There was a time when he had expressed concern at the poverty in India and misery in the world, in general, and sought an answer from Shri Nathji.
And Shri Nathji had said:
If a man is poor, his stomach is hungry, but that does not necessarily mean he is unhappy. There are many poor people living on near starvation diets who appear to be happy in India. You can see their children laughing and playing.
A man may be well-fed, but have the burden of a great sorrow on his mind. Misery can be of the body as well as of the soul. One cannot say that people in India are in greater misery than those in the West.
And how does food save a person from death? More people in the world die from eating than those who die of starvation. The body is perishable. No amount of sustenance can save it.
If there were no misery in the world, there would be no happiness either. If there were no darkness in the world, there would be no light either. Misery is an essential part of the scheme of God.
If a snake falls in your lap, it is no time to think why it came there, you must get rid of it. The same laws of Nature that created light and darkness also created the necessity for one and abhorrence for the other. It is a law that one must go from darkness to light.
“Similarly, it is a law of God that one must go from sorrow to happiness. In this lie the quests of science, philosophy and religion!
Mr. Mandel was greatly satisfied with Shri Nathji’s answer to a complex problem which had plagued his mind ever since he had visited India.