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A war was going on between the Devas and the Danavas. The Devas were victorious in one of these battles. The Danavas were much beaten. The Devas became proud because of their victory. They Said, “ How great we are !”. They celebrated their victory. They forgot the fact. ` They won because god was on their side' They became boastful and patted one another. God thought, “ This is not proper. The Devas have become proud. If they continue to be so they will be defeated.” So to bring the Devas senses round, god planned a trick.
God appeared before them in the form of a bright man. The Devas were intoxicated by their victory and so they failed to recognize god. They thought, “ Who could be this man ? ” They asked Agni; ” Go and find out who this man is.” “ I bring the information just now,” said Agni and rushed out. He went to that bright man and asked him with pride; “ Who are you ? ”.
“ First tell me who you are ”, said the brilliant man. Agni replied, “ I am Agni my name SERVE BHUK ” whatever exists on the earth or in the sky, can be eaten away by me in a wink of an eye. I hold that much of power. “ Well- said, take this blade of grass and show your strength by burning it ”, said god. Agni laughed, He felt, “ This man seems to be a fool.” I am a person that can burn and destroy all the forests, and this man tells me to burn a blade of grass ? ”.
` Pshaw ! ` Agni blew the air from his mouth in order to burn the blade of grass. But lo ! The grass blade did not burn. Agni repeatedly blew many times, yet the grass blade did not burn at all. Agni was abashed. He returned down fallen headed.
The Devas inquired, “ Who is that man ?” “ I could not recognize him,” said Agni. Now the Devas told the god of air. ( VAYU DEVA ) “ go and find out the identity of that man.” Vayu Deva jumped and soon reached there where the brilliant man lived. Before Vayu Deva put a question, the brilliant man first asked him. “ Who are you ? ”. “ I am Vayu, god of Air. My name is SERVE GAMI. If I feel I can destroy whatever is there on the earth or in the sky, only in a moment,” boastfully replied Vayu Deva. “ What do you say ?. This much of power !. Take this grass blade and show me your power,” said the bright man. Vayu laughed, He felt, I am a person that can fly mountains. What does this fool mean ?'
Vayu flew a gust of wind from his mouth to fly the grass-blade. He tried harder and harder, blew and blew, not once, but many times. Had there been an elephant in its place, the elephant would have been already blown. But this little blade of grass did not budge a little. !. Vayu felt ashamed and returned. The Devas asked Vayu, “ Who is that man ?”. Vayu with a pale face said, “ I could not recognize him.” All the Devas fell a thinking. All went to Indra and said; “ Go and find out his identity.”. Indra has not that much of arrogance that he had before.
Indra was terrified and he went there. But he was surprised to find no body there. Indra's pride reached to `zero' mark. He felt,” I am so great God. I am the God of the Gods. Yet this man did not care to see me !. Does he find no value in me ? ”.
Indra worried thus, meanwhile, a goddess appeared there. She said to Indra “ Don'tworry my son “ Indra was pleased. On seeing the mother. He said, “ O mother there was a man here a short while ago. I came to see him, but he had left, who was that man ? ”. “ He was god. Didn't you see that you all failed either to burn or to fly away the grass-blade in His hand ?. You think that you have won against the Danavas only because of your own strength. But it has been proved now that you have no strength enough even to burn a grass-blade. You won not because of your own strength. It was because of God that you have won do, you understand ? “ said the goddess.
Now Indra's pride was completely dissolved. He joined both of his hands and said, “ I understand. Now I understand everything because of your favour.”. The Goddess blessed Indra and disappeared. Indra returned and narrated the whole story. They unanimously said, It's true, It's true, It's God's victory, not ours. They went on praising God and thus ended their celebration.
The Upanishads are the foundations of our scriptures. This lesson is based on one of the Upanishads. “ Not even a leaf moves without god's will,” Says Shriji Maharaja in VACHANAMRITA. The same is repeated in this story.
Even gods like Agni and Vayu failed either to burn or fly away the grass-blade. Because the grass-blade is sheltered/guarded/protected by God. Even the Devas are incapable of doing ill of a man who is protected by God. Hence, seek the protection of only God.
Indra is pleased on having the Darshana of the Mataji. No wonder, everyone gets pleasure seeing the mother; whether he be an ordinary man or Indra. Mother is the symbol of love and merry. She is Uma, Parvati or Lakshmi.
The God's protection means god's favour. Even an insignificant thing gets god's power when god's protection is sought.