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The Story of the Power Even Greater than Brahma-Vishnu-Maheshwara


There is a very popular story that relates to the power greater than Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. One day, they were boasting about each other’s greatest power. At that moment, a little boy came up to the holy trinity and asked Brahma, “What do you create?”. Brahma replied, “I can create everything.” He then asked Vishnu, “What do you preserve?”. “I preserve everything,” said Vishnu. “What do you destroy?” he asked Shiva. Shiva replied, “I can destroy everything.”

Greater Power Than Brahma Vishnu Maheshwara
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Then this young boy had a single piece of straw in his hand, which was about the size of a toothpick. He asked Brahma, “Can you create a piece of straw exactly like this?”. Brahma, exerting some great effort, tried to create the exact piece. But he failed. Brahma was astonished.

Then he asked Vishnu if he could protect the straw, which started to slowly dissolve under their gaze. But, Vishnu couldn’t. The straw completely vanished.

The boy picked another straw again and asked Shiva to use his power and destroy this piece of straw. Even Shiva with all his efforts failed to completely destroy the straw. The straw remained intact all of the time.

He then turned to Brahma and asked, “Did you create me?” Brahma was lost in the thought for a while. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember ever creating this child. When he realized that he did not create the child, the child vanished.

Brahma Vishnu Shiva
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This was the point where the three gods realized they were living in heir delusion. They now realized that there is a power behind their power that is a greater power.

There is a greater lesson on this. No matter how rich you get, how much of power you get, there is always a greater force than you. You should never boast about your power and think you are above someone else.

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Source: “Man’s Eternal Quest” by Paramahansa Yogananda