No Escape
Words can rescue an individual from a tight corner in this world because he deals with mortals like himself. Only if his case is based on reality will he be able to escape punishment in the next world. Words not supported by reality will be useless.
Westerners visit India in large numbers nowadays. Those who stay in expensive five-star hotels expect to be provided with everything they require, including their favourite food. Since cow meat is generally prevalent in the west, they expect it to be available in their hotels. So, hoteliers include “beef steak” in their menu before their customers.
Since the consumption of cow meat is prohibited in most of the states in India, the news that beef steak was an article on hotel menus aroused strong criticism in the country. One MP raised the question in parliament, and the government initiated investigations. Hotel managers told officials that they did indeed give their customers beef, but the word “beef”—according to the dictionary—is used for the meat of both buffaloes and cows; what they were providing was buffalo meat, not cow meat.
On May 4, 1984, the Minister of Health stated this in parliament in New Delhi. As the Times of India reported the next day, ‘the minister read out the Oxford dictionary meaning of “beef,” which included the flesh of buffalo as well, and not merely that of cow or ox.’ The newspaper headline was: “Five-star hotels saved by the dictionary.”
People read about this sort of thing happening in the present world and are deceived into thinking that things will be much the same in the next world; they think that just as “dictionaries” come to people’s rescue in this world, so they will find some “dictionary” in the world to come, which will save them from impending calamities. However, they could not be more wrong. A show of words can rescue an individual from a tight corner in this world because he deals with mortals like himself. However, in the next world, one will be dealing with the Lord of the Universe, and there will be no way of tricking Him.
Only if a man’s case is based on reality will he be able to escape punishment in the next world. Words not supported by reality will be of no use to anyone.
