WORLD’S PRESS HAIL ‘MIRACLE IN CHLE’

CHILE AND THE WORLD REJOICE
AS ALL 33 MINERS ARE RESCUED

AFP - The joyful faces of Chile’s rescued miners beamed from frontpages around the world on Thursday as newspapers reflected on the universal appeal of a televised drama in a remote corner of South America. “The Miracle of San Jose” read the main headline of Britain’s Daily Telegraph while the South China Morning Post trumpeted “Prayers, Tears and Jubilation” on its front page, accompanied by pictures showing tears of joy. The New York Times described the rescue as “genuinely touching,” and said the climax of the rescue reached “the kind of emotional peak that brought even veteran reporters on the scene to tears.” The operation as a whole, wrote the Times “was also a reality show expertly produced by the Chilean government, which spared no expense to free the miners and accommodate media coverage.” The reality TV theme was echoed by many other papers after a 22-hour rescue carried live on rolling news channels all around the world.

“Hardly anyone had ever heard of the San Jose mine beforehand but now it’s the centre of the world,” said the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant. Italy’s La Stampa newspaper carried an interview with the Chilean writer Antonio Skarmeta who said the story had captivated so many people as it went to the heart of universal themes such as death and resurrection. For Britain’s Daily Mirror, the triumphant rescue was so uplifting as it highlighted the strength of the human spirit. In China, where more miners die in pit disasters than anywhere else in the world, an editorial in the Beijing News said the rescue “should inspire us and give us a reference for work safety and emergency mechanisms.”


Radios, newspapers, TV news channels and the Internet have played their part by bringing live coverage of these events around the world. Now all them are talking about the successful rescue and highlight the human aspect, the spirit of perseverance and survival, the medical and health, the technical and engineering, the social aspect, logistics, and also the political aspect. However, very few recognize the vital and essential role played by God in this outcome. Only because of His protection, this warm human history has had a happy ending.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The burning of the Lac house was the second in an ongoing series of attempts to kill the Pandavas. It is said that whoever God protects, no one can kill, and whoever God doesn't protect, no one can save. It is obvious that the Pandavas were divinely protected by Lord Krishna, and therefore, no amount of scheming plots by Duryodhana could possibly kill them. Asuras cannot understand the divine protection of the Lord. They think that sheer numbers, power, or wealth alone can defeat the pious. ... What is required to receive the protection of the Lord? It is simple; one has to surrender everything to the Lord and become His obedient servant, as did the Pandavas. Anyone can receive this protection. One has to take the Lord into the heart and remember Him at all times. Lord Krishna will then carry what we lack. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, "But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form - to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have. (B.g. 9.22).

Commentary of the "Mahabharata Summation"
to the Chapter Twelve of the Adi Parva,
Entitled: "The House of Lac at Varanavata".
New Vrindavana Community - June, 1985.
http://philosophy.ru/library/asiatica/indica/itihasa/mahabharata/eng/