| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| PRAPATTI OR SURRENDER TO GOD |
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skill of the artist lies precisely here. There is a skill in the
fingers of the painter or the vina-player that makes us laugh
and cry. All the magic is in the fingers of the artist. This man is near to me, the other distant; this is mine, that is his - such thoughts arise in our minds, and on occasions deflect us from our duty all because of delusion. If we are to escape this, we should learn the secret of the creative skill of the Lord's fingers. The Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad gives the drum (dundubhi) as an example. The same drum gives out many kinds of sound. Some frighten me, others make me dance. If I am to master all these emotions, I have to catch hold of the drummer. Once he is in our hands, all the notes too are in our hands. In one word the Lord says, "Those who wish to cross maya, let them take refuge in me." "Only those who are surrendered to me will escape the play of maya; for them, the waters of maya dry up here and now."What then is this that we call "maya"? The power of God, His art, the skill of His hand - this is what we call maya. Maya is nothing but the power of the art of the Creator who out of atman and prakriti (Spirit and Nature), - or, in Jain terminology, jiva and ajiva (the living and the non-living) - out of these materials, formed this many-colored world. Just as in the jail we have bread made of the same grain, and 'dal' containing various spices, in the same way there is the indivisible spirit and eightfold nature. |
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