God is near you

[Guest guest]

A Story from the Late Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram (Periyavar)

 

The Vedas proclaim: "Durat dure antike ca" (Farther than the

farthest, nearer than the nearest)

 

Once the parents of a girl arranged her marriage to a boy who happened

to be a relative. But the girl said "I'll marry the greatest man in

the world. "She was stubborn in her decision and the parents in their

helpnessness said to her "Do what you like. "

 

The girl thought that the king was the greatest of men and that she

would get married to him. One day, as the king was being taken in a

palanquin, an ascetic passed by. The king got down and prostrated

himself before the sanyasin and got into his palanquin again.

Witnessing the scene the girl thought to herself:"I was wrong all

these days in thinking that the king was the greatest of men. The

ascetic seems to be greater. I must marry him. "She then followed the

holy man.

 

The ascetic stopped on his way to worship an idol of Ganapati

installed under a pipal tree. The girl saw it and came to the

conclusion :"This Ganapati is superior to the sanyasin. I must marry

him. " She gave up her chase of the ascetic and sat by the idol of

Ganapati. It was a lonely place and no devotee came up to worship the

god. After some days a dog came and relieved itself on the idol. The

girl now decided that the dog must be greater than Ganapati. She went

chasing the dog and as it trotted along, with the girl keeping pace

with it, a boy threw a stone at it and it wailed loudly in pain. a

young man saw this and reprimanded the boy for his cruelty. The girl

now told herself "I had thought that the boy was superior to the dog.

But here comes a young man to take him to task. So he must be the

greatest of them all. Eventually it turned out that the young man was

none other then the groom that her parents had chosen for her.

 

The girl in the story went in pursuit of one she thought was far away

but in the end it turned out that what she had sought was indeed closeby.

 

"You look for God thinking him to be far from you. So long as your

ignorant(that is without jnana)he is indeed far from you. Even if you

look for him all over the world you will not find him. He is in truth

with you. ""Durat dure antike ca, "says the sruti (Farther than the

farthest, nearer than the nearest).

[Guest guest]

Notwithstanding the message of this story, which is so important and

so very true...I find myself left with a feeling of pity for the poor

young man...

 

Jai Maa!

Chris

 

 

 

, "srini_sadhu" <srini_sadhu wrote:

>

> A Story from the Late Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram (Periyavar)

>

> The Vedas proclaim: "Durat dure antike ca" (Farther than the

> farthest, nearer than the nearest)

>

> Once the parents of a girl arranged her marriage to a boy who happened

> to be a relative. But the girl said "I'll marry the greatest man in

> the world. "She was stubborn in her decision and the parents in their

> helpnessness said to her "Do what you like. "

>

> The girl thought that the king was the greatest of men and that she

> would get married to him. One day, as the king was being taken in a

> palanquin, an ascetic passed by. The king got down and prostrated

> himself before the sanyasin and got into his palanquin again.

> Witnessing the scene the girl thought to herself:"I was wrong all

> these days in thinking that the king was the greatest of men. The

> ascetic seems to be greater. I must marry him. "She then followed the

> holy man.

>

> The ascetic stopped on his way to worship an idol of Ganapati

> installed under a pipal tree. The girl saw it and came to the

> conclusion :"This Ganapati is superior to the sanyasin. I must marry

> him. " She gave up her chase of the ascetic and sat by the idol of

> Ganapati. It was a lonely place and no devotee came up to worship the

> god. After some days a dog came and relieved itself on the idol. The

> girl now decided that the dog must be greater than Ganapati. She went

> chasing the dog and as it trotted along, with the girl keeping pace

> with it, a boy threw a stone at it and it wailed loudly in pain. a

> young man saw this and reprimanded the boy for his cruelty. The girl

> now told herself "I had thought that the boy was superior to the dog.

> But here comes a young man to take him to task. So he must be the

> greatest of them all. Eventually it turned out that the young man was

> none other then the groom that her parents had chosen for her.

>

> The girl in the story went in pursuit of one she thought was far away

> but in the end it turned out that what she had sought was indeed

closeby.

>

> "You look for God thinking him to be far from you. So long as your

> ignorant(that is without jnana)he is indeed far from you. Even if you

> look for him all over the world you will not find him. He is in truth

> with you. ""Durat dure antike ca, "says the sruti (Farther than the

> farthest, nearer than the nearest).

>