Shiva Smiles at the Names Wise and Foolish
Bala Kanda, Sortha 124
Sortha 124 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Maheshvara smiles before answering Parvati. Wisdom and foolishness appear to belong securely to particular people, as though one soul could own clarity and another be sealed forever inside confusion.
Shiva loosens those labels with a single teaching. No one is independently wise, and no one independently foolish. When Raghupati causes a person to become a certain way, the change can occur in that very instant. The confident sage may stumble, and the bewildered heart may awaken.
The smile upon Shiva's face is neither mockery nor dismissal. It prepares the listener for Narada's Leela, where spiritual attainment will stand beside pride and the Lord's grace will take the severe form of exposure.
Shiva smiles, and the boundary between the sage and the fool begins to move.
Read the passage from the Manas
बोले बिहसि महेस तब ग्यानी मूढ़ न कोइ। जेहि जस रघुपति करहिं जब सो तस तेहि छन होइ।।124(क)।। कहउँ राम गुन गाथ भरद्वाज सादर सुनहु। भव भंजन रघुनाथ भजु तुलसी तजि मान मद।।124(ख)।।
Then Maheshvara smiled and spoke: "No one is truly wise, and no one truly foolish. When Raghupati makes someone be a certain way, that person becomes so in that very instant."