Once upon a time, there lived a very wise saint in Bengal. He ran a gurukul and had many brilliant children as his disciples. Aditya was one of them. He was a profound thinker. One day, as he lay idle on a haystack, a question popped up in his head. He quickly went running to his guru and inquired, “Guruji, can I ask you a question?”
“Ask away, my child,” replied the sagacious guru.
“Guruji, where is God present?”
“Everywhere, my son,” responded the saint calmly.
“Everywhere?”
“Yes, everywhere.”
After coming out of his guru’s chambers, Aditya pondered over the question more and wondered how it was possible for God to be present everywhere. On his way back, he noticed that there was a lot of commotion outside the ashram. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs. And then, he heard a mahout screaming at him, “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!! This elephant has gone rogue!”
That’s when he saw the elephant rushing toward him. Recalling his conversation with his guru, he thought, “If God is everywhere, then He is in me as well as in the elephant. God will not hurt himself, so I don’t think I have anything to fear.” Thinking so, Aditya turned a deaf ear to the mahout’s warnings and did not budge an inch. The elephant rushed toward him at full speed and flung him into the air. Luckily for Aditya, he landed on a haystack, which cushioned his fall.
His guru, who was in the vicinity, walked up to him and asked why he hadn’t moved out of the elephant’s way. Aditya reasoned that the God in the elephant wouldn’t have hurt the God inside him.
Hearing this, his guru said, “The God in the mahout was trying to save you, but you ignored Him.” Listening to his guru’s wise words, Aditya could argue no more.
…now that you’re here
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Ananya both loves to read and reinterpret folk tales from different parts of the country. Feel free to email her at ananyasusarla2915@gmail.com if you would like to know more about her.
Folk tale adopted and reinterpreted from KidsGen.