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Thread: Hindu Wisdom Tales

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    Hindu Wisdom Tales

    In this thread I shall collect Hindu Wisdom Tales mainly intended for children. The other thread "Laugh and Think: Hindu After-Dinner Tales" (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1849) would be henceforth used for stories that are not suitable for children.

    Possibly everyone of us here in HDF has children of the school-going or lower age. They read all sorts of western action, thriller, and crime stories but scarcely any Hindu classical stories. Most of the times, we are too busy to tell them these Hindu stories, though we are conscious that we owe them what our own grandparents have taught us.

    Here is a collection of small, witty and thought-provoking Hindu wisdom tales and stories, obtained from the book Indian After Dinner Stories by A.S. Panchapakesa Ayyar.

    1. Gargi and Yagnavalkya

    JANAKA, the famous King of Mithila, convened an assembly of learned men and offered a gift of one thousand cows to the greatest philosopher among them all. The sage Yagnavalkya asked his disciple to drive the one thousand cows home, and no one dared to interfere.

    Then spoke Gargi, "O Pandits, is there no one among you to challenge Yagnavalkya's claim? It is a shame to yield the cows to him without a fight.'

    None of the pandits replied.

    "Gargi," said Yagnavalkya, "there is none here to dispute my
    superiority."

    "I at least challenge it," said Gargi. "Tell me, O Yagnavalkya, who created this world and the stars, the sun and the moon and all the things which we see in this Universe ?"

    "God," replied Yagnavalkya.

    "And who created Him?" asked Gargi.

    "Gargi, don't ask such questions," said Yagnavalkya. "There is a limit to questioning."

    "Who created God, that tell me definitely" persisted Gargi.

    "I don't know," said Yagnavalkya. "Nor does any one else know. Who created God, O Gargi?"

    "By the very hypothesis, God was self-created," declared Gargi, and won the cows.

    2. Sankaracharya and His Disciples

    ONE day, the great Sankaracharya was walking with his disciples. The teacher wanted to test the quality of his disciples. So he got into a wayside toddy shop and drank some toddy. All his disciples did likewise. Sankaracharya said nothing. The party left the toddy shop and proceeded. They went past a bronzesmith's workshop. Sankaracharya went in and drank some of the molten bronze. His disciples stood aghast.

    "Why don't you drink this as you drank the toddy?" asked Sankaracharya.

    "Sir, we have not got your divine powers," replied the disciples.

    "It is even as I feared," said the great teacher. c You fellows imitate my vices and never my virtues.'

    3. Buddha and the Half Pomegranate

    THE Lord Buddha had announced that on a particular day he would receive alms with his own hands for the support of the poor and the unfortunate, and had begged all to come with whatever offerings they pleased. On the appointed day, Buddha sat at Rajagriha in a conspicuous place and began receiving alms.

    First came King Bimbisara with gifts of precious stones and gold coins innumerable. Buddha received them with one hand.

    Then came Ajatasatru with equally costly presents. The Lord Buddha took them also with one hand. After this several nobles, merchants and other rich men offered their gifts to the Enlightened who received them all with one hand.

    Then came a miserablelooking old woman with half a pomegranate in her hand. She saluted the world-teacher and said, "Lord, I heard about your receiving alms only now. I had eaten half a pomegranate and had only this half left. I have nothing else in this world to give, so I brought this. Be pleased to accept it."

    Buddha stretched forth both his hands and accepted the half pomegranate. Bimbisara, Ajatasatru and the rest were astounded.

    "Oh, Blessed One," said Bimbisara, "inscrutable are your ways. Why did you receive this shrunken half pomegranate with both your hands whereas you received all our costly gifts only with one hand?"

    Buddha smiled and said, "Oh, king, you have given costly presents but none of you gave a tenth of what you have, and this too you gave more for glory than from motives of mere charity. This woman gave her all and gave it willingly. That explains my action."

    4. Buddha and Bimbisara's High Priest

    BlMBlSARA was about to sacrifice fifty goats. His palace priest was ready for the ceremony* At that moment, Buddha entered the sacrificial room and asked Bimbisara to stay his hand since God, who created the goats, would assuredly never be pleased with their being sacrificed. Bimbisara asked Buddha to argue the point with the high priest and promised to abide by the opinion of the victor in the discussion.

    Buddha asked the high priest "Why, O high priest, do you sacrifice these poor animals?"

    "Fool!" returned the priest. "Three people profit by this sacrifice and none lose by it. King Bimbisara earns merit because he is the cause of this sacrifice. I gain merit because I perform the sacrifice with my hands, and the goat, even the goat, benefits since it enters Heaven by being sacrificed. Thus three gain and none lose."

    "Do all those who are sacrificed gain Heaven?" asked Buddha.

    "Of course, yes," replied the priest. "There is not the least doubt about it."

    "Is your father living?" asked Buddha.

    "Yes," replied the priest.

    "You want him to enter Heaven, don't you?" asked Buddha.

    "Of course, I do," replied the other.

    "You know that in the ordinary course of things you can't be certain about his going to Heaven," said Buddha.

    "True," said the high priest.

    "Then, why not sacrifice your father and ensure him Heaven?" asked Buddha.

    The high priest was speechless with rage and tried to assault Buddha saying, "How dare you say such things to me?"

    But Bimbisara had seen on which side lay the victory. He dismissed the high priest, embraced Buddhism, and stopped the sacrifice.

    5. Yagnavalkya, Janaka and Other Pupils

    THE illustrious Yagnavalkya was teaching Janaka and eleven Brahman disciples in a forest hermitage just outside the city of Mithila. The venerable teacher used to wait for Janaka in case he came a bit late to the class, an indulgencef which he never extended to the other pupils.

    One day, the Brahman pupils whispered among themselves, "Our teacher talks philosophy and preaches the uttermost disregard of mere wealth and rank. But in practice he follows the rest. See how he waits for Janaka and not for any one of us. Is it not because he is a king and we are but poor commoners?"

    Yagnavalkya overheard this and wanted to show them the real reason for his discrimination. He began a profound discourse on the nature of the soul, and, in the middle of it, caused Mithila to appear to be in flames by his extraordinary powers.

