In plain words
The word Prema is very small. It is made of just two letters. In this Prema of two letters the whole imperishable universe is contained. Unfortunately, today no one is trying to recognise that principle of Prema properly. Comparing it with their own narrow loves, they belittle this divine, endless, immortal principle of Prema.
Prema is full of immortality. It is all amṛta. It is endless. No one can compare it with anything else. Nor is there any other thing in the world like it. So, to teach this principle of Prema to man in the world, Prema itself comes again and again in human form. Many scriptures teach that God incarnates to set man on the path of Dharma, justice and Satya. The Bhagavad Gītā too says, “dharma saṃsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge.” All dharmas, all justice, and Satya are blended in Prema alone. However much Dharma there may be, without Prema it becomes an artificial Dharma. What kind of Dharma is Dharma without Prema? What kind of justice is justice without Prema? It is just like a life with no breath in it. Prema itself is the breath of life. A man without Prema cannot stand in the world even for a moment. That form of Prema is itself the form of the Paramātma. All the Avatāras, the Kṛṣṇa Avatāra and the rest, came to teach such a principle of Prema. Under the influence of the conditions of place and time, people gave different names to those forms and experienced the principle of the Avatāra.
However many paths of sādhana there may be, if they are not filled with Prema they are all in vain!
People cast sugar syrup in moulds, one as a peacock, one as a bird, one as a dog, one as a fox, and sell them to children. Why do they make all these? To suit the children's tastes, they hand them out, a dog to one, a fox to another, a tiger to a third, and to the rest a bird, a swan and other shapes, each to each.