Monday, December 31, 2012

IN WEAL AND WOE, GOD FOR EVERMORE

IN a certain village there lived a weaver. He was a
very pious soul. Everyone trusted him and loved
him. He used to sell his goods in the market-place.
When a customer asked him the price of a cloth,
the weaver would say: "By the will of Rama the
price of the yarn is one rupee and the labour four
annas; by the will of Rama the profit is two annas.
The price of the cloth, by the will of Rama, is one
rupee and six annas." Such was the people's faith in
the weaver that the customer would at once pay
the price and take the cloth, The weaver was a real
devotee of God. After finishing his supper in the
evening, he would spend long hours in the worship
hall meditating on God and chanting His name and
glories. Now, late one night the weaver couldn't
sleep. He was sitting in the worship hall, smoking,
now and then, when a band of robbers happened
to pass that way. They wanted a man to carry
their goods and said to the weaver, "Come with
us." So saying, they led him off by the hand. After
committing a robbery in a house, they put a load of
things on the weaver's head commanding him to
carry them. Suddenly the police arrived and the
robbers ran away. But the weaver, with his load,
was arrested. He was kept in the lock-up for the
night. Next day he was brought before the
magistrate for trial. The villagers learnt what had
happened and came to the court. They said to the
magistrate, "Your Honour, this man could never
commit robbery." Thereupon the magistrate asked
the weaver to make his statement.
The weaver said: "Your Honour, by the will of
Rama I finished my meal at night. Then by the will
of Rama I was sitting in the worship hall. It was
quite late at night by the will of Rama. By the will
of Rama I had been thinking of God and chanting
His name and glories, when by the will of Rama a
band of robbers passed that way. By the will of
Rama they dragged me with them; by the will of
Rama they committed a robbery in a house; and by
the will of Rama they put a load on my head. Just
then, by the will of Rama the police arrived and by
the will of Rama 1 was arrested. Then by the will of
Rama the police kept me in the lock-up for the
night, and this morning by the will of Rama I have
been brought before Your Honour." The
magistrate realized that the weaver was a pious
man and ordered his release. On his way home the
weaver said to his friends, "By the will of Rama I
have been released."
Whether you live in the world or renounce it,
everything depends upon the will of Rama.
Throwing your whole responsibility upon God, do
your work in the world.

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