    The Brahman pupils, whose attention was not riveted in the discourse, soon saw the flames and hurriedly whispered to one another, "Mithila is burning, Mithila is burning. Let us slip out and save what little we possess. Our teacher will not detect our absence because he is deeply immersed in his lecture."

    One by one, all the eleven Brahmans slipped out and Janaka was left alone with Yagnavalkya. Yagnavalkya said to Janaka whose whole attention was in the lecture, "O, prince, Mithila is burning. Had we not better stop?"

    "No," replied Janaka, "go on. If Mithila is destroyed, Janaka loses nothing, for all that Janaka values is within him and not without."

    Yagnavalkya continued the lecture. Soon all the other pupils returned with silly faces and said that they had been deceived and that Mithila was not really burning.

    "You see now why I wait for Janaka and not for you," said Yagnavalkya. All the eleven bowed their heads in shame and remained silent.

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    6. Mahavira and his Truest Disciple

    MAHAVIRA, the founder of Jainism, had taught all his disciples that they should curb all desire, be it to see even their dearest ones at death. They were to regard all beings as alike and not to discriminate. The disciple who most closely followed the great master's teaching was Paramananda.

    Mahavira was on his death bed at Pawa and news of this reached Paramananda at Kausambi. He hurried to Pawa, but at the gate of the city he halted. A great doubt seized him as to whether in desiring to see his teacher he was not becoming a slave to his desire. Meanwhile, the people around Mahavira told him that Paramananda had come to Pawa. The great teacher felt a bit disappointed.

    'Where is he?' he asked. 'At the gates of the city, O Jina,' replied the attendants. 'He is standing just outside the city engaged in deep meditation. He came here from Kausambi expressly to see you, but some doubt seems to have seized him at the gates.'

    After ten minutes, Mahavira again asked, 'What is Paramananda doing now?' 'Still plunged in thought, O Jina,' replied the attendants. Again, after half an hour, Mahavira enquired as to what Paramananda was doing. 'He is going back, O Jina,' replied the attendants.

    'I rejoice,' said Mahavira 'I rejoice that I have got at least one disciple who practised my teachings and curbed his desire.' Shortly afterwards, the great world-teacher died with a serene smile on his lips.

    7. Mahabali and Yudhistira

    KING YUDHISTIRA was very proud of his charity in feeding i6oo8 Brahmans everyday from the magic all-providing pot which he had. All these Brahmins used to follow him wherever he went and eat the sumptuous meals given to them gratis.

    Sri Krishna wanted to humble Yudhistira's pride- One day, He took him to the underworld where the righteous King Mahabali ruled. Mahabali received the Lord Krishna with all proper worship. Sri Krishna told Mahabali, 'This is my cousin Yudhistira.' At once, Mahabali went and most respectfully invited Yudhistira to his kingdom.

    'Ah!' said Sri Krishna to Mahabali, 'you don't know the full glories of my cousin who is the abode of charity. He feeds 16008 Brahmans gratis three times every day and they follow him, wherever he goes.'

    'Pooh!' said Mahabali spitting on the ground. 'What a wretch he must be to keep 16008 people so helplessly dependent on him simply to satisfy his vanity! Even if I offer a kingdom, no maa will come to me every day three times shamelessly for meals. Oh, Lord, is this cousin of yours the abode of charity, the Model King of whom I have heard so much?

    Yudhistira was humbled to the dust at this well-merited reproach.

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    8. Gargi and the Brahmagnani
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    GARGI, the celebrated lady philosopher of ancient India, was in her usual quest for more and more knowledge. One day, she heard of a real Brahmagnani dwelling in a remote forest. Eager to profit by his conversation, she made a weary journey to that distant forest and asked one of the disciples of the Brahmagnani for permission to see his teacher. The disciple returned saying that his master was a sanyasi and would see no woman.

    'I see,' 1 said Gargi smiling, 'I do not want to see him now.' The disciple went back and told his teacher what Gargi had said. The holy man was wonderstruck and was curious to know why one who had come such a long way to see him was so little disappointed at his refusal. He ran after Gargi and said, 'Why, O Gargi, why is it that you say that you don't want to see me now, you who came such a long way with no other object but this?'

    'Sir,' said Gargi, 'I was misinformed that you were a real Brahmagnani and so was anxious to see you be the trouble what it may. Now that I see that you are no real Brahmagnani, my desire to talk to you has gone.'

    'How dare you say, O Gargi, that I am no real Brahmagnani?' asked the Brahmagnani angrily.

    'Because,' replied Gargi, 'A man who really knows Brahma must have forgotten sex distinctions which you have not done.'

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    9. Buddha and the Young Mother
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    ONE day, as Buddha was sitting under a banyan tree, a young woman went weeping to him with a dead child in her hands. 'Lord,' she said, 'my first-born, my only child, is dead. Take pity on me and bring it back to life.' And she wept as if her heart would break. The Blessed One knew the futility of reasoning with her in her then frame of mind. So he told her, 'Daughter, bring a handful of gingili seeds from a person none of whose relations have died, and I shall bring your child back to life.'

    The young mother was overjoyed at this seemingly simple request She put her dead child tenderly on the lap of the world-teacher and went to the adjacent village. Her experience of the world was so little that she did not know the impossible nature of her quest. She went first to a house and knocked at the door. A young woman came.

    'Will you please give me a handful of gingili seeds?' asked the young mother.

    'Most willingly,' said the other and brought a handful of gingili seeds. The young mother took them and, as she was about to go, she said casually, 'I hope none of your relations have ever died.' At that the other burst into a loud moan and said, 'Why do you rake up my unhealed wounds? Don't you know that my only brother died but a month ago and that my father died only a year ago? ' The young mother said, 'I am very sorry for you, but I don't want your gingili seeds.'

    She went to another house. She found an elderly woman there and wanted a handful of gingili seeds. The elderly lady brought them. Before receiving them, the young mother said, 'I hope none of your relatives have died' on which the other burst out into loud lamentations saying, 'My son, my only son, the boy whom I tended for twenty long years, he died six months ago. Who are you that remind me of my misery? The young mother said, 'I am very sorry, but I do not want your gingili seeds.'

