The Sunday Guardian

Same world has different meanings

- By Davinder P.S. Sandhu

My teacher would say that it is for us to find what we want in this world. Creation is a rich solution, and we will have to work our own till, and distil our own understand­ing. We find what we want, and others find what they want. If both parties are asked to agree on creation, they would vehemently differ for they find different things, in the same environmen­t. My teacher would tell this story to show that the same circumstan­ce can have separate experience­s. The town nearby had a great fair in progress, and Lord Krishna asks the Pandava brothers to accompany him there. At the entrance to the fair, he asks everyone to go their separate ways into the grounds. They will meet in the evening. After the day passes, the brothers return to Krishna, who asks them their experience­s.yudhishthi­r was fond of gambling, and found many places where games of chance were in play. “It was gambler’s paradise,” he declared. “Gambling?” asked Arjuna. He saw a group of players too, but found them to be former archers, who were practicing marksmansh­ip. “It was certainly a universe of expert archers, and I spent the whole day learning from them.” Now Bheema is not happy. “Archers and gamblers? I thought it was an internatio­nal gathering of wrestlers, and one of them almost got the better of me!” Nakul sat quietly, as Arjuna and Bheem are arguing. With a gentle smile, he informs Krishna that the fair was actually a large gathering of horse merchants, and there was a beautiful steed that he purchased. Sahdev nodded in agreement. And Lord Krishna says, “Right at the entrance was a gathering of saints. The fair was really arranged to meditate and sing His name all day long!” The same fair had produced different meanings for everybody, and the same holds true of our experience of our life.

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