Passage 3

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In plain words

Another emperor said, ‘No, no. It is God who will love this child beyond measure.’ Another king said, ‘God is He Himself. He Himself is God.’ And what is the inner meaning of this? That all who love God are messengers. That when God Himself loves you, they are son of God. Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati. So, when one merges one's whole being in God and loves with no feeling of duality, father and son are both one. He said, ‘I and My Father are one.’ From the time He was born, this Jesus shone not like an ordinary child but with a radiance full of a greater divine feeling. He was one with rare qualities. In keeping with this, His mother and father too were supreme devotees of God. Mary too was always telling the little child stories of God and the glories of God's qualities, in great measure. As wind joins fire, the teachings of his parents made the feelings of that Jesus surge up all the more. In this way Jesus grew up.

The chief place of the Jews was Jerusalem. There all the Jews would gather and offer prayers in many ways. When this Jesus was twelve years old, His parents, wishing to go to Jerusalem, took their son along with them. In this Jerusalem, looking at its many wonders and marvels, they forgot their son amid all that splendour. In the crowds where many thousands had gathered, this Jesus slipped away. Then Mary and Joseph looked about, found their son was not there, grieved in many ways and searched in many places. But He was nowhere to be seen. At last, worn out, they went into the temple of God and looked; and there, while a master was teaching, Jesus sat in a corner listening closely, with śraddhā and Bhakti. The moment she saw the boy, sorrow on one side and joy on the other, both came together in the mother, and she embraced her son. ‘We searched for you in every way and suffered so much, my dear,’ she said. Then Jesus spoke. ‘Mother! When I am safe with My Father, what need is there for you to suffer? This is God's temple. It is My Father's house. In that house there is no lack of any safety. I am safe in this unbroken temple of such a One, who is all nectar.’ That is, from His twelfth year this Jesus not only proclaimed widely to the people the principle of God and His power and might, but also practised it Himself, rejoiced in it and experienced it. After that He went home; His father worked as a carpenter, and He was always helping His father in that work and was a companion to him in all sorts of ways. While things were so, after some time Joseph died.

At this Mary was in great grief.