    She went to another house where she found a widow aged about sixty. The young woman said, 'Mother, give me a handful of gingili seeds if none of your relatives have died.' The old widow laughed and said, 'Daughter, I shall give you ten handfuls of gingili seeds if you want, but, of course, several of my relations have died. Why, my dear husband died thirty years ago. I felt it as an inconsolable loss then. But when I come to think of it now I don't feel so sorry. Unless people die, where is the room in this world for the babes who are born every day? The world will become overcrowded like Hell. Where is your father, his father, his father, and so on? Some of these must assuredly have died. Death is the one universal event in the life of every man who is born.'

    The young mother felt how impossible her quest was and so returned to Buddha and told him about the fruitlessness of her search. 'Daughter,' said Gautama, 'go, bury your child. This is the way of the world. None can cure death here below.'

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    10. The Little Elder Brother
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    CLOSE to a forest lived a poor lonely widow called Janaki with her only child Rama. When Rama grew to be seven years old, Janaki wanted to put him to school. There was a revered guru on the other side of the forest. Janaki wanted to send her son Rama there.

    When she told Rama about this, the boy was afraid. 'Mother,' said he, 'how am I to cross the forest? Will you come with me every day?'

    'No, child,' replied Janaki. 'If I come with you, who is to look after the home and earn the living? But there is your little elder brother in the forest. Whenever you feel afraid, call out, "Little elder brother!" and he will come to you.'

    'Mother,' said Rama, 'why does he alwayslive in the forest?'

    'Because he likes to do so,' replied Janaki. 'Don't ask him about this since he may not come to you again.'

    'I won't, mother,' said Rama. 'Now I do not fear the forest. I shall go to school from to-day.'

    So Rama started for the school. As soon as he entered the forest, his heart failed him and he was filled with fear. At once he called out, 4 Little elder brother 'little elder brother! ' at the top of his voice. A boy of sixteen came with a flute in his hand and said to Rama, 'What do you want?' 'I want to go to the school across the forest,' said Rama, 'and I want you to accompany me to the other side of the forest.'

    'Alright,' said the other and accompanied Rama across the forest playing on his flute all the time. When Rama reached the other side of the forest, the little elder brother left him.

    Rama went to the school and was enrolled as a pupil by the good guru. 'Child, how do you come across the forest?' asked the guru. 'My little brother accompanies me, 1 said Rama. 'What does he do?' asked the guru. 'He lives in the forest and tends cattle,' said Rama. 'I see,' said the guru.

    After that, every day Rama used to go to the school. In the forest he was always joined by the little brother. Days passed, and one day the gurus daughter's marriage was announced. Every pupil wanted to present the guru with something on this occasion.

    Rama also wanted to give something. So he went to Janaki that evening and said, 'Mother, my guru's daughter is going to be married tomorrow, and every one of my classmates is going to give some present or other. Give me something so that I too may make a present to show my gratitude to my guru.'

    Janaki said, 'Child, I am too poor to give you anything, but you can ask your little elder brother in the forest. Perhaps, he may give you something.'

    'Alright, I shall ask him.' said Rama. The next day, as soon as the little elder brother joined him in the forest, Rama put his difficulty before him and wanted him to give him something to present to the guru on the occasion of his daughter's marriage. The little elder brother gave Rama a cocoanutshell full of milk and asked him to give it to the guru. Rama, nothing abashed, took the cocoanutshell full of milk, thanked his elder brother, and went straight to the school with the milk in his right hand.

    By the time he reached the school, the auspicious hour was approaching. All had assembled including the bride and bridegroom. All the fellow-pupils of Rama were making costly presents. One, a prince, gave a pair of gold garlands. Another, a merchant's son, gave a string of matchless pearls for the bride. Another gave a cartload of pumpkins, another ten casks of curds and so on and so forth. Without the least feeling of shame, Rama went amidst this crowd and stood in front of the guru.

    'What is it, child?' asked the guru. 'I have brought this present,' said Rama, and showed the cocoanutshell of milk to the guru. The venerable man smiled and said, 'Thank you, my child. His mother is too poor to give anything more,' he said, turning to his men.

    'Come, pour this into a vessel, for nothing which is offered with a full heart should be refused,' said the guru to one of his men. The wicked attendant wanted to spite the poor boy and hold him up to ridicule. Amidst general laughter he poured the cocoanutshell of milk into a huge empty cistern. What was his surprise and the surprise of the audience when the milk continued to flow from the cocoanutshell till it filled the cistern and overflowed and flooded the pandal! Everybody was amazed.

    'Child,' said the guru to Rama, 'where did you get this cocoanutshell of milk from?'

    'From my little elder brother who lives in the forest near by, tending the cows and playing the flute,' replied Rama.

    'What is his name? ' asked the guru. '1 don't know,' said Rama. 'He never comes home. He is always in the forest tending his cows and playing his flute.'

    'It must be the Lord Govinda l Himself,' exclaimed the guru. 'All these years I have devoted myself to religious study and never once have I seen Him, but this child has been seeing Him every day. Child, where is He? Can you show Him to me?'

    'Of course, I can. Come along,' said Rama, and the guru followed. All the rest followed also, the pupils, the priests, even the bride and the bridegroom, all filled with a desire to see Sri Krishna in bodily form. When they reached the forest, Rama called out, 'Little elder brother, little elder brother!' Nobody came. Again Rama cried out, 'Little elder brother, little elder brother, where are you? It is Rama who is calling,' and Rama burst into tears.

    Then a voice came from afar and it said, 'I come only at the call of the weak and the helpless, of the simple and the believing. I come only to the lonely soul in distress and not to crowds assembled to see Me. Till to-day you were simple and believed that I was really your elder brother. So I appeared to you in human form and played with you. Hereafter that is impossible. You will see your little elder brother no more.'

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    11. Sankaracharya and Maya
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    VlSHNUVARDHANA, the King of the Hoysalas, was a Vaishnavite and was greatly incensed at the doctrine taught by Sankaracharya that everything here below is an illusion. He wanted to teach the exponent of this doctrine a lesson. So he invited the then Sankaracharya of Sringeri to his palace. That holy man went there and stoutly maintained that everything in this world was illusion. The king had arranged to let loose an infuriated elephant against Sankaracharya. The beast rushed at Sankaracharya who took to a precipitate flight to save himself.

