavata Purana 1.3.35-37 — book 1, chapter 3, verses 35-37
“Thus did sages describe His births and actions closely imbedded in the Vedas, who hath no action, no birth, and who wakes in our hearts. That Divinity whose sportive pleasure has resistless sway, creates, protects, and devours this world, and yet feels no concern therein; who is shrouded in creation, and yet abides in independence,—tastes the enjoyments of the six senses, regulating their operations. No dull-brained creature can understand, by any clever reasoning, the sportful ways of the Lord, who, by word and thought, differentiates names and colours; even as an ignorant spectator cannot penetrate the guises and speeches of an actor.”
Cited for
Rama's words were lila, the Lord's play. Brahma himself tells Rama that he assumed the form of a man to kill Ravana. The Bhagavata says no clever reasoning can understand the Lord's play. An ignorant spectator, it says, cannot see through an actor's disguises and speeches. Rama was playing the part of a man, and he spoke as the part required.
The response
Brahma gives the purpose of the form: to kill Ravana. He does not say that Rama's words about himself were a pretence, and neither does this canto. When the gods ask whether he does not recognise his heavenly nature, he answers that he deems himself a mortal man, the son of Dasharatha. In the literal translation, he asks them to "tell me who I am and whence have I come". It is Brahma who then tells him that he is Narayana. The text gives no sign that Rama knew and was keeping it hidden. Here the reader must choose. Ramanuja teaches that the Lord keeps every divine attribute in his births, omniscience among them. If Rama kept it, he already knew the answer to his own question, and this canto never says so. If he did not keep it, then in Rama God (﷾) did not know who He was, which Ramanuja himself denies. The actor's picture also grants the main point. If Rama was a role, then those who saw and heard him saw the role, not God as He is. That is what the Qur'an teaches: no vision can grasp God (﷾), and even Moses could not see Him in this world. The sight of Him is promised for the next life (75:22-23). The God (﷾) of the Qur'an has full knowledge of all things, and He never errs, nor forgets.
Where it lands — The text shows Rama speaking as a man who asks who he is. If that was a role, then the role is what people saw, and God (﷾) Himself was not seen.
Bhagavata Purana 5.19.5 — book 5, chapter 19, verse 5
In a hymn to Rama sung by his devotee Hanuman, the Bhagavata says that the Lord's descent as a mortal was not only to kill the Rakshasa, but also to teach mankind. Otherwise, it asks, why should sorrow fall to the lot of him who is the soul of the universe? Three verses later (5.19.8), it calls on everyone, celestial, Asura, man or monkey, to worship Hari in the human form of Rama.
Cited for
Rama came as a man on purpose. The Bhagavata says that the Lord's descent as a mortal was not only to kill the Rakshasa, but to teach mankind. Had Rama acted as God, no one could follow him. So he lived and spoke as the ideal man, the model of dharma.
The response
The Qur'an agrees that people need a human example. That is why God (﷾) sends men as His messengers. When people asked why God (﷾) had sent a man, the Qur'an answered that if angels walked the earth, He would have sent them an angel. Even an angel sent to men would have been made a man. A messenger can be followed because he truly is what his followers are: a man who serves God (﷾). The Prophet (ﷺ) is called "a beautiful pattern" for anyone whose hope is in Allah (﷾). He was told to say, "I am but a man like yourselves". The Bhagavata's own verse shows the cost of the other view. It asks why else sorrow should fall to the soul of the universe. So the grief people saw in Rama was shown to teach them, not suffered as they suffer it. An example who is God playing a man shows only what God (﷾) would do, and no man can copy that. The Qur'an's messengers show what every person is asked to be: a servant of God (﷾).
Where it lands — A human example is best given by a man who serves God (﷾), as the Qur'an's messengers do. God (﷾) does not need to play the part of a man to teach men.
Bhagavad Gita 10:8 — chapter 10, verse 8
“The wise, full of love, worship me, believing that I am the origin of all, and that all moves on through me.”
Cited for
In the Gita the Lord himself speaks. Krishna says that he is the origin of all and that all moves on through him. He says he taught this teaching to the sun at the beginning, and he asks Arjuna to take refuge in him alone. These are God's own words, so Krishna is God.
