One day Shri Dwarka Nath brought a bouquet of roses for him. As Shri Nathji lost himself in the beauty of the flowers, the barrister said with some humour:
Sir, pardon me! But did I give you the roses so that you should forget me altogether? Cast a glance of Thy Grace – kripaa dhrishti in my direction as well!
Shri Nathji smiled and said: But, Barrister Sahib, if I had ignored the roses you would have complained that I was looking only at you and not your gift!
What is the solution, then? said the interested barrister.
Shri Nathji said:
The complaint is this: If I look at the roses I cannot look at you, and if I look only at you–I cannot look at the roses. There appears to be but one solution!
And saying this, Shri Nathji returned the roses to the barrister.
Dwarka Nath was alarmed and said:
“Maharaj! The cause for complaint has only increased, for you have returned my roses!”
On the contrary, Shri Nathji said, there should be no cause for complaint now. Your roses are in your hands, and I can look upon both simultaneously!
The actual words of Shri Nathji in Urdu were:
Agar main aapke phoolon ko dekhtaa hoon to aapko naheen dekh saktaa,
Aur agar aapko dekhoon to aapke phoolon ko naheen dekh saktaa,
Ab aapke phool aapke haath men hain,
Aur main ek hee nazar se donon ko dekh rahaa hoon!”
“If I looked at the roses, I could not look upon you,
And if I looked at you, I could not look upon your roses,
Now, your roses are in your hand,
And I am looking upon both with one glance!”
The significance of Shri Nathji’s story was further explained by him:
God created the world and gave it to man.
There were some who ignored God and became engrossed in His world.
And God said to them: ‘Did I create the world so that you may ignore me altogether?’
There were others who left the world altogether and went in spiritual pursuits, trying to seek God.
And God said to them: ‘Did I create the world so that you may ignore it altogether?’
There was a third category of people. They placed the world before God and looked upon both simultaneously! They gave a place to God in their hearts and lived fully and actively in His world. These people secured both-God, as well as the world!
In this beautiful episode Shri Nathji explained the entire concept of material life and spiritual life, as it had never before been explained.