Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-15
The Supreme Person
The world-tree as described by me, is all an illusion like the ghee prepared from the tortoise’s (non-existent) milk. O dear friend, lakes of mirage water are fit to be seen only from a distance; can anyone grow rice or bananas on that water? Where the ignorance itself is unreal, how could its effect be real? Truly speaking, this world tree is a mere illusion. This tree is said to be endless, and in one sense it is true. Can there be an end to sleep so long as one does not wake up or could there be a dawn, until the night is over (221-225)? In the same way, O Partha, so long as knowledge does not dawn upon one, there could be no end to this world-tree. The waves on the sea do not cease, so long as the wind does not stop blowing. The mirage disappears, only after the sun sets or the light vanishes when the lamp is extinguished. In the same way, this world tree, which is rooted in ignorance, does not vanish until the dawn of knowledge. So when it is said that this world has no beginning, it is not a false imputation, but is a fact, which accords with its nature (226-230). For, if the world-tree is not real, how could it have a beginning? It would be reasonable to ascribe origin to a thing, which is produced; but how could there be a beginning for a thing which has no existence at all? Who could be the mother of an unborn child? In the same way, the world tree is said to be beginningless, as it has no existence. How could there be a horoscope of a child of a barren woman? How could one imagine the existence of blue colour in the sky? |
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