    'Oh, Venerable Sir,' shouted the king, 'why do you run so fast seeing that the elephant is only an illusion?'

    'Oh, king,' said Sankaracharya in tfie course of his flight, 'my running too is an illusion. Everything in this world is an illusion.'

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    12. Arjuna's Boast
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    JUST before the Mahabharata War, Krishna and Arjuna were taking a walk by the side of the Jumna. Arjuna was getting overweeningly proud of his archery. He asked Krishna why Rama should have taken so much pain to construct a land bridge to Ceylon when a bridge of arrows could have quite easily taken all his troops across. 'Perhaps, ' he added, 'Rama was not after all so great an archer. I could have easily managed to transport all the troops with a bridge of arrows.'

    'The troops of Rama were enormous in size,' said Sri Krishna.

    'What if? ' asked Arjuna.

    'Well, then,' said Sri Krishna intending to teach Arjuna a lesson. 'There is just one soldier of Rama left still. You construct a bridge of arrows and transport him at least across this Jumna.'

    'How ridiculously easy!' said Arjuna and soon constructed a bridge of arrows across the river. Sri Krishna called Hanuman and asked him to cross the river by the bridge. Hanuman shrugged Jbis shoulders.

    'Arjuna, Hanuman perhaps thinks that the bridge is not strong enough. Please see whether your bridge is perfect.'

    'Perfect,' replied Arjuna. 'It is the unfamiliarity which causes this misgiving in Hanuman.'

    'Hanuman, cross the bridge without fear,' ordered Sri Krishna. Hanuman placed his foot on the bridge of arrows which came tumbling down into the river with a crash. The monkey jumped back to the shore in disgust.

    Arjuna threw down his mighty bow and arrows and declared that after such a disgrace he was unfit to fight again.

    'Don't be dejected, Arjuna,' said Krishna. 'Even Rama could not do it. What wonder then if you failed? Come, pick up your bow and arrows and don't try to belittle the famous warriors of old hereafter.'

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    13. Bhima and Heaven
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    BHIMA was very proud of his muscular strength. He thought that none could excel him in all the three worlds. One day, Krishna took all the Pandava brothers and Draupadi to Heaven for sight-seeing. Krishna took the four brothers and Draupadi with him leaving Bhima to come by himself since he had nothing to fear from the gate-keepers owing to his known ability to defeat them.

    Krishna took all the five in and both the gate-keepers kept quiet on seeing Him. When the party had seen everything to be seen there, Draupadi reminded Krishna that Bhima had not come. 'Perhaps, he has already killed the poor gate-keepers,' suggested Krishna.

    Coming outside, they found the gate-keepers sleeping at their posts and Bhima and his club getting into the nostrils of one or the other of them at inspiration and getting out again at expiration, the gatekeepers being not so much as aware of his presence there. Poor Bhima looked a miserable spectacle. Krishna saw that Bhima had been sufficiently humbled, took pity on him, woke up the gate-keepers and released Bhima from his agony.

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    14. The Seven Heavens and The Wheel
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    A BRAHMAN died and went to heaven as a result of his good acts in life. God showed him all the beauties of Heaven. When He had finished, the Brahman said, 'Oh, Lord, all this is delightful beyond imagination. But is there no greater Heaven than this?'

    'There is,' said Vishnu and took the Brahman higher up to the second Heaven which was a hundred times more enchanting than the first. 'Are you satisfied now?' asked Vishnu. 'Yes,' replied the Brahman, 'But is there no higher Heaven than this?'

    'Yes,' said Vishnu and took him to the third Heaven which was a hundred times more enchanting than the second. Even with this the Brahman was not satisfied, but kept on enquiring whether there was no higher Heaven than the last one visited. So Vishnu took the Brahman successively to the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh heavens, each of which was a hundred times more enchanting than the preceding one. At last, after showing the Brahman round the seventh Heaven, Vishnu asked him, 'Are you satisfied at least now?'

    'Let us go higher up,' said the Brahman. 'Alright,' said Vishnu and took the Brahman above the seventh Heaven.

    There was nothing there but the wheel of existence on which turned the universe. As soon as the Brahman went up, his shoulders stuck to the cosmic wheel and he was unable to extricate himself.

    'Infinite greed will lead to endless misery,' said Vishnu and disappeared.

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    15. The Elephant-Remover and a Measure of Rice
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    THERE was once a sturdy youth of twenty called Sankar who had absolutely no cares. His mother did everything for him and never allowed him to worry about anything. Sankar used to take his meal and wander about till another meal was ready. He was so strong that whenever the king's elephant crossed his path he used to easily lift it up, put it on one side, and pass on, and all this with no apparent effort.

    One morning, King Vikramaditya saw this being done from his palace window and was immensely surprised. He asked his minister, Bhatti, as to what the secret of this achievement was.

    'His mind is free, sire,' said Bhatti. 'Hence his extraordinary strength. Put some care into him, and he will become as weak as any the rest of us.'

    'Let us see that,' said Vikramaditya. So Bhatti went to the youth's mother and offered her a hundred gold coins if she would but tell her son the next time he came for meals that no meals could be prepared for lack of rice and that he should bring a measure of rice home every day. The old lady agreed to do so readily not realizing the consequences to her son.

    At noon Sankar came as usual and bawled out, 'Mother, are not meals ready? I feel awfully hungry.'

    'Son,' said the old lady, 'there is no rice left for preparing meals. You should somehow earn and bring a measure of rice per day for our meals.'

    Sankar's face fell. How was he to earn a measure of rice per day? He left the house and wandered about plunged in thought as to how he was to earn the measure of rice per day. His face wore none of the joyous look of old, but had the darkness of great anxiety.

    Vikramaditya and Bhatti watched him wandering from the palace window and were greatly surprised at the change in his face. A cat was coming opposite Sankar, and Sankar, who would not make way for an elephant, made way for the cat and went aside.

