God is One

Story

It was raining heavily, and a group of friends decided to play in the park. While playing, they heard the sounds of Bhajans (devotional songs) from a nearby temple. The sound from the nearby temple was very loud, and they could hear the devotional songs of Bhagwan Krishna, Hanuman Ji, Ganesh Ji, Shiv Ji, Devi Maa, and many more. This caused a dialogue among them.

Vasudeva, who was from Tamil Nadu said that his family is a devotee of Govinda (also called Krishna). Radhika belonged to Uttar Pradesh and her family was a firm believer of Shivji. Soham, a native of Maharashtra said that he and his family are followers of Ganapati. Soon, all the friends started to talk about all the Bhagwans and the rituals they follow in their homes. This led to a little confusion in their minds, like which Bhagwan they should believe in and have faith in.

To clear off the confusion they decided to visit an old wise man named Ramchandra who resided in their colony. People often sought his guidance on various matters. So today, these kids approached him with a curious question.

“Are there many gods, or is there just one?”

Ramchandra (often called as Rama by everyone) smiled gently and decided to take them out in the sky. Rain had stopped, the sky was now clear and sunny and a magnificent rainbow could be seen in the sky.

“Look at that rainbow,” he said. “How many colours do you see?” He asked.

“Seven!” shouted all the children simultaneously.

“Indeed,” Rama agreed. “But tell me, where do these colours come from?”

The children looked puzzled. Rama picked up a glass prism from his study and held it up to the sunlight. As the light passed through the prism, it split into the seven colours of the rainbow, creating a beautiful spectrum on the wall behind.

“What do you see?” he asked.

As none of the kids could answer he said, “The colours are different, but they all come from the same light.”

The children nodded, beginning to understand.

Rama explained further and said “Just like the colours of the rainbow come from one light, all the Bhagwan and Devi’s are forms of one source. There are seven colours in the rainbow but the rainbow as such is one. These colours are distinct and different from each other but all of them have the same source of origin. People see God and Goddesses in various forms and names, according to their traditions and understandings. But in truth, there is only one God, just like there is only one light that creates many colours.”

From that day on, the children understood that despite their diverse traditions and practices and different names and appearances of Devi, Devta’s and Bhagwan, all are part of one life source and that GOD is One.