God moves in mysterious ways

Oasis

God’s timing and reasoning is perfect; He will answer our prayers even if we don't understand how at the moment. The battlefield of Kurukshetra was being prepared for combat. Elephants were being used to uproot trees and clear the ground. When a tree was thus uprooted, a sparrow’s nest flew to the ground. Her chicks, however, remained miraculously unharmed.

The vulnerable and apprehensive sparrow saw Lord Krishna and appealed for help. “Please save my children, O Krishna, or they will be crushed when the battle starts” she pleaded. “I understand your plight but cannot go against the flow of the natural order,” said Lord Krishna. “You are the law, time and the entire universe all in one O Lord, the fate of my children is now in your hands,” cried the sparrow. “In that case,” said lord Krishna, “stock food for three weeks in your nest”. The little sparrow flew away gratified.

Just before the commencement of the battle, Krishna asked Arjuna for his bow and arrow. Arjuna wondered if Krishna had forgotten his vow to not lift any weapon in the war. Quietly taking the bow from Arjuna, Krishna took aim at an elephant. But, instead of hitting the animal, the arrow hit the bell around its neck. Arjuna assumed that Krishna missed an easy mark. “May I?” he offered but Krishna only smiled and shook his head. “Why did you shoot the elephant Lord?” Arjuna asked in bewilderment. “This elephant had knocked down the tree sheltering the sparrow’s nest,” answered Lord Krishna.

Many questions enveloped Arjuna's mind but the war had begun. Numerous lives were lost over the next eighteen days. The Pandavas won in the end and Krishna took Arjuna with him to navigate through the field littered with corpses. He stopped at a certain point and asked Arjuna to lift an elephant-bell from the ground. When Arjuna looked at Krishna questioningly he smiled and said, “It’s the same bell that had come off the elephant’s neck I had shot at.” Arjuna bent down to lift the bell and all his questions were answered as four young birds flew out one after another followed by a sparrow who circled around Krishna in great joy. The bell had protected the entire family.

When we are down to nothing, God is always up to something.