STORIES AS TOLD BY SWAMI RAMDAS -2

STORIES AS TOLD BY

SWAMI RAMDAS

 

28. ACME OF COMPASSION

You must have heard of the three great Teachers

- Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhwa. They have

established their systems of philosophy in India.

Ramanuja went to a Master and requested him to

initiate him. The Master gave him God's name and

also advised him not to give this Name to anybody,

adding that if he did so, he would go to hell. At once,

Ramanuja went to the top of the local temple and

shouted, "I am going to give you all a Name which will

save you. My Master has given me the Name." He

uttered the Name loudly so that everybody could

hear.

The Master heard about it and asked why he did

so in spite of his warning. Ramanuja's reply was, "I am

prepared to go to hell a hundred times if I can save

thousands."

29. THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION

Purandardas was a rich jeweller, but very miserly.

God in the form of a Haridas came to him daily for six

months begging for some help for the Upanayanam of

his son. The rich man refused to give any help. He

abused him and sent him away everyday. This

continued for six months. At last, he threw a bad coin

at him. Haridas then went to the merchant's wife and

narrated that he had been going to a merchant daily

for six months and finally got a bad coin from him - a

bad man. The wife knew whom he was referring to

and did not like her husband to be called a bad man.

She tried to send Haridas away by saying, "What do

you want? I can give you some grain only."

Haridas : No, I want money.

Woman : I have not got any money.

Haridas : If you have a mind to give, you have

enough to give. You have your diamond

nose-ornament. That will quite serve my

purpose.

She hesitated and Haridas continued.

Haridas : If you do not like to give, I shall go

somewhere else.

Woman : No, No. You are God Himself. How can I

allow you to go away without giving you

what you want?

She then removed the ornament from her nose

and was about to give it to him.

Haridas : What will your husband do when he

hears about it?

Woman : What does it matter? I am prepared even

to give my life for you.

Haridas : Then, say ‘Krishnarpanam’ and give.

The woman said `Krishnarpanam' and gave the

nose-ring to Haridas. He then went straight to the

merchant (her husband) under the pretext of selling

it. Seeing Haridas coming, the merchant, in a

contemptuous tone, asked: "Shameless fellow, have

you come again?"

Haridas : I have come here to do business, not to

beg. Take this and give me its price.

The merchant took the ornament from Haridas.

He could recognise that it was his wife's noseornament.

He asked Haridas where he got it from.

Haridas replied that a generous woman gave it to him

as a present.

Merchant : You thief, is it true that you got it as a

present?

Haridas : Thief! Krishna also was a thief.

Merchant : If Krishna was a thief, must you also be

one? Come here tomorrow. I shall deal

with you then.

Haridas left, and the merchant, in a fit of rage,

came straight to his house and knocked at the door.

Hearing the knocks, the wife thought it was another

devotee who had come for alms and asked, "Is that

Gopaladasayya?”

Merchant : Ha, Gopaladasayya, I shall show you

Gopaladasayya by a slap on your cheek.

Open the door.

The door was opened. The merchant asked his

wife, "What did you give to the beggar?"

Wife : I gave him alms.

Merchant : What alms?

Wife : I gave him some maize.

Merchant : You gave him your nose-ornament with

as big a diamond as a maize. Where is

your nose-ornament, tell me?

Wife : I have kept it in the Puja room.

Merchant : Bring it here immediately.

Wife : I shall do Tulsi-puja and then go to the

Puja room to get it.

Merchant : Now you have no other go but to take

refuge in Tulsi.

She was greatly agitated. She performed her

usual Puja to Tulsi and, with folded hands, prayed, "O

Mother, save me from this situation. If you are not

going to help me now, I must commit suicide."

With her eyes closed, she was standing still.

There was a sudden "tuk" noise. She opened her eyes.

Lo! Her nose - ornament had dropped down from

somewhere near the Tulsi! She took it to her husband.

Merchant : Ha, how could this come here? I had

locked it in my box in the shop.

He ran up to his shop and found it was not in the

box where he had kept it.

Now came the great transformation. Haridas,

whom he hated and despised for six months daily, had

gone away. The merchant was thirsting for a look at

him. He started wailing, "Oh Haridas, I must see you

again. Without having a look at you, I cannot live for

another minute. Come to me." Then came a voice

from heaven," Why do you want to see Haridas' form?

I shall come in my own form." Suddenly there was a

flash of light and there stood Lord Krishna, giving

Darshan to the miserly merchant. He no more

remained a miser, no more a merchant. He

distributed all his wealth to the poor and with his wife

left for Vijayanagar to serve in the temple of Vijaya

Vithoba. There he came to be known as

Purandaradas.

30. FAITH IS THE WAY

Faith is a wonderful thing. A certain spiritually

illumined soul was sitting, with many friends about

him, talking of God. Suddenly, a man stricken with

sorrow, who wanted to know God, happened to pass

that way. Seeing the Master and disciples sitting

there, he approached them and said, "I am utterly

miserable. I want to know God, I want to see God." At

that time the Master was telling some story to the

disciples and he had just said the word `pestle'. The

Master told him, "Go on repeating 'pestle, pestle'."

The man took that word with all faith. He thought that

must be the name of God. He went on repeating the

word day and night. He got inner illumination by the

power of the Name. It is said that from heaven a

golden pestle came and took him to heaven because

of his faith in the Name. Whatever it was, he took it

for God's name. By the power of his faith, he could go

to heaven.

