The Spider In A Hurry!

“Every human being has the capacity to seek and secure the Truth of the Universe of which they are a part of; they have the wherewithal to train themselves in virtue, justice, love and sympathy to escape from the particular to the Universal.” (Bhagwan Baba)

During the Mahabharata war that lasted for 18 days, Sage Vyasa went through untold agony because both the parties to the war, i.e. the Pandavas and the Kauravas were of his lineage and he was attached and bonded to them all. He could not muster the strength to bring himself to watch this fratricidal carnage.

One day as he hastened past the battle field where another day of bloodshed was about to begin, he saw a spider scurrying speedily across the ground. The sage asked the spider, “What’s the hurry? Where are you off to?”

The spider hurried to the other side of the road and up an anthill where he felt he was safe. Having perched himself on the anthill he replied panting, “Don’t you know that the chariot of Arjuna is going to pass this way soon. If I get caught under its wheels, I shall be crushed to death! But now I am safe!” The sage was highly amused. He laughed aloud and said, “So what if you were to be ground to a paste under the wheels of the chariot of the mighty Arjuna? Who would even bother to shed a tear? No one would even bother to look twice!”

Now that volley of words, hit the spider worse than an arrow from Arjun’s bow. He was enraged and said angrily, “What do you know, Oh insolent sage? You men have such bloated egos that you do not bother to look beneath. You think that if you die, this world shall suffer a great loss; and if I die, I shall not be missed at all! I too have a wife and children. I have parents and a home where I store food. I also know the feelings of love, hate, anger, hunger, happiness, sadness, loneliness and the agony of losing a loved one. The world belongs as much to me, as it does to you!”

The sage hung his head in shame and walked away thinking, “Saamaanyam path pasubhir naraani.” (For man and beast, these things are common.) This is the realization, the liberation, the illumination, the revelation! “Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagath!” (The whole world is filled with God!)

Then it dawned on him that besides the feelings or things that are common to men and animals, there are certain others that only man is blessed with. Amongst all of God’s creation, it is only man who is blessed with the faculty to enquire into the ultimate. The yearning for truth, beauty, goodness and the awareness of the underlying unity and Divinity in all creation, these attributes of wisdom are the unique treasures that belong only to man!