The Nirakara (Formless) comes in Narakara (human form) when the virtue of the good and vice of the wicked reach a certain stage. Prahlada’s devotion and his father’s disregard, both had to ripen before Narasimha Avatar could take place. To know the truth of the  Avatar, the Sadhaka must culture the mind, as a farmer does the field. He must clear the field of thorny undergrowth, wild creepers and tenuous roots. He must plough the land, water it and sow seeds well. He must guard the seedlings and tender plants from insect pests as well as from the depredations of goats and cattle; he must put up a fence all around. So too, egoism, pride and greed must be removed from the heart; Sathya, Japa, Dhyana (truth, repetition of the Lord’s name and meditation), form ploughing and levelling; Love is the water that must soak into the field and make it soft and rich; the Name is the seed and Bhakti is the sprout; Kama and Krodha (desire and anger) are the cattle and the fence is discipline; Ananda (bliss) is the harvest! – Divine Discourse, Nov 23, 1964.