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Chapter 10
CONTEMPLATION OF GOD’S MANIFESTATIONS
54. Seeing God In Villains Too
24. To sum up, God is everywhere in the universe. As holy rivers, high mountains, serene oceans, tender-hearted cows, noble horses, majestic lions, sweet-voiced cuckoos, beautiful peacocks, clean and solitude-loving snakes, crows flapping their wings, the upward-rising flames, the still stars—He is pervading the whole creation in different forms. We should train our eyes to see Him everywhere, first in simple forms and then in the complex ones. We should first learn simple letters and then the complex ‘joint’ letters. Until we learn the ‘joint’ letters, there is no progress in reading. Unless we are able to see God manifest in crooked forms, our progress will be hampered. At every step, we shall come across the ‘joint’ letters. We shall come across crooked and evil forms every now and then. In the end, we must learn to see God in the villains too. God in Rama is readily acceptable, but we must also comprehend divinity in Ravana. God in Prahlad is readily acceptable, but we must also The Veda has said, ‘नमो नमः तेनानां पतये नमो नमः स्तेनानां पतये नमो नमः नमः पुंजिष्ठेभ्यो नमो निषादेभ्यःब्रह्म दाशा ब्रह्म दासा ब्रह्मैवेमे कितवाः। ’comprehend divinity in Hiranyakashipu[1] ‘Salutation to the robber chieftain, salutations to the cruel and the violent. The robbers, the cruel, the swindlers, all are Brahman. Salutations to them all.’ What does this mean? This means that after mastering the small letters, we should master the capital letters; after mastering the simple, we should master the complex. Carlyle has written a book on hero-worship. Therein he has called Napoleon a hero. God in him is not in a pure form, there is a mixture; but we must discern Him there too. That is why Tulsidas has called Ravana ‘Rama’s devotee in opposition.’ Ravana too is a devotee, albeit of a different type. Fire burns and causes swelling in the burnt part of the body, but the swelling subsides after fomentation, that is, after using a different form of the same element. The same element thus does different things while it is in different forms. Rama and Ravana are manifestations of one and the only God, although appearances are different. Gross and subtle, simple and complex, small letters and capital letters—learn everything and realise in the end that there is no place where the Lord is not present. He is present in every atom. He pervades the whole universe. The Lord who cares equally for all, who is full of knowledge and wisdom, love, compassion, power, beauty and holiness, is everywhere all around us.[2]
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