All is ONE

Over a cup of tea, Dr Aditya Rattan’s father gracefully reveals the Vedantic concept of completeness which is all-pervading and which can never ever be incomplete

- Dr Aditya Rattan

The kids were playing, one warm summer evening, when their grandfather finished his evening puja (ritual worship) and started reciting his favourite shloka (Sanskrit verse):

Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Purnnam-Udacyate Puurnnasya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih

Aum! that is infinite and this universe is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe) It remains as the infinite alone. Aum! Peace! Peace! Peace

The kids, a group of four cousins aged 8-15 years, liked his shloka rendition. They gathered around him to ring the bells, symbolic of the end of the prayer. It was a daily ritual they enjoyed. As he finished his rituals, the youngest of the lot, Veer, suddenly asked out of curiosity, “Grandpa, what does it mean?”

Looking at me, my father smiled. He took a chair and seated himself. His audience was too young to grasp the essence of the Shanti mantra of the Upanishads, but he did not want to let this opportunity go without impacting the young minds.

He looked at them and asked, “Okay, kids, here is an interesting puzzle for you. What is that number out of which everything is taken and still it remains the same?”

While the younger kids scratched their heads wondering at the validity of the question, fifteen-year-old Arushi shot back, “Infinity?”