The Absolute Truth is a Person
The Invocation Prayer:
गुरवे गौर चन्द्राय राधिकाय तदालये
कृष्णाय कृष्ण भक्ताय तद्भाक्ताय नमो: नमः
The story of Shyam Das
Not so long ago, when India was still a British Colony, the Railways were first introduced in India in 1850’s. It was then considered a strange looking machine, which was destined to become a major source of transport in the future times.
At that time, in a small village of India, a poor man named ‘Shyam Das’ used to live with his family, in his thatched hut. One fine evening, he was resting, lying beneath a Mango tree, when he heard a group of villagers passing by – and talking about the strange “wheels-running-on-steel” machine, that runs with fire and steam, which was introduced as a means of transport by the Britishers.
Shyam Das was already aware of the news, and he really wondered – “Why on earth, will any sane person ever think to travel on such a potentially dangerous fire-machine – as this one?”
So on the day, when the first Train was scheduled to arrive at the newly constructed station, the platform was jam packed already – not by the travellers waiting to get onboard, but villagers waiting to see how, after all, does this thing look like.
One person waiting in this crowd was Shyam Das himself. He had asked his wife to accompany him as well, but she was rather a satisfied person, busy catering to the household business.
It was dusk already, and there was still no sign of the train coming to the Platform.
After a long, boring wait, there was hustle-bustle, with literally every person standing on the edge of the platform, and staring in one direction. Shyam Das, determined not to lose the chance of witnessing the incident himself, somehow made his way through the crowd. As he looked in the direction where everyone was staring, all he could see a, bright yellow light emerging in the dark, far away.
Since the train was literally “crawling”, and still too far from the station, he stood there for few more minutes, and all he could see with his eyes, was only a bright yellow light!”
Just a Yellow Light…?
Just a yellow light is it all about? Even I have two lanterns hanging in the front of my bullock cart! ……Is that all what people are running so crazy about?
Ah…what a waste of my time! I should rather be going back home and looking after my fields!
And as he was walking back out of the platform, another person asked him why he was going back, without seeing the train?
“That doesn’t sound like a new thing for me. It’s just a big yellow light that moves on the metal lines, and nothing else!”
“No, Shyam Das…” - replied another person - “Wait for some more time, and see for yourself.”
Confused for a while, he said – “Well, if you so insist…I’ll have a look again.”
The Locomotive…
And he again made his way through the crowd. By this time the train had crawled a bit nearer to the station, and this time what he could see was not only a yellow light, but also the dark periphery of the front side of the engine.”
He stood there for few minutes, wondering if something new may emerge….but all he could make out was the yellow light, emerging from the periphery of coal-black engine.
“At last, I understood what this machine is all about…..Instead of the horses, they have this huge black machine running on steel lines…!”
So as he made a room for himself, through the crowds, to his way back home, he saw his son, already paving his way through the crowd, towards him.
“Baba!…Why are you going back? Don’t you want to see how the train looks like?”
“I understood what that business is all about…They have a huge lantern, which is fixed on a black machine that runs on the steel lines! It is almost like a different bullock cart”
“O Baba, Just wait a few minutes longer, and then look for yourself…!”
Wondering, that later, he might as well accompany his son back home, he stood on the platform again.
The Train…
And within minutes, he could feel the floor of the platform trembling a little, and he saw huge pistons, ferociously being pushed by the force of the steam, he saw huge wheels, the driver, the compartments – all filled with the passengers, luggage, food, seats, fans, lights, wash rooms and all that he couldn’t imagine….
“Good God! It’s like a complete house running on wheels!”
Never even once in his life could he imagine a thing like this would be used as a means of Transport.
This time, contented – and at the same time amazed at what he had seen with his eyes, he left for his way back home.
I hope you enjoyed the story.
Now, if you think for a while, you will realize there are four instances in this story, which signify the ‘level of consciousness’ or ‘realization’.
These levels of consciousness are explained very beautifully in the Vedic texts. Let us correlate the instances from the above story with each level of consciousness.
Levels of Consciousness:
Click on the below links to understand the above story in the context of the Vedic Philosophy.
