THE KING AND THE PANDIT

THERE was a king who used daily to hear the
Bhagavata recited by a pandit. Every day, after
explaining the sacred book, the pandit would say to
the king, "O King, have you understood what I
have said?" And every day the king would reply,
"You had better understand it first yourself." The
pandit would return home and think; "Why does
the king talk to me that way day after day? I explain
the texts to him so clearly, and he says to me, “you
had better understand it first yourself”. What does
he mean?" The pandit used to practise spiritual
discipline. A few days later he came to realise that
God alone is real and everything else - house,
family, wealth, friends, name, and fame - illusory.
Convinced of the unreality of the world, he
renounced it. As he left home he asked a man to
take this message to the king: "O king, I now
understand." (

AS YOU GO FROM NEAR TO NEARER

A MUSSALMAN, while saying his prayers,
shouted: "O Allah! O Allah!" Another person said
to him: "You are calling on Allah. That's all right.
But why are you shouting like that? Don't you
know that He hears the sound of the anklets on the
feet of an ant?"
When the mind is united with God, one sees him
very near, in one's own heart. But you must
remember one thing. The more you realize this
unity, the farther your mind is withdrawn from
worldly things. There is the story of Vilwamangal
in the Bhaktamala. He used to visit a prostitute.
One night he was very late in going to her house.
He had been detained at home by the Sraddha
ceremony of his father and mother. In his hands he
was carrying the food offered in the ceremony, to
feed his mistress. His whole soul was so set upon
the woman that he was not at all conscious of his
movements.
He did not even know how he was walking. There
was a Yogi seated on the path, meditating on God
with his eyes closed. Vilwamangal stepped on him.
The yogi became angry, and cried out: "What? Are
you blind? I have been thinking of God and you
step on my body!" "I beg your pardon" said
Vilwamangal, "but may I ask you something? I
have been unconscious, thinking of a prostitute,
and you are conscious of the outer world though
thinking of God. What kind of meditation is that?"
In the end Vilwamangal renounced the world and
went away in order to worship God. He said to the
prostitute: 'You are my Guru. You have taught me
how one should yearn for God." He addressed the
prostitute as his mother and gave her up.

HOLD HARD YOUR SPADE

AT one time there was a drought in a certain part
of the country. The formers began to cut long
channels to bring water to their fields. One fanner
was stubbornly determined. He took a vow that he
would not stop digging until the channel connected
his field with the river. He set to work. The time
came for his bath, and his wife sent their daughter
to him with oil. "Father," said the girl, "it is already
late. Rub your body with oil and take your bath."
"Go away," thundered the farmer. "I have too
much to do now." It was past midday and the
farmer was still at work in his field. He didn't even
think of his bath. Then his wife came and said:
"Why haven't you taken your bath? The food is
getting cold. You overdo everything. You can
finish the rest tomorrow or even today after
lunch." The farmer scolded her furiously and ran at
her, spade in hand, crying: "What! Have you no
sense? There's no rain. The crops are dying.
What will the children eat? You'll all starve to
death. I have taken a vow not to think of bath and
food today before I bring water to my field." The
wife saw his state of mind and ran away in fear.
Through a whole day's backbreaking labour the
farmer managed by evening to connect his field
with the river. Then he sat down and watched the
water flowing into his field with a murmuring
sound. His mind was filled with peace and joy. He
went home, called his wife and said to her, "Now
give me some oil and prepare a smoke." With
serene mind he finished his bath and meal, and
retired to bed, where he snored to his heart's
content. The determination he showed is an
example of strong renunciation.
Now, there was another farmer who was also
digging a channel to bring water to his field. His
wife, too, came to the field and said to him, "It's
very late. Come home. It is not necessary to
overdo things." The farmer did not protest much,
but put aside his spade and said to his wife, "Well I
will go home since you ask me to." That man could
never succeed in irrigating his field. This is the case
of mild renunciation.

A BAHURUPI IMPERSONATING SIVA

A Bahurupi disguised himself as Siva and visited a
house. The master of the house wanted to give him
a rupee, but he did not accept it. Then the
mendicant went home, removed his disguise, came
back to the gentle man, and asked for the rupee.
"Why didn't you accept it before?" he was asked.
He said: "I was impersonating Siva, a sannyasi. I
couldn't touch money at that time."

HARD ARE THE RULES FOR A SANNYASI

THE Rules for a sannyasin are extremely hard. He
cannot have the slightest contact with 'woman and
gold'. He must not accept money with his own
hands, and he must not even allow it to be left near
him.
Lakshminarayan Marwari, a Vedantist, used to
come here26 very often. One day he saw a dirty
sheet on my bed and said: "I shall invest ten
thousand rupees in your name. The interest will
enable you to pay your expenses." The moment he
uttered these words, I fell unconscious, as if struck
by a stick. Regaining consciousness I said to him:
"If you utter such words again, you had better not
come here. It is impossible for me to touch money.
It is also impossible for me to keep it near me." He
was a very clever fellow. He said: "Then you too
have the idea of acceptance and rejection. In that

case you haven't attained Perfect Knowledge." "My
dear sir," I said, "I haven't gone that far."
Lakshminarayan then wanted to leave the money
with Hriday. I said to him: "That will not do. If you
leave it with Hriday, then I shall instruct him to
spend it as I wish. If he does not comply, I shall be
angry. The very contact of money is bad. No, you
can't leave it with Hriday, Won't an object kept
near a mirror be reflected in it?"

EQUAL VISION IS THE FIRST AND LAST SIGN OF RENUNCIATION

A HUSBAND and wife renounced the world and
together undertook a pilgrimage to various holy
shrines. Once, as they were walking along a road,
the husband, who was a little ahead of the wife,
saw a piece of diamond on the road. Immediately
he began to scratch the ground to hide the
diamond in it, thinking that if his wife saw it
perchance she might be moved to avarice, and thus
lose the merit of renunciation. While he was thus
scratching the ground, the wife came up and asked
him what he was doing. He gave her, in an
apologetic tone, an evasive .reply. She, however,
finding out the diamond and reading his thoughts
remarked, "Why did you leave the world if you
still feel the distinction between the diamond
and dust?"

SIMULATION OF HOLINESS MAY BECOME A STIMULATION FOR IT

ONK night a fisherman went into a garden and
cast his net into the lake in order to steal some fish.
The owner heard him and surrounded him with his
servants. They brought lighted torches and began
to search for him. In the mean time the fisherman
smeared his body with ashes and sat under a tree,
pretending to be a holy man. The owner and his
men searched a great deal but could not find the
thief. All they saw was a holy man covered with
ashes, meditating under a tree. The next day the
news spread in the neighbourhood that a great sage
was staying in the garden. People gathered there
and saluted him with offerings of fruits, flowers,
and sweets. Many also offered silver and copper
coins. "How strange!" thought the fisherman, 'T
am not a genuine holy man, and still people show
such devotion to me. I shall certainly realize God if
I become a true sadhu. There is no doubt about it."