Stay Tuned to the Beauty of Nature

Dec 17, 2004, 12.00am IST
Shammi Paranjape.

Life is not as ordinary as it seems. You just have to look around you to feel the magic. A Chinese proverb says: "The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on water, but to walk on earth." Every so-called ordinary day is suffused with the extraordinary; we just don’t take notice. "It is God who moves the dew to drop, the lotus to bloom, the butterfly to flit and the Sun to rise. That is all the power, all the wisdom, all the love, all the miracle that ever was, is, and will be," says Sathya Sai Baba.


There is continually wonderful activity happening in Nature around us all. Caught up as we are in the hurly-burly of our daily existence, we don’t make the effort to observe. When did we last pay attention to the full moon glittering in the night sky, or to the millions of twinkling stars? Flowing water is taken for granted and its beauty or value is realised only when there is water shortage and the tap goes dry. Remaining conscious of divine gifts will not only make life enchanting, it will also make us value God’s gifts and hence prevent misuse or wastage.
Nothing should be taken for granted, least of all Nature’s bounty, because Nature is the very crucible of life. All that sustains life on earth — sunlight, air, food and water — come from Nature. Real wealth is not in coins and currency but in our natural resources that are so necessary for our very sustenance. So the more we stay in tune with Nature and its rhythms, the more we stay tuned to ourselves. Sathya Sai Baba says: "Humanity is a limb of Nature and Nature is a limb of the divine... Imbibe wisdom from the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the rivers, the seasons, in fact from all beings and things. Education is no book affair. The universe is the university for those who care to watch and learn."
Appreciation of the beauty of God’s creation nourishes our inner spirit because Nature is a reflection of God and revering Nature is to revere the Creator. It was the belief that God is sarva-vyaapi and resides in every atom of creation that impelled our ancients to worship Nature and its five elements. The story of Bhakta Prahlad underlines the truth that God is Omnipresent. Prahlad, a great devotee of Lord Narayana was in a constant state of bliss, chanting the name of Hari. His father, the tyrant Hiranyakashyap, swollen with false ego, tried every evil device to stop this incessant chanting. He failed. In the end, utterly exasperated, he asked Prahlad: "Who is this God that protects you? Where is He?" Prahlad told his father that God was everywhere in the cosmos from the microcosm to the macrocosm. "Is your God then in this pillar, too?" he taunted his son. "Yes", said Prahlad.


Hiranyakashyap struck the pillar angrily with his mace and Lord Narayana in the terrifying avatar of Narasimha — half-man, half-lion — emerged. Ultimately, Nature is the best teacher. There are not only lessons to be learnt but also joy to be experienced. The galleria of Nature is meant to acquaint us with God’s glory and then lead us on to the Supreme artist behind it all. This can be done by seeking from Nature the marvellous inspiration for infusing truth, beauty and goodness — satyam, shivam, sundaram — in our lives and thus sanctifying ourselves. Ideally, we should be able to appreciate and enjoy these divine gifts within the parameters of dharma, with a deep sense of gratitude, never forgetting that whatever beauty He creates, the Creator Himself remains far more beautiful than all of his creations.