    The state-elephant was purposely sent by the king to meet Sankar. The animal went in the middle of the road expecting to be lifted as usual. Sankar wanted to go aside, but the elephant again waylaid him in order to have its daily lift. At last, Sankar tried to lift the elephant and put it aside, but his hands stuck to the elephant's sides powerless to lift the huge bulk up. Sankar was dismayed at this, and even the elephant looked with wondering eyes at this strange exhibition of utter weakness in a man which it had known to be so strong in the past.

    'You are right,' said Vikramaditya to Bhatti. 'Care is the great enemy of strength.'

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    16. The Serpent and 'Sanyasa'
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    A SERPENT turned suddenly religious and wanted to forsake its old evil ways. It went and consulted a saint as to what it should do. The saint advised it to plunge in deep meditation and resolve to do not the least harm to any living being however great the provocation. The serpent adopted the advice. It resolved never to cause any the least harm to any living being. It went near a temple and lay down in deep meditation on the grass by the side of the road.

    At first people ran away as soon as they saw the serpent, but, since it did not hiss or run after them, they began to become more courageous. By and by, children crowded round it saying, 'This is no serpent, this is some worthless reptile resembling a serpent, or, perhaps, it is an altogether old and decrepit serpent. Come, let us stone it to our hearts' content and pull it about.'

    Then the children threw lots of sharp pebbles on the devoted serpent whose body was bruised severely. Still the serpent kept to its resolve of absolute non-violence and did nothing.

    But the children did not stop here. They lost all iear of the serpent and beat it mercilessly with a stick, tied a rope round its head and dragged it about the streets shouting out, 'look, look' to the people in the houses. Not a single soul interfered on behalf of the serpent.

    At last, late in the evening, the children dragged the serpent to its original place near the temple and said, 'It is getting late to-day. We shall come again to-morrow.'

    The poor serpent lay half dead for some time. Then, after it had gained sufficient strength to crawl about, it went to the saint and said, 'See how many miseries I have to suffer if I never do the least harm toanybody !'

    'Why couldn't you hiss?' asked the saint. 'That will not be doing harm to anybody, but will, at the same time, save you from your tormentors. God does not forbid a hiss in self-defence.'

    The serpent went back. Early next morning, the children came with a thorny stick to the place where it was, shouting out, 'Where is the good old snake? Let us drag it along to-day and drive it with thorns.'

    'Ssss,' said the serpent raising its head. 'The serpent is hissing, the serpent is hissing!' said the children* and ran in panic flight one or two of them even tumbling down on the way. Never again did the children go anywhere near the serpent which was left undisturbed in its meditation thereafter.

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    17. The Mother-in-law, the Daughter-in-law and the Beggar
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    A BEGGAR went to a house and asked for alms. The senior lady of the house, the mother-in-law, was just then absent, and only her daughter-in-law was present. The daughter-in-law refused alms to the beggar, and the latter was going away sullenly when he saw the mother-in-law returning.

    'Why are you coming away from our house?' asked the mother-in-law of the beggar.

    'Because your daughter-in-law refused all alms,' said the beggar.

    'Did she?' asked the mother-in-law in wrath. 'What right has she to refuse alms in my house? I am the mistress of the house, not she. Come along, my man, never take a refusal from nobodies. The mistress of the house is the only person who can say you ay or nay.'

    'You are the incarnation of charity itself,' said the beggar in joy, and followed the mother-in-law to the house.

    The mother-in-law called out her daughter-in-law and asked her whether it was a fact that she had refused alms to the beggar. The poor daughter-in-law pleaded guilty wondering why the mother-in-law took so much interest in a beggar that day.

    'Wretch,' said the mother-in-law, 'how dare you refuse alms when you know that I am the mistress here and the person entitled to give or refuse? Come here, my man,' she said turning to the eagerly expectant beggar, 'I, as mistress of the house, refuse you all alms. Hereafter, never take a refusal except from the mistress of the house. Now you may go away.'

    And the poor beggar slunk away in sheer shame and chagrin.

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    18. The King and the Sculptor
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    A mighty King of Kalinga constructed the great temple of Jagannath at the cost of many lakhs of rupees. After he finished it, he advertised for a sacred sculptor who would make an idol worthy of the temple. The reward for so doing it was put at one hundred thousand rupees and the punishment for failing in the enterprise was death. None offered himself for a long time.

    At last, one day, an old sculptor came and offered to do it on one condition. 'What is that?' asked the king.

    'Nobody except me should come into the temple for full thirty days under whatsoever pretext. If this condition is kept, I shall make an idol which will look just like the real Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe.'

    The king was delighted. 'What an easy condition!' he said. 'I agree to it readily.'

    Then the sculptor shut himself up in the temple with provisions, etc., for a month and closed the massive gates. Day after day, the king and the citizens heard a thundering noise within the temple.

    'Why should he make so much noise?' asked the king of his courtiers on the tenth day. 'After all, he is making but one idol. Such a noise was not heard even when the whole temple was being constructed, and there were five thousand men working then, not one.'

    'It is strange,' replied the courtiers. 'Shall we go in and see?'

    'No,' said the king. 'For thirty days I have promised that none should enter the temple.' But the noise became louder and louder every day. The king became more and more anxious as to what was happening. On the twentieth day, he again asked the courtiers: 'Whatever could this be? This noise is becoming quite inexplicable.'

    'Perhaps the old fellow is breaking all the stone pillars,' suggested one courtier.

    'What!' replied the king. 'Has the devil come to destroy my good temple? What shall we do? I have promised not to enter the temple for thirty days.'

    'Sire,' said one courtier, 'let us go to the temple doors and call him out. There is no harm in that. We can then ascertain from him what all this noise means.'

    'Excellent,' said the king. 'Let us go at once.'

    So they all went to the temple doors and called out for the sculptor. Absolutely no answer came. The dreadful noise continued. The king asked his drummers and trumpeters to ply their instruments. Still, no answer; the noise inside only grew the louder. 'Let us enter,' said the minister.

    'No,' said the king. 'For thirty days I have promised not to enter the temple. If I do, the glorious image promised may be lost.'

