Five chieftains , representing some of the major faiths of the world, meet, to prove who is the most powerful. Well, four of them do so and the fifth is too polite to turn down the invitation.
The first one bellows “I am the most powerful.You need to follow me.No ifs or buts.End of story !”
Second one says, “I deserve to be the most powerful, as I have assumed the burden of all of you. I was born in this world to rule over you.So obviously I am superior.”
The third one says “I have more wealth than all of you. I can basically buy all of your people off. Acknowledge my suzerainty”
The fourth one shrieks “ I have conquered all of you in the past. My kingdom included all of your petty lands. Don’t force me to do so again. Submit to my power”
The fifth one goes ‘ I have never claimed to be powerful, though all of you have sought to increase yours by trying to capture my land for over a thousand years.
I am not superior to you, I just have a clear understanding of the true nature of life and the after-life. Some of my cleverest people have discovered the knowledge of how this world functions , both externally and within each one of our souls, and that knowledge has been carried to all of you over thousands of years.
I do not care for wealth, although the Creator of Everything has blessed me with all the natural resources, land mass and people needed to generate massive wealth. This wealth has been captured by many of you and looted for your own benefit over a thousand years. Yet, despite such wholesale theft, you have not managed to decrease my wealth by a jot.Rather, the potential for my wealth stands multiplied manifold.
I have never conquered so much as a square meter of any of your lands, yet you have invaded my land over a thousand years. I have assimilated most of you within me, save for one of you, who was steadfast in your determination to not assimilate – you just needed the loot, it seems.
Today, I don’t want to prove that I am better than you. I just want to help you and work with you so that all of us can become better, stronger and wiser.”
In case you haven’t guessed it, the fifth chieftain represents Vedanta and Sanatana Dharma, the faith of India.
