IT is not good to say that what we ourselves think of God is the only truth and what others think is false; that because we think of God as formless, therefore He is formless and cannot have any form; that because we think of God as having form, therefore He has form and cannot be formless. Can a man really fathom God’s nature?
This kind of friction exists between the Vaishnavas and the Saktas. The Vaishnava says, ‘My Kesava is the only Saviour’, whereas the Sakta insists, ‘My Bhagavati is the only Saviour.’
Once I took Vaishnavacharan to Mathur Babu. Mathur welcomed him with great courtesy and fed him from silver plates. Now, Vaishnavacharan was a very learned Vaishnava and an orthodox devotee of his sect.
Mathur, on the other hand, was a devotee of the Divine Mother. They were engaged in a friendly discussion when suddenly Vaishnavacharan said, “Kesava is the only Saviour.” No sooner did Mathur hear this than his face became red with anger and he blurted out, “You rascal!” He was a Sakta. Wasn’t it natural for him to say like that? I gave Vaishnavacharan a nudge!