THE END OF QUESTIONING
A lovely story about the time of Shiva's wedding with Parvati, goes somewhat like this:
At the point of the solemnising of the marriage by a holy Havan,
the pandit asked Shiva " Who is your father?"
Shiva looked at Brahma and said "He"
" And who is Brahma's father?" asked the pandit
Shiva looked at Vishnu and said "He is"
But the pandit persisted, "and who, may i ask, is Vishnu's father?"
"I am" Said Shiva rather curtly, but with a definite authority that indicated the end of such a conversation.
Even as children whenever we heard the story, we laughed at the episode: at the pandit's persistence and Shiva's patience, wit, and then the estoppel authority. This story has a very deep meaning; the pandit's questioning denotes the spiritual seeking,and the questioned Shiva is actually the answer to all things:
Shiva honours the manifest world, he honours Brahma as His father, and Vishnu as super God, But when a questioner persists in seeking the tree of lineage, he finds ultimately, that Shiva Himself is the source of His own Father! Shiva plays out the game of the manifest world, till its limit, and then, he takes you beyond its horizon, where the transcendent begins! So too, when the pandit asks Shiva his Gotra ( clan) Shiva Replies "'Alakh"( The unsighted)
Therefore, even though Shiva appears as a simple Yogi playing a role in this world, in reality, the whole of creation emanates from him.Normally we will not be able to penetrate through the role play of the manifest,to find divinity seated in the midst of it all, But if we persist with our seeking, like the pandit did, then we may at last ,arrive at the truth of beautiful Shiva as THE ONE, behind it all .Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram!
Namah Shivaye.
At the point of the solemnising of the marriage by a holy Havan,
the pandit asked Shiva " Who is your father?"
Shiva looked at Brahma and said "He"
" And who is Brahma's father?" asked the pandit
Shiva looked at Vishnu and said "He is"
But the pandit persisted, "and who, may i ask, is Vishnu's father?"
"I am" Said Shiva rather curtly, but with a definite authority that indicated the end of such a conversation.
Even as children whenever we heard the story, we laughed at the episode: at the pandit's persistence and Shiva's patience, wit, and then the estoppel authority. This story has a very deep meaning; the pandit's questioning denotes the spiritual seeking,and the questioned Shiva is actually the answer to all things:
Shiva honours the manifest world, he honours Brahma as His father, and Vishnu as super God, But when a questioner persists in seeking the tree of lineage, he finds ultimately, that Shiva Himself is the source of His own Father! Shiva plays out the game of the manifest world, till its limit, and then, he takes you beyond its horizon, where the transcendent begins! So too, when the pandit asks Shiva his Gotra ( clan) Shiva Replies "'Alakh"( The unsighted)
Therefore, even though Shiva appears as a simple Yogi playing a role in this world, in reality, the whole of creation emanates from him.Normally we will not be able to penetrate through the role play of the manifest,to find divinity seated in the midst of it all, But if we persist with our seeking, like the pandit did, then we may at last ,arrive at the truth of beautiful Shiva as THE ONE, behind it all .Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram!
Namah Shivaye.
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