If Mary was a highly devoted soul, why did Jesus indirectly imply that she was not?

[Shri Anil asked: Angel Gabriel appeared to virgin Mary and said “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God”. To this, Mary replied: “I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said.” Even though Mary was unmarried, she meekly accepted the message from God. Would this prove that Mary was a great devotee of God? In the Catholic tradition, Mary is regarded highly for her devotion to God. Elsewhere, on one occasion, when Jesus was busy preaching to a group of people, Mary came to meet Jesus. But Jesus said: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” How can we co-relate these two incidents?]

Swami replied: A devotee can become a dualistic incarnation of God through his or her devotion. It means that the devotee remains a devotee, but is regarded as God. Such dualistic incarnations are greater than the devotee in whom God actually merges, making him a monistic Human Incarnation. This fact is exhibited by God Himself since the dualistic incarnation commands God as his or her servant. Kṛṣṇa became the servant of Rādhā and Rāma was defeated by Hanumān in a war! Similarly, Jesus regarded His family members as dualistic incarnations of God.

Keywords:

| Shri Datta Swami | If Mary was a highly devoted soul, why did Jesus indirectly imply that she was not? | Hanuman Hanumaan Raama Rama Radha Raadha Krishna