Guiding Light: The light of the spirit

Guiding Light: The light of the spirit

Dada J. P. VaswaniUpdated: Tuesday, December 14, 2021, 02:12 AM IST
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A great rishi, Yagnavalkya, comes to the palace of King Janaka, one of the greatest kings this land has known. This saintly ruler rejoices to see Rishi Yagnavalkya at his palace. He receives the sage, offers his pranams, and begs for a teaching at his holy feet.

Rishi Yagnavalkya begins to question the King. “Tell me, O King,” says the rishi, “What is the light whereby a man lives and moves and works and walks and finally to his home returns?”

King Janaka replies readily, “O Gurudeva, the light by which all men live and move, the light by which they work and walk and then to their homes return is the light of the Sun!”

Rishi Yagnavalkya smiles. “When the Sun has set, when its light has disappeared what is the light whereby men live and move and work and walk and then to their homes return?”

The King replies, “When the Sun has set, men must live and move, work and walk and then to their homes return by the light of the Moon.”

“And what if the Sun and the Moon have both disappeared?” queries the rishi.

“Then, men must live and move and work and walk by the light of the Fire,” says the King.

“When the light of the Sun, the Moon and the Fire have all gone out,” continues the rishi, “What is the light by which men can live and move and work and walk and to their homes return?”

The rishi tells the King: “When all external light has gone out – when the sun does not shine, when the moon is not radiant and the fire is put out – there is still one Light that shines. It is the Light of the Atman, the Light of the Spirit. It is this, which is the light of all Lights. It is by this Light that the sun shines, the moon is radiant and the fire is aglow. It is this Light by which man must live and move and work and walk and to his eternal home return.”

(Dada J.P. Vaswani is humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.)

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