    So the party returned to the palace. That night, the noise became even more thundering, and continued right through the night. Early in the morning, the king called his ministers and courtiers and asked, 'Whatever is this? Till now, the noise was heard only during the day, now it is heard at nights also.'

    'Sire,' replied a minister, 'it looks as if the whole city will fall down. Why not we go at once and break in?'

    'If we do,' said the king, 'the glorious image promised may be lost.'

    'But, sire,' replied the minister, 'if we don't, our glorious temple may be blown to atoms by this wretch. Even if we don't get the promised image, let us at least retain our realized temple.'

    The king's fears were thoroughly roused. 'True,' he said, 'perhaps the wretch is breaking everything in our temple. Otherwise, I can't see why he should make so much noise for making one idol. Besides, the noise is heard at nights. How can he work at night; without a light?'

    'No light is required, sire, for breaking pillars,' said the minister.

    'Ah,' said the king, 'that is the secret of the whole thing. Come, let us break the doors and enter. Even if the doors are damaged, let us save what we can of the rest of the temple.'

    Saying this, all went to the temple doors which were bolted from the inside. The king had them forced open, and entered into the temple with his ministers and courtiers. He saw the old sculptor stooping near a misshapened idol defective in limbs and ugly to look at.

    'Wretch,' said the king. 'Is this the idol of Jagannath, Lord of the Universe, which you promised? You shall be beheaded for this.'

    'Sire,' said the sculptor with a smile, 'your condition is not fulfilled. This is only the twenty-first day. O presumptuous man, couldn't you have held your soul in patience even for thirty days for seeing the real form of the Lord of the Universe?'

    The king felt ashamed of his conduct Nothing in the temple had been interfered with by the sculptor. He looked at the miserable idol and said, 'What can we do with this now?'

    'Put it in the temple and worship it,' said the sculptor. 'The Lord resides in the ugly as much as He does in the beautiful and in the defective limbed as in the well-limbed. His worshippers will realize this from this idol.' Saying this, the sculptor who was none else than the Lord of the Universe, disappeared.

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    19. The Merchant and the Fool
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    A MERCHANT wanted to go on a long business journey. His way lay through a forest. So he wanted to take somebody with him for help. Several people demanded fifty rupees. The merchant was not willing, to pay so much. At last, a fool offered to go for ten rupees. The merchant closed in with the offer and paid the ten rupees then and there. The fool tied the rupees up in a corner of his loin cloth and accompanied the merchant on his journey. The merchant had five hundred rupees with him in a bag.

    Towards dusk, both of them reached the forest which was notoriously infested with a well-known band of robbers. The merchant saw the robber band coming at a distance and asked the fool quickly to hide himself in some bush adjoining the path. The merchant hid himself securely in a bush, but the fool hid so clumsily that though his head was in the bush his legs were protruding on the path.

    The robber chieftain was coming in front on his horse and the rest were following on theirs. Since it was getting dark, the robber chief could not see the fool's exposed legs, but, as luck would have it, his horse stumbled on the outstretched legs.

    'My men,' said the chief to his followers, 'take care. There is a horrible root of a tree here.'

    'I say,' said the fool indignantly, 'how dare you call my legs roots? They are anyday better than yours.' The robber chief was amazed. The fool was soon secured.

    'Have you got any money with you?' asked the chief.

    'Fellow, do you take me for a pauper?' asked the fool. 'I have got ten rupees tied up here,' and he pointed to the knot in his loin cloth.

    The robbers untied the knot and found ten rupees as the fool had predicted. 'My men,' said the robber chief, 'these rupees must be counterfeit. Otherwise, will any fellow give out where he has his money?'

    'Fellow,' said the fool indignantly, 'I am not a dishonest rascal like you. I got these rupees honestly from an honest merchant. If you have any more doubt about it, go and ask him. He is hiding in yonder bush with five hundred rupees and not one of them counterfeit.'

    The robbers searched the bush indicated, hauled up the unfortunate merchant, robbed him of his five hundred rupees and sent him packing.

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    20. The Man-killer
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    TWO friends were walking together one morning in a lonely place when they saw a philosopher running away in panic haste from a bush. They asked him why he was so frightened. He said, 'In yonder bush I saw the man-killer.' 'Do you mean a tiger?' asked the two frightened.

    'No,' replied the philosopher. 'It is far more dangerous than a tiger. I unearthed it when I was uprooting some herbs.' 'What is it?' asked the two. 'A heap of gold coins,' replied the philosopher. 'Where is it? Where is it?' asked both in the same breath. 'There, in that bush,' said the philosopher and went his way. The two friends rushed to the spot indicated and found a heap of gold coins.

    'What fools these philosophers are,' said one to the other, 'to call life-giving gold a man-killer !'

    'Well,' said the other, 'let ;us consider what we should do. It is unsafe to carry it into our village now in public daylight because the people will come to know of it. Let one of us remain here to watch the treasure while another goes to fetch the meals.'

    So it was agreed. One remained behind to guard the treasure while the other went to bring the meals.

    When his comrade had gone for bringing the meals, the man left behind thought thus : 'It is a pity that I was not alone this day. Now I have got to give half the gold to my friend, and the quantity of gold is not very much either. I have a big family and need all the gold. As soon as the fellow comes, I shall take him by surprise and kill him with my knife. Nobody will know about this and I shall get the whole gold.' With this he sharpened his knife and got ready.

    The other man meanwhile thought, 'Why should I give half the gold to this man? I am heavily in debt and have made no provision at all for old age. The other has no debts and has got some wealthy relations. I shall not give him half, that is certain. I shall take my meals and mix some deadly poison in the meals I carry for him. He will eat it and die, and nobody will be any the wiser for it. Thus I shall get all the gold.' So saying, the man took his meals and mixed some deadly poison in the meals meant for the other. Then, taking the poisoned meal, he went to the place where the treasure was.

    As soon as he approached the spot, the other rushed upon him unexpectedly with his knife and despatched him in no time. After committing this atrocious crime, he said, 'Poor fellow, half the gold was the cause of his death. Now, let me take my meals. I feel beastly hungry.' He unsuspectingly took the poisoned meals brought by his friend and in half an hour died an agonizing death. How true the philosopher's remark was!' said he with his dying breath.

