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Today’s story is about a teacher and his pupil. The teacher was about to begin the day’s lesson when he saw that his student had an unusual inquisitiveness. The concerned teacher asked the pupil -“Son, what’s the matter? Why are you so disturbed today? What troubles you?” The startled pupil said “O Guru, From whom comes all of it - my thoughts, my sight, my hearing, my breath? Who is he who controls all of it?” The teacher smiled and took a deep breath. He knew all his great students will one day ask similar questions at some point. So he told the pupil -“O Son, he is hearing behind the hearing, the speech behind the speech, the sight behind the sight, he is in a place beyond reach.”The pupil gave a confused look at the teacher. The teacher continued explaining to him further -“He is inconceivable, cannot be described, He is Brahman, the Supreme One!” Although the pupil had a fair bit of idea about the Brahman, concepts were still murky. He knew that Brahman, was not Indra, the king of heaven or Agni, the lord of fire. He wasn’t someone you could please by offering sacrifices in the pious fire altars. He is much more than these. The pupil smiled and said, he understood it and thanked the teacher. The teacher smiled and thought -If only Brahman was so simple to understand if only he could be understood by mere human intelligence. The teacher told the pupil, -“If you say so, very well, my son! Perhaps you do understand Brahman. But remember that you know only the part which HE chooses to reveal us here on earth! The Brahman is… that dwells in the gods is yet to be discovered! Think about it, meditate and contemplate!” The pupil declared -“I might NOT be knowing him well but at the same time I understand his existence and importance! I need to know much more than this!” The teacher was impressed by the pupil’s honesty and spine for truthfulness. He said to this courageous student -“The problem with Brahman is that one who knows him, doesn’t know him! One who sees him hasn’t seen him!”Hearing this the student was very sad. He wondered then how will he understand Brahman. His quest is all futile. Perhaps the Brahman cannot be understood but can be experienced. However, the ones who have experienced him, cannot describe it because they themselves didn’t realise what had happened! The teacher could understand the pupil’s distress, so he said-“However he who sees Him in each and every being, he is blessed in worlds both seen or unseen.”Friends, do you find any similarity with this concept - one who sees the creator in each and every being or thing! The story of Prahlad has this concept if you remember! Let's get back to the story. The teacher’s explanation enlightened the student! His eyes gleamed in a ray of hope. The student excitedly said -“Belief in the supreme being in all beings! Maybe someday I would be able to understand Him. But will I be able to RECOGNISE him?” Understanding the student’s dilemma the teacher said -“Let me tell you a story about a Dev-asura war! Once upon a time, the gods won the battle against the asuras (the demons). The proud and victorious gods started congratulating each other! They were extremely overjoyed and started to boast about their achievement. “We fought this war all by ourselves…without anyone’s help!” Exclaimed one of the gods.“We are all powerful and invincible” exclaimed another!“Be it demons or anyone else we can defeat whoever crosses our paths!” Shouted another god!Overjoyed and undefeated gods started drinking soma (the ecstatic nectar of heaven).” “They didn’t pause for a moment to think about and thank the real reason behind their victory, which was the Brahman! Experiencing such disrespectful behaviour from the gods, Brahman appeared in front of them! The gods were too drunk and filled with ecstasy and didn’t even recognise or realise Brahman’s existence!They saw a spectre! They cried out - “What kind of apparition is this?”Indra, the king of gods ordered his commander - Agni the god of fire to investigate. Was it a friend or a foe or some kind of illusion from the demons?”On the sidenote -Agni is called by many names and one of them is Jatavedas back to the teacher’s story -Agni was powerful and fearless, as he approached the spectre. The spectre asked him -“Who are you?” Agni was surprised to hear this - he thought everyone in this universe knows him, how can this thing, whatever it is, not know him!”“I am Agni, the god of fire. They also call me Jatavedas!” Growled Agni “Oh ho…hmm, interesting…so what are your powers, dear Agni?” Asked the Spectre. The uproarious laugh of Agni filled the air and he said -“I can burn up anything in this world with my torrid breath! I can turn anything into ashes in a second.” “Oh really!” Exclaimed the Spectre.The Spectre placed a blade of grass in front of Agni and said -“Show me your power Agni!" Agni laughed wildly and said -“You want me to burn up that lit...