Yudhisthira along with his younger brothers got up and warmly welcomed Maharishi Narada and Tumbura who arrived there. They offered reverential respects to the great sages. But being drowned totally in grief, Yudhisthira could not offer Him worship.
Yudhisthira lamented, “O Narada Maharishi! I have no clue where my paternal uncle and aunt have disappeared. My paternal aunt Gāndhāri was overwhelmed by grief at the death of her dearest relatives in the war. I feel utterly helpless at not finding them.
O great saint, you are the only refuge who can help me cross this ocean of sorrow. Please guide me. I am unable to withstand this grief. Gāndhāri who was like a mother to me is not to be seen. I do not know whether they have left thisplace as they were unable to withstand the loss of their sons or whether they felt humiliated to stay with me. The truth is that even in our dreams we never ever wished them bad. They were our saviours who protected us when we were small. They have given us this gift of life. Irrespective of whether we were in the battlefield or when we were humiliated, we were firm in our belief that they were the ones who had saved us and given us life”.
Hearing this Maharishi Narada said, “O King, do not grieve for anyone. This entire world is in the control of the Supreme Lord. He, who is worshipped even by the guardian-deities of the universe, brings people together and separates them as well.
He is the relative for everyone in this universe. He could grant to a living being the life as a bird, dog, insect, cat or any other life as He pleases. In these forms he ensures that beings come together, get closely bound to each other and then separate. How strange are His plays! He uses varied permutations and combinations to unite beings and once again through different permutations and combinations He causes them to separate”.
Swamiji explains: When we meet our friends we should think, ‘How and in which method did we all meet? What were the circumstances that brought us together?’ We should try to analyse this deeply. We should thank Him, “Oh, it is purely God’s grace that we have met. Today we are able to speak to each other happily”. It could be casual friends who we meet at the bus stand or railway station. They could be mere acquaintances whom we come across during travel. Whosoever it may be, it is God who causes both the meeting and the separation! We could have met a person for just 10 minutes or we could have known him well for a decade. He could be a relative who was very dear to us throughout our life. It is God’s power of illusion (māya) that causes the meeting and it is māya that brings about the separation!
“Weaving is an intricate art. With great dexterity the weavers handle the fine thread and bring them together to create a large piece of cloth. These weavers know the art by which this large piece of cloth can, once again, be separated into individual fine threads. Such is their dexterity! If this is the expertise that an ordinary weaver can display, then imagine the efficacy of Paramatma, who creates and dissolves entire universes?”
Swamiji explains: Every planet in this universe has been created by Him! The inter-connections between planets are also His creation. We take great pride that we humans have been able to discover and travel to newer planets. But then, all of them are part of his creation only! It is His illusion. It is He who causes a person to travel to those planets. In fact, it is He who travels to those planets, He is the journey and it is He who observes the new planets upon landing there. He is the one who declares that he has discovered a new planet. In the form of the person who has not travelled to these planets, He is the one who is astonished at this discovery of a new planet. What wonder!
The plays of the Supreme are infinite and wonderous! Without Him there is absolutely nothing a being can accomplish. By acknowledging different forms around us, we are actually acknowledging Him! That’s all. It is He whom we acknowledge as science, it is He whom we acknowledge as chemicals, it is He whom we address as Planets. What we call as atom or a sub-atomic particle is nothing but the Lord. When we combine different particles to create an object, it is Paramatma who exists in the created object. When we break the object up into sub- atomic particles, then also it is Paramatma who alone exists.
In a lump of mud, innumerable atoms exist. It is impossible to count them. Can you try to collect the entire water in the oceans? Can you count the stars in the sky?
There once was a king who wanted to know the exact number of stars in the sky. A person agreed to undertake this mammoth task. When this person arrived at the court next morning, the king enquired, “Have you counted the stars? If so, please tell me your answer”. To this the person replied, “Yes your majesty, I went to the beach last night and counted the stars. As the number is infinite, I did not use paper. Instead for every star that I counted, I threw one grain of sand. You can retrieve those grains of sand and check for yourself”. Although this story is humorous, there is truth in it.
Can anyone measure the vastness of this universe? Discovery of some planet or the other is a continuous process. Scientists have been travelling high into the skies trying to discover newer objects. But so far, none of them have travelled deeply and extensively into the oceans, which are the support for this entire earth. They are yet to locate its greatest treasures. Even a ship that sinks into the oceans cannot be traced. A flight that has sunk has not been traced until now. This explains the vastness of the universe. All this is His māya.
At the same time it is incorrect to sit inactively doing nothing, declaring that all this is happening due to His power of illusion. Efforts have to be put in the right direction to discover these objects. Due to these efforts some new knowledge will be learnt. Has anyone prohibited travelling to newer planets? Never. While travelling and discovering these new planets, acknowledge His māya. The person who travels deep into the oceans to locate the sunken ship, discovers some mountains or some other speciality in God’s creation there. Had he not travelled, he would never have noticed this creation of God.
Science has progressed significantly. But yet these scientists are acknowledging that there is something that supports all this creation from behind. They agree that some magic or some mantra supports this creation, but they have been unable to find it. Some significant force is holding together this entire creation. We should try to understand it.
When disease strikes the body we try numerous medications to drive away the disease. We try many types of external medications. But the truly wise man tries to locate the granthi (nerve) from where this disease could have originated. He investigates thoroughly and tries to see if it is possible to eliminate this granthi itself. But then his research does not progress beyond this. What will be the side effects of this action? He is unable to delve deeper beyond a limit, into this. Thus this is an infinite ocean of knowledge.
Just as a cow bound by the rope that is tied to its nose carries the belongings of its master, human beings bound by the rope called Veda, which lays down the do’s and don’ts, abide by the duties that have been laid down for their respective castes (varna) and stages of life (ashrama). In this way they abide by the orders of that Supreme Lord!
Datta. Narayana.