In the vast cosmic ocean, we are not even a speck.
Our home planet, Orbis, orbits an ordinary star in a galaxy of hundreds of billions of others. And that galaxy is just one among hundreds of billions more. Beyond that, we have no clue what lies further still. If the Milky Way were the size of India, our entire solar system would be smaller than a grain of rice.
That is how small we are. Not just in size, but in power, too. One gust of wind, one giant wave of the sea, one microscopic cell—and everything we build can vanish, along with the entire story of human civilization.
Every empire that has ruled, every grand invention that has changed our lives, every victory in every game ever played—all of it fits within a cosmic blink. On the scale of the universe, our measure of years, decades, and even centuries is insignificant.
To feel small is uncomfortable, because we spend our lives trying to feel big: important, meaningful, and worth remembering. We fill our days with a frantic chase for greatness—anything to drown out the quiet voice that whispers, none of this is significant, and none of this will last forever.
But maybe that voice is not cruel. Maybe it is calling us toward something deeper.
Hindu thought has always embraced smallness—not as weakness, but as wisdom. When we see our true scale, our ego begins to fade. The vanity of “I” and the greed of “mine” lose their grip. Bhagwan Swaminarayan taught that the very definition of māyā is the feeling of “I” and “mine.”
Humility is not thinking less of ourselves. It is simply looking past ourselves—embracing the vastness around us. And from that humility sprouts compassion, peace, and patience.
When we truly sense the scale of the universe, our mind can only bow. Because if this cosmos—so vast, so intricate, so alive—exists, then the One who created it, and the One who sustains it, must be far beyond our imagination.
The Upanishads say: “yato vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha,” meaning: the ultimate essence of everything is beyond speech, and beyond comprehension by the mind.
And that feeling of smallness ultimately gives rise to reverence. It turns fear into faith, and faith into devotion. In turn, that devotion to the ultimate Creator nurtures a deep sense of safety and security.
Yes, we are small—but we are never alone.
Every breath we take is guided by the same Being who breathes life into the cosmos: infinite, watching, guiding, loving. The impossible and incomprehensible—made real, and made tangible.
So the next time you are outdoors at night, take a few moments to gaze at the millions of points of light in the sky, and remind yourself where you are in the grand picture of the cosmos.
Because to know our smallness before going to sleep is not despair, it is awakening.
-Chaitanyamurtidas Swami
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