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    21. An After-dinner Adventure
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    A SIMPLE unsophisticated man called Govind was taking a short walk in a forest close to his house after his midday meals. He was in the best humour imaginable. After walking for some time, Govind saw a man catching hold of a tiger's tail through the forked branches of a huge tree. The animal was desperately trying to make itself free, but the man was holding it in an iron grip and the tree was preventing it from biting him. Still, the man's strength was fast ebbing.

    He called out to Govind and said, 'Brother, hold this tail for a little while till I go back and fetch the rope which this wretched animal of mine threw off while I was bringing it through this forest.'

    'How long do you want me to hold it?' asked Govind.

    'For ten minutes,' replied the other, 'The rope dropped off just a furlong from here and I had to rush after the tiger and catch its tail lest I should lose it altogether.'

    'Alright,' said Govind, 'go and fetch the rope quickly. I shall hold the tail for ten minutes.' With this, Govind caught tight hold of the tiger's tail.

    The other left the spot and went amidst the trees till he was out of sight. Then he got up a lofty tree and seated himself securely on one of the branches saying, 'But for that fool I would have been killed to-day.'

    Govind waited for ten minutes, but there was no sign of the other man or his rope. Govind also was getting terribly exhausted by his unedifying occupation. When ten minutes were past, Govind shouted out several times, 'I say, come quick, or I shall let your tiger go.' No reply came. 'Why should I take so much trouble about that fellow's beast when he himself cares so little about it? He deserves to lose it for his indifference,' said Govind to himself at last indignantly and let go the tail. The infuriated tiger sprang upon Govind at once and tore him to pieces.

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    22. Siva! Siva!
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    THERE was a Brahman convert to Christianity in one of the South Indian towns. He had been a Saivite before conversion, but had been a pious Christian for thirty years. At fifty, he was so imbued with the teachings of his new religion that he publicly boasted that there was nothing left of the old religion in him and challenged anybody to show him any such remnant.

    A young psychologist took up the challenge. He asked the convert whether he would agree to even painful tests. The convert replied that he would agree to any test however painful. The psychologist asked the convert to shut his eyes for ten minutes which he did. Then he had red hot irons brought and branded the convert's right ioot with a red hot iron suddenly. The convert unconsciously cried out in agonizing pain, 'Siva! Siva! Siva! Siva!' as the hot iron burnt into his flesh.

    'Ah,' said the psychologist triumphantly, 'the beliefs of your childhood have prevailed over the convictions of later years. You called upon Siva in your agony and not upon Christ.'

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    23. The Minister and the Peon
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    ONE day, a king of Travancore overheard his peon mutter to himself, 'This is an unjust age. I who work all day long am paid seven rupees per month whereas the minister who rolls about in motor cars and idles the whole time is paid two thousand rupees per month. What injustice!'

    The king wanted to show the peon the injustice of his remarks. Just then, he saw a palanquin in the distance and asked the peon to go and enquire who it was who was travelling in the palanquin. The peon went running and came back and said: 'It is Sankaracharya.' 'Of which Mutt?' asked the king. The peon went running again and came back panting and said, 'Of Sringeri Mutt.' 'Where is His Holiness coming from?' asked the king. Again ran the peon and came back and said, 'From Shencottah.' 'Where does he go to?' asked the king. The peon took another trip and came back and said, 'The Holiness is going to Kaladi.' 'Is His Holiness going to stop here' asked the king. Again ran the peon and came back and said, 'Yes.' 'For how long?' asked the king. The peon had another exhausting run and came back tired and said 'For a day.'

    'Where does he intend to stop?' asked the king. The exhausted peon again ran to the palanquin which was going further and further and came back and said, 'In the Mutt attached to the temple.'

    'Will His Holiness be able to see me?' asked the king. The peon had an even more exhausting journey and came back and said, 'Yes.'

    'When?' asked the king. Again, the peon dragged his weary body to the palanquin which was now nearing the Mutt and came and said, 'At 3 p.m.' and fell down in a heap utterly exhausted even in the presence of the king.

    The king sent for his minister, who had not witnessed any of the above incidents, and asked him to go and enquire who had come in a palanquin that morning. The minister returned in half an hour and in the presence of the peon told the king, 'Sire, it is the Sankaracharya of Sringeri Mutt His Holiness came from Shencottah and is going to Kaladi. He will be stopping at the local Mutt for a day and will be able to see Your Highness at 3 p.m. to-day. If possible, His Holiness will also conduct the service at the temple this evening.'

    'You see,' said the king turning to the peon, 'what took you nine weary journies and five hours has taken the minister only half an hour and one single journey. Now you see the reason why you are paid only seven rupees and he two thousand rupees.' The peon stood confounded with shame.

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    24. A High-sounding Threat
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    ONE day, a man went to a feast uninvited. The giver of the feast was not a little annoyed at this unexpected intruder of questionable status and so at first refused him food. 'If you refuse me food, I shall do what I did at a neighbouring village the other day where they had the audacity to deny me food at a feast. Remember that and then do as you like,' said the stranger. The host was cowed down at the mysterious threat and did not want any untoward thing to happen in his house. So he put up with the inconvenience and gave the pugnacious stranger a good meal. After the meals were over, when all were taking betel leaves, the host asked of the stranger, 'Sir, will you tell us what you did at the other village when they had the audacity to refuse you meals?'

    'I starved,' was the laconic reply.

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    25. A Resourceful Householder
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    A MAN called Krishna and his wife were living alone in a house. One evening, as the couple were sitting in the hall, the husband descried a well-known ex-convict of most desperate character hiding in the loft. To shout out would mean certain escape of the marauder and possibly also some hurt at his hands before help could come. Not to shout out would mean robbery at night accompanied with violence.

    At last, a brilliant idea struck the husband. There was a sturdy neighbour called Rama who had caught many thieves before. The husband told his wife, 'My dear, you are pregnant now. You will deliver a child soon. If it turns out to be a male, as I expect it will be, I shall name it Rama, and at the age of five I shall send it to school. I shall insist that it should come home every day at 5.30 p.m. precisely.'

