Knowing Him

Anecdotes

oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 16:09

Partial knowledge especially in terms of God will turn out to be erroneous says Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Once four blind men felt the different parts of the body of an elephant and claimed to have known the animal thoroughly. They then entered into a quarrel claiming their version to be accurate. Little did they realize that they were only referring to only a particular part of the elephant that they came in contact with.

One described the eyes and claimed it to be the animal, another claimed the trunk to be the animal. Ultimately a passerby enquired them what their dispute was all about. When they all said that they were describing the elephant, the passerby clarified that the elephant was actually the combination of all the parts that the blind men individually vouched.

Similarly Sri Ramakrishna says that those who quarrel about the nature of God are only talking about one particular attribute as they have only seen that particular aspect of Him. God can't be narrowed down to an idea for he is elusive of the very mind.