BANGALORE: All men are equal - but all cannot be taught in the same way. Vyasa taught through his various works and indeed even by depicting the fate of those whose choices made them lose their privileges of human life and endeavour. Vyasa could hear the animals, the birds, the worms - he knew nature in its every aspect.
And his sacred works guide us in many ways to gain merit and eschew that which erodes our merit. At the feet of the great sage Vyasa who is said to be alive even today, I sit with folded palms - my Lord, keep me within your perimeter; keep me within the gravitational force of the Guru.
Within his epics he gives us a glorious account of Lord Krishna who teaches us succinctly through the Bhagavad Gita as indeed through his every action throughout his life of supreme love, remarkable practical wisdom and a magnificent and royal detachment.
His very life is inspirational. And he calls on us to listen to his words and yet gives us the freedom to do as we please just as he gave his great disciple Arjuna at the beginning of the great war of Kurukshetra. This is the way of the Lord. If we are living here and enjoying this human experience even for a single moment, it is because we exist in His light. It is up to us to acknowledge this and show our gratitude and surrender our individual choices at His lotus feet.
And in order to surrender, your mind must reflect his light fully without a blemish of darkness, like the full moon that with its effulgent glow of sunlight, smiles at us and looks on at life on earth with an understanding smile. May the effortless detachment of Lord Krishna imbue our actions.
The Guru is sometimes compared to the Sun. After all, we all exist only because of the sun and it is his light that creates a world for us to see, live and experience. My own Guru used to mention this view of Adi Shankara [- also known as Shankaracharya - a great saint, seer and reformer of India who lived in the 8thcentury AD] who was virtually Vyasa and Buddha combined. Shankara said that there exists a difference between the sun and the Guru. You cannot see the sun with your bare eyes. And if you see, it burns. The benevolent light of the Guru is however, pleasing to the eyes. The light from the sun exists only during the day and only in the manifest universe. But the light from the Guru guides us day and night, and even after we leave our physical form.
Excerpt from Soul Space by Vidyashankar Hoskere