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Chapter 7
PRAPATTI OR SURRENDER TO GOD
33. Bhakti Results In Pure And Unalloyed Bliss
5. If we have bhakti, we could see the art of that great artist; we could see the brush with which He paints. Once we have reached the source of all creation and have tasted the rare sweetness of water from the spring at the very source, we cannot but find all other things insipid and worthless. A man who has tasted a real banana would appreciate the beauty of a painted wooden banana for a moment, and then will put it aside. He will not be much enamoured by it. A man who has tasted true joy would not be taken in by external pleasures in the material world. 6. Once, some people told a philosopher, “Sir, there is festive lighting of lamps in the city today. Let us go and watch it.” The philosopher said, “What is it after all? Only an arrangement of a lot of lamps in rows, is it not? I can visualize it from here itself.” In an arithmetical progression like 1+2+3...., figures can be written up to infinity. But there is no need to write all the numbers if the difference between two succeeding numbers is known. Likewise one can visualize the arrangement of lamps in rows. What is there to be so excited about it? But man does enjoy such things. He squeezes a lemon in water, adds sugar, sips the drink and smacks his lips in delight! It is as if the tongue has nothing else to do than to taste different things. From different ingredients man creates a variety of food products and finds all the pleasure in eating them! When I was a child, I once went to see a movie. I had taken a mat with me so that I could go to sleep whenever I wanted. I could watch the dazzling pictures barely for a few moments. My eyes got tired and I went to sleep, asking my companion to wake me up when the show was over. Instead of going out in the open and watching the moon and the stars and enjoying the peace and serenity of nature, people go to congested theatres and excitedly applaud the dance of the bright moving pictures there. I just failed to understand that! |
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