Even when ten thousand heretic sages agreed to refuse to believe in the gods, the gods were undisturbed. Still, since a god has all there is with which to play he can afford to take a moment to render clear to obstinate and clouded minds his real presence and his power. A god does not have to be professed in order to be a god. That one can exist in supreme indifference to the honor which men would like to confer by their belief. Siva was received with the violent reactions of men who face a fact that doesn’t fit their orthodoxies. They discovered, however, that neither disbelief nor disbelief in a louder voice augmented by curse could dislodge a simple fact. The only god who would be frightened by a tiger would be just the kind of god these sages could imagine and reject. It was no such puny god, nor god for puny men, who stood before them. Calmly and deftly Siva stripped the tiger of its skin and slipped the tiger skin around his waist, a gesture of propriety toward men. With their power countered and graciously transformed to modesty, as gently as their curses had echoed back from the real presence the faithful champions of skepticism released their next defense, a strategy of craftiness.
0 comments