The response
Whether the speaker is God is the very question, so his words alone cannot settle it. The claim that these are God's (﷾) words comes from the epic that contains the Gita, and the same epic reports more about its speaker. Arjuna himself asked how Krishna, born later than the sun, could have taught the sun. Krishna answered that he had passed through many births. After the war, in the Anugita, Arjuna asked him to repeat the teaching, which had gone from his mind. The Anugita is a later part of the same epic. Krishna answered that the recollection of it was not possible to him now, and that he could not repeat it in full. He had declared it then, he said, accompanied by his mystic power. The Sanskrit says he spoke it "joined in yoga" (yoga-yuktena). If the teaching could be given only in that state, then outside it the speaker could not give it again. Telang, the Hindu translator, reads this as saying that Krishna was not equal to a word-for-word repetition, and gave the same teaching in other words. Either way, the speaker could not give his own words again. The Qur'an describes a Lord who never errs, nor forgets. It does not ask to be believed on its own word. It asks to be tested: produce one chapter like it, and look for discrepancy in it (2:23, 4:82). Nor does it make its messenger divine. He says, "I am but a man like yourselves" (18:110). It also makes a promise that can be checked: God (﷾) Himself will guard its message. Its text has come down unchanged, as the site's page on how the Qur'an was preserved sets out.
Where it lands — The Gita's claim rests on its speaker being God, which is the point in question. The same epic says that the speaker was born many times and could not repeat the Gita afterwards.
Qur'an 3:47 — Surat Al 'Imran (The Family of Imraan), verse 47
“She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!”
Cited for
Muslims believe that Jesus was born of a virgin by God's command. The Qur'an's Jesus also spoke from the cradle, made a clay bird live and raised the dead. Those are the works of God. It even calls him God's Word and "a spirit proceeding from Him". Muslims accept all this for Jesus, yet reject the Lord's birth as Krishna.
The response
The Qur'an tells of the virgin birth to show God's (﷾) power to create, not to say that God (﷾) was born. Mary asks how she can have a son when no man has touched her. The answer is that God (﷾) creates what He wills: He says "Be", and it is. The Qur'an compares Jesus to Adam, whom God (﷾) created from dust. Adam had neither father nor mother, and that did not make him God. Ibn Kathir explains "a spirit proceeding from Him" (4:171) as a created spirit, called Allah's (﷾) to honour it, as the Kaaba is called "My House". "From Him" means that it came from Him, not that it is a part of Him. The Qur'an ties each of Jesus' wonders to God (﷾). God (﷾) says He strengthened Jesus so that he spoke in the cradle. The clay figure "becomes a bird by Allah's leave", and he quickens the dead "by Allah's leave". His first words, spoken from the cradle, were "I am indeed a servant of Allah". The Qur'an says that he and his mother both had to eat their daily food. It calls the claim that God (﷾) is Christ blasphemy. So Islam holds Jesus and Krishna to one rule. A wonderful birth shows the power of the Creator; it does not make the one born the Creator.
Where it lands — Islam accepts Jesus' virgin birth as a creation and a sign, and denies that he was God. It applies the same rule to every claim that God (﷾) was born.
Ramanuja, commentary on Bhagavad Gita 4:8 — A. Govindacharya's translation, 1898, p. 141
“Sādhus: are the good and virtuous, the godly, the eminent Vaishṇavas (or worshippers of the All-Pervading Spirit=Vishṇu), who are seeking Me out as their Shelter. They are those who feel that without seeing Me—Whose names and wonderful works transcend the powers of speech and mind—they cannot live and move, cannot support their very being. They are those to whom a single moment of My absence from their memory, is as it were a kalpa. For the protection of these holy men,—lest they, in their agony at not seeing Me, pine away—, I grant them the privilege (or right) to be able to see Me and My doings, and hold converse with Me, and so on.”
Cited for
The Lord descends out of love. Ramanuja says his devotees cannot live without seeing him, and that a single moment without him feels like an age. So that they do not pine away, he lets them see him and his deeds, and speak with him. A God who never comes near enough to be seen leaves those who love Him without comfort.
