As Shri Nathji had walked through the World Fair, the parable of the Fair had echoed in his mind; a parable he had frequently told his listeners.
There was a child who went to a Fair with his father. As they strolled around from exhibit to exhibit, the child became more and more excited and restless. He was holding his father’s hand. At times he would jerk upon it, and at times force him to stop. There came a moment when he saw something he liked immensely, and he left his father’s hand and ran off to the stall.
At the stall he began choosing and selecting things. In his hurry and excitement, he even broke a few of the toys. The owner of the stall asked him for money. The child turned to look at his father–but he was not there. He had been lost in the crowd. The owner got angry at the child and even gave him a slap. The child cried out loudly. His cries drew his father to the stall. The stall keeper was pacified. The father purchased everything the child had selected.
Dare to slap me now! said the child to the owner of the stall, who immediately apologised.
As the child walked in the Fair grounds with his father once again, he realised his earlier folly. He should not have left his father’s side.
The father asked him: Will you hold my hand or shall I hold yours?
You better hold mine, said the child, if I hold your hand, I will leave it and run off again!
So it is with man and God. Man is the child, and God the Father. The attractions of the world are much too powerful for man. His mind is much too unstable. In a moment of temptation he leaves God and runs after the things of the world.
But after man has left God, the world becomes full of worry and fear. The very objects of the world for the sake of which man forsook God become painful. However, once he has found God again, peace is restored to him, and even the objects of the world become his to choose and select from. But it is God who must hold the hand of man, not vice versa.
The child walks proudly through the Fair with his father. Now it is the hand of the father, which is holding the child’s hand. Whenever the tendency to run off towards an enticing object develops in the child, he finds his hand in the tight grip of his father.
And the voice of his father says to him:
“Son, why must you try to free your hand, take me also with yourself and I will buy you the whole shop!”
This was the Secret of Success that Shri Nathji placed before the people of the world. If man forsook God and ran after the things of the world he gained nothing but misery in return. However if he kept God with him he gained success in every worldly endeavour in life. Shri Nathji had written in his Message of Peace: “If you follow the Sun your shadow will follow you, but if you turn your back to the Sun you will never be able to catch your shadow!”