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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

God sustains all His creations

 

CHENNAI, FEB. 1. Among the millions of creations of God (animals,

birds, insects and worms), the human being alone is privileged to

have the choice of action. No other sentient has this rare

capacity. But hardly one in a thousand strives for the perfect

vision and hardly one among them can succeed. The human being has

been endowed with the power to think and then act. Thinking is a

technique and one should learn to do the acts properly.

Invariably he develops likes and dislikes and has the tendency to

carry out deeds which are prohibited. A person with diabetes who

should abstain from taking sugar, likes it very much. It is here

man should know that he is different from other creations. His

intellect is of two kinds - the gross and the subtle - and he

should go beyond the forms and use the latter to see the

``Infinite''.

 

For instance, man visits temples but he may not be able to

explain the esoteric significance of the peculiar form of

``Ganesha'', why He has the head of an elephant and a huge belly.

If he uses his intellect, he can know the purpose of this Divine

creation. Many cannot immediately say why Vishnu has four hands

and why Krishna is blue-hued. A person may offer prayers but

``prey'' on others during the rest of the day. He may sing

National Anthem in the morning and evening and must refrain from

indulging in anti-national activities in between. On the other

hand, he should develop the attitude of being calm in the wake of

``pairs of opposites'' and remain like a lotus in water.

 

Also, a human being should acquire transcendental knowledge

regarding the splendour of God, the Infinite. He is the

``external cosmic potency'' in relation to this manifested world

and consists of eight components viz., earth, water, fire, air

and ether (the elements) and mind, intelligence and ego (the

subtle). God pervades the animate and inanimate creations,

sustaining all and holding all. The Lord, in the Bhagavad Gita,

clearly points out that He is the prime cause of creation,

sustenance and destruction of the world. He is the taste in

water, light in the Sun as well as in the Moon, the sanctified

smell in the earth, in short, the chief emporium of all eternal

qualities. It is here that the Lord makes an astonishing

statement summing up His qualities - that all the universe exists

in and through Him - like a cluster of gems strung on a thread.

There is another comparison i.e., like an unseen person

manipulating the dolls with fine strings, in a puppet show,

explained Swami Parthasarathy in a discourse. An example of the

role of the Divinity is that of waves in ocean. They, the huge

and small, come, recede and merge on the sea. Kept in a bucket,

the same water is calm.

 

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