The response
The longing is real, and Islam honours it. But the Qur'an answers it without making God a creature. God (﷾) is near: He answers the prayer of everyone who calls on Him, and He is nearer to each person than his jugular vein. Hearts find their rest in remembering Him. He is not seen in this world: when Moses asked to see Him, God (﷾) showed His glory to the mountain, and it crumbled to dust. But the believers are promised the sight itself. On the Day of Judgment their faces will shine, looking towards their Lord. The Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the full moon and said that the believers will see their Lord as they see that moon, with no difficulty. That is the meeting the devotee longs for, with God (﷾) Himself, not with a form that is born and dies.
Where it lands — Islam offers God's (﷾) nearness now and the sight of God (﷾) Himself in the life to come. Neither needs God (﷾) to be born.
Shankara, commentary on Brahma Sutra 2.1.33 — Sacred Books of the East 34, p. 357
“Analogously, the activity of the Lord also may be supposed to be mere sport, proceeding from his own nature without reference to any purpose. For on the ground neither of reason nor of Scripture can we construe any other purpose of the Lord.”
Cited for
God needs nothing. In His majesty (aishvarya) He is complete, and in His sweetness (madhurya) He wills to play with those who love Him. Krishna's birth, childhood and family were lila, the Lord's play, not need. The Brahma Sutra calls the Lord's creating sport. Shankara says it proceeds "from his own nature without reference to any purpose".
The response
The point is not the word "play" but Shankara's "without reference to any purpose". The Qur'an says God (﷾) did not create the heavens and the earth "merely in (idle) sport". He created them "for just ends", and He names the end. "I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me." He created death and life "that He may try which of you is best in deed". Yet He needs nothing from it: "No Sustenance do I require of them". Creating for just ends is not the same as having a need. Nor does God's (﷾) love need a birth. The Qur'an promises those who follow the Messenger, "Allah will love you". And calling the birth play does not change what the epics describe: a body that was wounded, died and was burnt.
Where it lands — The Qur'an's God (﷾) creates for just ends He has named, and needs nothing. Calling the birth play does not remove the marks of a creature that the epics describe.
Bhagavad Gita 9:26 — chapter 9, verse 26
“Whoever with devotion offers me leaf, flower, fruit, water, that, presented with devotion, I accept from him whose self is pure.”
Cited for
Krishna ate, but not from need. He says he accepts "leaf, flower, fruit, water" offered with devotion. Whatever touches him becomes spiritual, as iron left in fire becomes fire. So the food offered to him becomes prasadam, a blessed gift.
The response
The question is not what the food becomes, but who eats it. Eating out of love, not need, is still eating. The Qur'an says of God (﷾), "He it is that feedeth but is not fed". God (﷾) says of His servants, "nor do I require that they should feed Me". Of sacrifices it says, "It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him". It points to eating as a mark of a creature. Of Jesus and his mother it says, "They had both to eat their (daily) food." A body that eats, and that a hunter's arrow wounds, bears a creature's marks, whatever it touches.
Where it lands — Food may be offered for God's (﷾) sake, but God (﷾) is not fed. The One who feeds all does not eat.
Perspectives
The Lord truly descends
The Supreme Lord is born into the world by his own will, age after age. He comes to protect the good, destroy evil-doers and restore dharma. He also comes so that his devotees, who cannot bear to be without him, may see him. His births are real, as real as ours, but no past deeds cause them. His body is divine, not made of matter, and he never lays aside his divine attributes. He comes as a man also to teach men by his example. When he leaves, he takes his own body with him. Of all his descents, Krishna is the Lord himself. What he does is his play (lila), which no clever reasoning can see through.
Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita and the Vaishnava traditions that follow the Gita and the Bhagavata Purana
Krishna says that he is unborn and lord of all beings. Yet he is born age after age to protect the good.
Rebuttal
Grant that Krishna says this. The Gita's own teachers disagree on what it means, and neither reading makes God a man as we are men. The Qur'an says God (﷾) begets not and is not begotten, and nothing is like Him.
Krishna says that whoever truly knows his divine birth and work is not born again.
Rebuttal
Grant that Krishna promises freedom from rebirth. Islam teaches one life, then judgement, so there is no return to this world (23:99-100). The Qur'an asks for faith and good deeds, worshipping the Lord alone, not for knowing a divine birth.
The Bhagavata Purana says the Lord's descents are numberless, and that Krishna is the Lord himself.
