21 Nov 2021
[Shri Ganesh V asked: Pādanamaskāram Swamiji, As a kid, my grandmother used to tell me this story between Rushi Veda Vyaasa and Lord Ganesha. Rushi Veda Vyaasa approached Lord Ganesha to write down the verses in Mahaabhaarata. Lord Ganesha had one condition that Rushi Veda Vyaasa should not stop narrating the verses at any point of time. Rushi Veda Vyaasa agreed on the condition that Lord Ganesha should understand the meaning of the verses He is writing and only then proceed to the next verse. This is the reason why some verses are very complicated in Mahaabhaarata.
I do not know the authenticity of this story but I think it is a popular belief. My question is why would God write some verses in Mahaabhaarata in a complex way? Mahaabhaarata teaches us both Pravrutti and Nivrutti and God always thinks to uplift every soul. So God must have written it in simple words so that each soul gets inspired and gets uplifted. Or is there some other meaning that we should learn from the story mentioned above.
Similarly, I have heard from learned scholars in Sanskrit that Madhavaachaarya's Sanskrit is very hard compared to Adi Shankaraachaarya Sanskrit. Why would God want to write something very complicated when He wanted everybody to understand? At Your divine feet, Ganesh V]
Swami Replied: - Everybody has his/her own style of presentation. Some have fascination for the standard in language and some have fascination for the depth of the meaning. Both are correct based on the quality of receivers. If receivers are scholars, they are not satisfied unless the language is also deep. If receivers are common people, they are satisfied with deep meaning and simple language. Some scholars like eating coconuts (Nārikelapāka), some people of middle level like eating bananas (Kadalīpāka) and some people of common level like eating grapes (Drākṣāpāka). God always prefers grapes so that it can cover all the three types of people. A small cat can go into big hole as well as small hole to drink the milk. The big cat can’t go into small hole. Hence, big hole is suitable to both big cat and small cat. God Ganesha can write very fast. Sage Vyaasa needed time to compose verses in His mind. Hence, Sage Vyaasa told a difficult verse so that God Ganesha took some time to understand it. In this time, Sage Vyaasa composed a good number of verses. This is just a playful divine drama between God Ganesha and Sage Vyaasa.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★