The miracles of faith

As the battle lines of the Kurukshetra war were drawn, forests needed to be cleared for the army to move. The elephants were used to clear the paths and whatever came in between. With many trees being grubbed out mercilessly, birds and animals were moved out of their habitat. With a thud, down came a nest with tiny newborn sparrows.

The mother, distraught seeing this, flew straight to Lord Krishna. She complained and asked for help. Krishna explained to the little bird that it was the law of nature, and he could not interfere with it. The sparrow did not budge and continued... ”You are the saviour of every creature that exists, and I seek help; the fate of my young ones is now in your hands. I have come to you with full faith; please help save my young ones.”

Lord Krishna thought a while and then advised the little sparrow to store food for the next three weeks. The sparrow then flew back without speaking any further.

A day before the battle, Krishna asked Arjuna for his bow. Arjuna was surprised at this request, as Krishna had vowed not to touch any weapon through the entire course of war. Krishna aimed the arrow towards an elephant and shot. The arrow missed the elephant and hit the bell that was hanging around its neck. The bell fell from the elephant’s neck. Though Arjuna was surprised at the thought of Krishna wanting to harm the elephant. He then offered to do the needful if Krishna wished, as he was the best archer around.

Without uttering a word, Krishna returned the bow to Arjuna and walked back to his tent.

The war saw massive destruction. With many corpses strewn around, the battlefield was bathed in blood. Krishna and Arjuna walked around and reached a spot where a huge bell lay untouched. Krishna asked Arjuna to lift the bell. Arjuna was again surprised by Krishna’s concern about this bell amidst scores of bodies that lay dead in front. He lifted the bell, and he found a beautiful sparrow family ready and waiting to fly. All the sparrows flew out one after another. Faith doesn’t eliminate the storms; it gives you the strength to stand through them. In Gregory Peck’s words:

“Faith gives you inner strength and a sense of balance and perspective in life.”