Rebuttal
Grant that the Bhagavata says so. It also tells that a hunter's arrow pierced Krishna's foot. A form that is wounded is a creature's form, and the Qur'an says God (﷾) lives and dies not.
Ramanuja reads Krishna's many births as real incarnations, no illusion or magic.
Rebuttal
Grant that Ramanuja holds the births real. Shankara, the other great teacher, says the birth only seemed real. If it was real, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata both say a hunter's arrow pierced it. The God (﷾) of the Qur'an lives and dies not (25:58).
Ramanuja calls the incarnations divine, immaterial and unique, unlike births caused by past deeds.
Rebuttal
Grant that Ramanuja calls the body divine. The Gita itself calls it "a human body". The Bhagavata, which Vaishnavas revere, says a hunter's arrow pierced its foot. A body that an arrow can wound is a creature's body, and nothing is like God (42:11).
Ramanuja says why the Lord comes. It is so that devotees who cannot live without seeing him may see him, and speak with him.
Rebuttal
Islam honours this longing. It answers it without making God a creature. God (﷾) is near now, nearer than the jugular vein, and the believers will see Him in the next life.
In the Ramayana, Brahma tells Rama that he is Vishnu. He says Rama took the form of a man to kill Ravana.
Rebuttal
Grant that Brahma says so. But Rama's own words come first: he deems himself a mortal man and asks who he is. The text never says Rama knew and hid it. The God (﷾) of the Qur'an knows all things.
The Bhagavata Purana says no clever reasoning can understand the Lord's play. It is like an actor's disguise, which an ignorant onlooker cannot see through.
Rebuttal
Grant that the Bhagavata calls the life a play. Then those who watched saw the role, not God as He is. The Qur'an says no vision can grasp Him. The sight it promises, of believers looking towards their Lord, belongs to the next life (6:103, 75:22-23).
The Bhagavata says the Lord's descent as a mortal was to teach mortals, not only to kill the Rakshasa.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that people need a human teacher, so God (﷾) sends men as His messengers. A man who serves God (﷾) can be followed. God (﷾) playing a man cannot be copied.
The Bhagavata says Krishna entered his own abode without burning his body.
Rebuttal
Grant that the Bhagavata says so. The Mahabharata says Arjuna had the bodies burnt, so the two scriptures differ. Both say a hunter's arrow pierced him.
The birth only appears
The Lord is really unborn. Through his own maya, the power that deludes the whole world, he appears to be born and embodied. But this is not in reality, as it is for others. The birth is an appearance, and the Lord is never bound by it.
Shankara's Advaita Vedanta; K. T. Telang's notes on the Gita
Shankara says the Lord appears to be born and embodied through his own maya, but not in reality.
Rebuttal
Then, on Shankara's own reading, God (﷾) was never born as a man. On that one point, that God (﷾) is not born, Islam says the same, though it does not teach maya. But then the Krishna people saw was an appearance, not God Himself. Ramanuja reads it the other way. Islam needs neither theory: God (﷾) begets not, nor is He begotten, and nothing is like Him.
Telang explains that the power is called delusive because the Lord is still really unborn.
Rebuttal
Grant Telang's note that the Lord is still really unborn. On that point it says what Islam says: God (﷾) is not born. But the same note speaks of a material form that is born, and what is born and dies is a creature.
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) is not born, and does not become any of His creatures. Nothing is like Him. He guides by sending messengers, who are men, and He acts in the world by His command. The epics themselves show Rama speaking as a man who asks who he is. They show Krishna's body pierced by an arrow and burnt. The Gita's own teachers do not agree whether the birth was real. The longing to see God (﷾) is answered by His nearness in this life, and by the sight of Him in the next.
The Qur'an says God (﷾) begets not and is not begotten, and that nothing is like Him.
The Qur'an says God (﷾) has full knowledge of all things and never forgets.
The Qur'an says God (﷾) lives and never dies.
The Gita's great commentators disagree on whether Krishna's birth was real.
In the Ramayana, Rama says he deems himself a mortal man and asks the gods who he is.
In the Mahabharata, Krishna wishes to die, and a hunter's arrow pierces his heel. Later, Arjuna has his body burnt.
The Qur'an calls Jesus' virgin birth a creation, like Adam's, and Jesus a servant of Allah (﷾) who ate food.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said the believers will see their Lord in the next life as they see the full moon.