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Chapter 11
VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM OF GOD
57. Vision Of The Cosmic Form Is Difficult To Bear
12. In short, the world, as it is, is auspicious. There is no need to pack this vast world of time and space into a little spot. Excessive familiarity is not good. We should be intimate with some things and maintain a distance from some things. We respectfully keep a distance from the teacher, but would love to sit in the mother’s lap. There is an appropriate way to behave with anybody and deal with anything. A flower may be taken in the hand, but fire should be kept away. The beauty of the stars can be admired from a distance only. It is true for all creation. It is not that something that gives delight from afar will give more delight when brought near. Let the things remain where they are. It is in our interest to let them be at a proper distance, appreciate them from a distance and derive joy from them, rather than trying to bring them near in a clumsy and overbearing manner for the sake of excessive familiarity. 13. Thus, it is good that we do not live in Time in all its aspects—past, present and future. Knowledge of all of it is not necessarily pleasing or beneficial. Arjuna beseeched the Lord with love, and He fulfilled his desire by revealing to him His cosmic form. But for us, His small form is sufficient. It is not, after all, a part of the Lord; the whole of the Lord is present therein. Even if it is only a part, I would consider myself blessed if I could have a glimpse of even that part. This is what experience has taught me. When Jamnalalji Bajaj opened the Laxminarayan temple at Wardha to the untouchables, I too had gone there. My gaze was fixed on the idol for some fifteen or twenty minutes. I was as if in a state of samadhi. Beholding the Lord’s image from tip to toe, my eyes finally rested at His feet. There was no thought in my mind except ‘गोड तुझी चरण–सेवा’ (‘Sweet indeed is Your humble service!’) If the great Lord cannot be contained in a small form, it is enough to behold His feet. Arjuna pleaded for the vision of the cosmic form. He was worthy enough to ask for it. How intimate was his relationship with the Lord! What claims can I have? If I could see His feet, it is enough for me; I deserve nothing more. |
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