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MIRA AND MAHAVIR
inomcnt, whereas he seems to have acted once and will act no more, and so is happy. Didn't you say that if there were no change, our first action would be our last, and we should be happy ? This God of yours is of that sort. If he has created this universe, he has nothing to do with it after the first act of his; he is a mere spectator of what it does, and it scems to go on merrily without him. Do you call this God ? I do not think I can have much use for him, or any one else. I wish to be happy while I live, and in the midst of Naturc. Happiness or Good beyond the range of Nature has no meaning for me. I can hardly imagine anything to exist beyond Nature, which comprehends the entire universe. And what I can hardly think of or imagine can hardly exist for me. I admit, however, the force of your logic, that there is no permanent Happiness or Good in Nature, and it is this that we scek. Hence it only follows that it is the lot of man to suffer and die, and from this there is no escape. Whatever lies beyond Nature, even if it is supremely Happy and Good, has no concern with us. Give me a God who lives in the midst of Nature and is happy, acts and is not affected, and I will believe in him: but not this God of yours, who has nothing to do with us or the universe, of whom we can hardly
think or conceive. KRISHNA-You are a clever young man, and I must try
again. You say that you want to be happy while