    'What if he does not come at that time?' asked the wife. 'I shall shout out, "Rama, Rama,"' replied the husband shouting out 'Rama' in a loud voice.

    'What if he does not come still?' asked the wife. 'I shall shout out again, "Rama," "Rama," "Rama," "Rama," "Rama" till he comes,' replied the husband shouting out the name, 'Rama' at the top of his voice.

    The neighbour Rama and others came rushing to the house hearing the shouts and enquired of the husband as to what the matter was. 'Somebody in the loft wants you,' replied the husband pointing to the ex-convict who was speedily secured, put up for trial before a court and sentenced to serve a long term.

    The ex-convict swore vengeance on the resourceful man who had brought about his arrest. One day, shortly after his release, he hid himself in the rubbish pit outside the house in order to escape all chances of detection. When Krishna went to rinse his mouth after meals at the rubbish heap as usual, he perceived a slight movement in the rubbish heap as the water fell on it. His suspicions were fully roused.

    He asked his wife to bring pot after pot of water and continued to rinse his mouth and eject the water on the rubbish heap where the ex-convict was concealed. The ex-convict, determined not to be found out this time, kept absolutely motionless in spite of the shower bath he was receiving. But Krishna's wife, not knowing the reason for her husband's strange action asked him, 'Has your mouth turned a gutter that you rinse it so many times? I cannot bring any more water.' On which, Krishna spat one mouthful of water on her. The poor woman raised a loud hue and cry fully believing that her husband had gone mad.

    Rama and all other neighbours came running and enquired of Krishna as to what the matter was. 'This wretched woman,' said Krishna, 'whom I feed and clothe raised all this alarm because I spat at her once whereas this man here (pointing to the concealed robber) whom I never once fed or clothed has patiently borne at least a hundred spittings without one word of murmur.' The assembled villagers at once secured the concealed marauder who was once again put up before a magistrate and this time sentenced to a good long term of hard labour.

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    26. Rich in Real Sense...
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    Translated from a discourse given by Sant Shri Asaramji Bapu
    http://www.kanchiforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2074
    Posted by: Sitalakshmi

    Once Ravindranath Tagore went to Japan. He gave discourses on his book Geetanjali for ten days from 6 PM to 7 PM everyday. An old man used to come to attend his discourses everyday. He used to garland him with roses very humbly. He used to reach there much before the discourse time and used to get up after Rabindranath Tagore used to get up - his behaviour was very down to earth. He used to listen to each and every word of the discourse and tried to apply that in his life. Dressed in very simple clothes, that old man was highly impressed with Ravindranath Tagore.

    After Ravindranath used to complete his discourse many people used to touch his feet to show their gratitude everyday.

    None of the people who came to attend the discourse ever thought how much treasure each one of them was taking with them after listening to the discourse on the reality of soul. All those who leave the discourse assembly after listening to just a few words from the discourses don't really know how disrespectful they are towards their own life. Lord Krishna attended to his master- Sandipani Rishi with gratitude. In order to attain the knowledge of self, Lord Rama devoted his precious time to attend to his master- Vashishtha Muni.

    That old man used to bow in front of Tagore everyday. After the last discourse was over people offered gold coins, money, fruits, flowers etc. at the feet of Tagore. That old man requested Tagore and said:

    "Please pay a visit to my home tomorrow. I'll be grateful."

    Rabindranath Tagore was already very pleased with the devotion and dedication of the old man and therefore accepted his invitation. The eyes of the old man were filled with tears of joy when Tagore accepted his invitation.

    Tagore told his assistant that the old man is very emotional and he should see that he does not spend beyond his capacity to make preparations and also he should give 200 Yen to his kids.

    The old man got a Rolls Royce car sharp at 3:45 PM at the door of Tagore's guest room. Tagore had told him that he would go to his house at four in the evening. They smoothly drove in that car to a huge mansion on top of a hill. The watchman saluted and opened the main gate. As they entered the gates Tagore saw many gentlemen and women welcoming his arrival. They took him inside. They made him sit on a chair made of gold with silken cushions. They served several rich eatables in 200 dishes made of gold and silver. The members of the family worshipped Tagore and sat at his feet.

    Ravindranath was astonished with all this. He said: "Where have you brought me? Take me to your home. Why have you brought me to this mansion?"

    The old man dressed in simple clothes said: "Oh Saint! This is my house. That Rolls Royce car is all mine and I have five more of these cars. There are two chairs made of gold. All these people who are bowing in front of you are my sons, grandsons and great grandsons. She is the mother of my sons. And they are my daughter-in-laws. Swamiji! I have two factories. "

    Oh! You are so rich and still you used to be dressed in such simple clothes when you used to come to attend the discourses."

    "Oh Saint! I believe that material richness and physical appearance do not reflect the real personality. It is foolish to feel proud of the money that cannot buy the richness of the soul. One never knows when that money will be lost. Also he who keeps guarding this material richness and does not bother about the precious richness of soul is really careless. The material richness has no use beyond this world.

    Oh Saint! What is the value of this material richness as compared to the richness of true knowledge and devotion? The former is just making me labour hard but the richness that you have given me is giving me the real happiness. It is the true knowledge of soul which is protecting me. I'm grateful to you for the rest of my life. I spent whole of my life in collecting that money which could not give me peace and happiness but each hour of yours showed me the light. I wore simple clothes because I was a beggar at your gate waiting to get the richness of soul from you. Oh Lord! I'm obliged!"

    Ravindranath's heart was filled with happiness. Where there is respect for true knowledge, there is respect for life. Even the material richness stays at places where there is respect for the words of saints.

    Ravindranath said: "Oh rich man! You are not attached to material richness and have respect for the richness of soul, that is why you are rich in real sense. I'm also grateful today. After meeting a devotee like you even I feel that my discourses served the purpose.

    People keep asking for material comforts and waste the precious time wherever I go. But you are wise. You do not ask for material wealth and still God is giving that to you. He sent me to quench your thirst for true knowledge."

    The one who is not attached to his wealth, but surrenders his ego at the feet of the great saints after listening to the divine words about the Great God who is the basis of the whole universe, is rich in real sense.

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