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Srila Prabhupada Tells a Story About Shah Jahan

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami: "In Calcutta a great dramatist, Mr. Rath, who was also a very well known government official, wrote a book, Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan means the emperor Shah Jahan. The title on the book is the name of the book's hero. So one of the friends of Mr. Rath inquired, In your book, Shah Jahan, the actual hero is Aurangzeb. Why have you given the book the title Shah Jahan?' He could not understand it. "The author replied, 'My dear friend, the actual hero is Shah Jahan, not Aurangzeb.' Yet the Shah Jahan book is full of activities of Aurangzeb. But the fact is that Shah Jahan was the emperor. He had four or five sons, and when his wife died at an early age, he built her a memorial. Those who have gone to India, who have seen the Taj Mahal building, that was constructed in the memory of Shah Jahan's wife, Mumtaz, by Shah Jahan. He spent all his money constructing that building. It is one of the seven wonders of the world. Shah Jahan was a very affectionate father also. He did not chastise his sons much. He spent all of his money constructing for the memory of his wife. But when the sons grew up, the third son, Aurangzeb, came out very crooked and he made a plan how to usurp the empire. He killed his brothers, and he arrested his father, Shah Jahan. So this is the plot of the book Shah Jahan. But the author says that Aurangzeb is not the hero. The hero is Shah Jahan. Then he explained. "Why? Because Shah Jahan was living, sitting in the Agra fort as a prisoner, and all the reactions of Aurangzeb's activities the killing of his other sons, the usurping of the empire all these things were beating on the heart of Shah Jahan. Therefore he was suffering and he is the hero. "This is an example that the author of a book knows very well what is the purpose of that book. That is my statement. Similarly, these Vedanta-sutras were compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, or Krishna's incarnation, or Krishna Himself. So He knows what is the Vedanta-sutra. Therefore, if you want to understand the Vedanta-sutra, you must understand Krishna. And Srila Vyasadeva explains the Vedanta-sutra in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Many rascals will comment in different ways, but the author of Vedanta personally wrote a commentary, Srimad-Bhagavatam."



Reference: Srila Prabhupada Nectar by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami