Sunday, January 15, 2012

Two Kinds of Knowledge

Long long back in ancient India, a very wise man named "Angiras" used to live in a hut in the forest. He had inherited the spiritual wisdom from his father & forefathers. Once a young man from the village came up to him. This was a man well-known as the owner of land, wise in the ways of the world. He said to sage "Angiras", "Please tell me that knowledge which will explain everything to me."

Angiras looked at him & said. "There are really two kinds of knowledge," he replied. One of them is higher knowledge and the other one is lower one. The lower knowledge is of hymns and scriptures, rituals, grammar, poetry, astrology and other such sciences.....but the higher knowledge leads a man to that being which never dies. That is called the knowledge of the Indestructible."

"Yes, sir," said the young man. "That is what I want to know about."

Angiras said, "Then, listen well. The Indestructible cannot be picked up like this stick or that stone. It belongs to no family, nor to any caste. It neither has eyes nor ears (yet sees & hears everything), It has no hands or feet, It is forever. Wherever you go It is there; you cannot leave It; It is all around you.

"Indestructible is very fine, very subtle, and that is why you do not see It. Everything else has come out of this Indestructible, you see. You know how a spider spins out her thread from her own body, and draws it back with her arms, or how plants grow from the soil, or how hair grows on a person's body. In that same way, the whole universe emerges from that Indestructible Being called God.

The God who is present everywhere in space & creation is called Omnipresent God. There is no place in creation which can be without the presence of God & He is present there at every point of time and space. God fills all the space & places in heaven and on earth.

Here below are few verses from Bhagwat Gita which describe about the infinite nature of God:

"sarvatah pani-padam tat
sarvato ’ksi-siro-mukham
sarvatah shrutimal loke
sarvam avrtya tishthati" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 14)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Everywhere are His (God's) hands and feet, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Super Soul exists, pervading everything in this world."

"mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 7)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, there is nothing else besides Me in this world. Like clusters of yarn-beads formed by knots on a thread, all this world is threaded on me.

Here below is a "Hymn to that Universal, Omnipresent Infinite God". It is from "Svetasvatara Upanishad":

"O God,

You are the Ancient One & the Lord of Shining Light,
You dwell beyond all the darkness and the night;
knowing You alone can a man cross over death,
There is no other path for him to take."

All heads are Your heads, all faces Your faces,
You dwell inside the heart & also in all hidden places.
Through the whole universe, You have extended Yourself.
You are Shiva, the auspicious, the ever-present Lord."

With hands and feet everywhere, eyes and ears
Everywhere, heads and mouths everywhere,
You have filled up every corner of the space.
Smaller than smallest and larger than largest."



So let's pay our obeisance's to such an Indestructible & Infinite God. Let's also think that God is always near us & is always in our heart. Then He too shall never give you up or never depart. God is always with you & shall always be with you if you think Him to be supreme Indestructible. So always have trust that God is near you though He is present in all the creation.

Jai Sri Krishna

3 comments:

  1. What is the real name of GOD....
    If He has existence, what is His gender.....Gurbani says....He is Karta Purakh....i.e. a male who is doing everything......Pls. throw light on this.....

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  2. Anonymous5:08 AM

    @Anhad. , God is above n beyond the sex , shape, size or color, these r just limitations of our human mind. The soul is limitless n boundryless, so HE , our creator, cuz is supersoul.
    I hope , i cud explain. Love n light dost

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