Paradise and Man
When Professor Nau Nihal Singh finally retired from an American University, he came to India where he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from 1992 to 1998. When he was nearing the end of his tenure, I chanced to meet him and was invited to his home. I found that his whole house was like a huge library. He was a scholar in the real sense.
In the course of our conversation, I learnt that he had done his masters in political science. He later went on to complete his doctorate on international relations. Then he saw an advertisement by an American University for the post of professor on this subject. So Prof. Singh applied for it and was almost immediately called for an interview.
When he reached the USA, he was received by someone who told him that he had been sent by the university to serve as his guide. Then he drove Prof. Singh to the university, where he was accommodated in the university guest house. This guide came daily to Prof. Singh and showed him around the vast university campus from morning till evening. In this way, he took him to different departments of the university and acquainted him with all the main areas of activities of the institution, for instance, the library, the dining hall, the class rooms, the teacher’s club, students meetings, university workers meetings, etc.
Almost a week passed in this way. Prof. Singh started to feel anxious. He said to the chairman of his department, “I was called for an interview and I have been here for a whole week.” But so far no interview has taken place. The chairman replied, “Your interview has already been done and we have selected you. Now you can join as soon as possible.” Then the chairman told Prof. Singh that the person whom he had met at the airport, and who had acted as his guide, was a senior professor and also his interviewer. He added that they had learnt of his educational qualifications from the papers he had sent them and now they wanted only to know whether or not he measured up to the culture of the university. This had been the task of his interviewer, who had taken him to the different departments of the university and introduced him to all the activities going on there. The students and teachers had been observant of his behavior during their meetings. And the interviewer too was doing likewise. The report of the interviewer was wholly positive as were the reports of other teachers, students and workers whom he had met during his week-long stay there. Therefore, on the basis of these reports they had selected him.
This incident parallels the situation of Paradise and man. God created a Paradise, a vast world which was perfect in the fullest sense of the word. Here everything was of the highest possible standard. Therefore, God wanted such people to inhabit this world as were flawless in character and thus fully qualified to live in this ideal environment.
Now God created the present planet earth as a model of that world. Here everything exists that is available in the world of Paradise, the only difference being that Paradise is perfect whereas the present world is imperfect. Paradise is an ideal world whereas the present world is far from being ideal. Paradise is an eternal world whereas the present world is ephemeral. Paradise is free from all kinds of fear and sorrow, whereas the present world is beset by these very ills. Paradise is the world of reward whereas the present world is a testing ground.
According to this plan, God created man and settled him in the present world, on the planet earth. God gave man the opportunity to stay here without applying any curbs on his freedom. Man has the right either to use his freedom in a rightful manner, or to misuse it as he pleases. Every man who is born into this world has two invisible angels of God with him at all times. They are constantly preparing records of man’s words and deeds. It is on the basis of this record that he will be awarded paradise or hell in the next world.
Man will live with complete freedom in the world of Paradise but he will be so mature and conscientious that under no circumstances will he misuse his freedom. He will lead a life of complete discipline in spite of enjoying total freedom. This is the man for whose selection this planet earth was created. All those circumstances that are present in the world of Paradise are also present in this world. Now what is being observed is the man who, while experiencing all kinds of situations, both good and bad, has proved to possess a character worthy of Paradise. That is the one who will be selected and accommodated in the eternal world of Paradise.
God’s invisible angles are ever present with man and they are preparing the records of his deeds at every moment. This is the test of man and it is on the basis of this test that the future of every human being will be decided. The test is of man’s acknowledgement of the greatness of God on every occasion, which is whether or not he paid attention to the voice of his conscience or ignored it. When man was confronted with logical argument, did he surrender to the truth or go against it? Or else, when there was a choice between ego and truth, did he accept the truth or his own ego, having become an egoist?
Similarly, while dealing with people did he adhere to justice or did he become unjust in his own interests? Was he a good person in private just as he appeared to be in public? Did he make truth his supreme concern or did he make anything else his supreme concern?
In the same way when he came into a position of power did he become victim of corruption or did he adhere to justice even after coming into power? When he received wealth or when he experienced poverty, did he prove himself to be on the path of moderation or did he deviate from it? In social life, when he was given a front seat, how did he behave and when he was given a back seat, how did he react? Did he subjugate his desires and emotions to principles or did he give in to his desires. The decision about the eternal future of every man and woman will be based on this very record.
The present world has been created for a limited period of time. After the completion of this period, all the human beings born in this world will be presented before God. According to the records prepared by the angels, God will decide the future of every man. Those men and women whose records show that they lived in the world with nobility of character, and used their freedom according to God’s will, thus proving that they were fit to be lodged in the environs of paradise, will be selected to inhabit the Gardens of Paradise. And all those who failed to demonstrate nobility of character will be rejected and sent to the universal dustbin to spend a life of frustration and regret and will never escape from this condition.