31. YOU ARE NOT THE BODY

There was a Greek philosopher. His name was

Epictetus. He was a slave under the Roman Emperor

and he was harshly punished by his master even for

slight mistakes. He was almost everyday beaten by his

master. One day, for no serious fault of Epictetus, the

master beat him so severely that his leg broke and he

became lame. After some time, a friend of Epictetus,

who lived far away, came to see him and finding him

limping, asked him how he became lame. Then

Epictetus gave a characteristic reply, "I am not lame,

but my leg is lame." His detachment from the body

was so perfect that whatever happened to it, he never

thought it had anything to do with his real Self.

32. SERVE PARENTS

In Pandharpur, a place famous for the temple of

Vithoba, whose image represents Lord Krishna, there

was an ardent devotee. He was also an affectionate

son of his parents whom he served with great love.

One day, when he was engaged in the service of his

parents, Vithoba came to the door of his house and

called him out. The devotee said, "Please wait, O Lord,

I shall come to you after I have finished serving my

parents." So, he made Lord Vithoba wait. Service of

one's parents is most important and is held superior

to all other service.

33. A TRUE YOGINI

In a forest lived a great Tapaswin. His wife was a

highly evolved soul. She passed away leaving an only

daughter. The daughter grew up in all innocence and

purity. Her father was getting old. She used to seat

him on a Jhula and swing it to and fro. She was

guileless and pure and free like a child. One day, a

Raja who happened to pass that way, saw the young

girl in the company of her old father. The Raja was a

bachelor and had declined to marry so far, though he

had many offers. Seeing this girl, he told his minister

that if at all he married, he would marry her only. So

they went and asked the Tapaswin if he would be

willing to give his daughter in marriage to the Raja.

The old hermit replied, "I have absolutely no objection

if she agrees. You may approach her and get her

consent."

They then asked the girl. She replied, "I have no

objection. But there are two conditions to be fulfilled.

Firstly, you should engage somebody here to look

after my old father. Secondly, I will bring with me the

clothes that I am wearing now and I should be

permitted to spend one hour daily in a solitary room

in the palace where I will put on these clothes." The

king agreed.

The marriage was duly performed and the girl

cheerfully left her father and carried on the duties of

the queen peacefully in the kingdom. She was very

loving and compassionate to every one. According to

her vow, she was spending an hour daily in a lonely

room, wearing her simple forest-dress. In course of

time, a girl was born to her. Unfortunately, the

subjects felt that as their king had married some

forest-girl, they should not allow her children to

inherit the throne. They requested the king to get the

child killed. The king conveyed this tragic news to the

queen. She gladly agreed to give away the child. The

child was then handed over to two men who were

instructed to take it to the jungle and kill it. They took

the child to the jungle but seeing its beauty and

innocence, were prompted to leave it there alive.

They falsely reported to the king that they had killed

it. The child was soon taken away by another king who

happened to pass that way.

Two years later, a son was born to the queen.

Again the subjects agitated that the son should be

killed. The queen readily gave away this child also. The

men who were commissioned to kill it left it alone in

the forest as before and reported to the king that they

had killed it. It so happened that this child was also

found and taken away by the same king who had

taken the first baby girl. After sometime, another

daughter was born to the queen, which went the way

of the previous two and was adopted by the same

king who took away the first two children. The three

children grew up nicely under the loving care of the

king and queen who had no children of their own.

Now the subjects requested the king to send the

queen back to the forest and marry another - a

princess, - as they thought there was no use having a

queen whose children were unfit for the throne. The

king told the queen about this. She cheerfully fell in

with the idea and went back to her father and started

to serve him as before, swinging him on the Jhula. She

was as happy as ever. She had no regrets, because she

took all that happened in such a detached spirit that

life was to her, nothing short of a dream.

Some years passed. The king, who sent back his

queen to the forest, decided upon marrying the

daughter of the king of the neighbouring State. The

marriage was settled. As there was no female

member in the palace for making the necessary

preparations, the subjects requested the king to send

for the former queen and ask her to arrange

everything for the king's wedding. They all knew that

the former queen was very wise in managing all

affairs. The king sent messengers to the forest to call

her. She came willingly and supervised the

preparations for her husband's marriage.

Before the function commenced, however, the

father of the bride told the king in the presence of the

assembly, "I wish to tell you some details of my family

before the marriage takes place. These three children

of whom you are going to marry the eldest are not

really mine. I found them all one by one in the forest. I

took them to my kingdom and brought them up."

Now the king - the bridegroom - suspected that

the bride was perhaps his own daughter and that the

other two were also his children. He sent for the two

men who were ordered to kill them. On being

questioned they confessed that they did not kill the

children and begged to be pardoned. After careful

enquiries, he was convinced that they were his own

children. Of course, he could not marry his own

daughter. So the marriage was cancelled. All were

pleased with the result. The people of the kingdom

highly appreciated the good and lofty qualities of the

queen who calmly passed through the severe trials

that befell her. They then prayed that she should not

go back to the forest but should remain in the palace

as the queen. She agreed to the proposal.

See how detached the queen was while living and

moving in the world. That was because she was

brought up in her most impressionable age by a saint,

in an atmosphere far removed from worldly

distractions. So she had developed detachment from

worldly pleasures and position.

34. HOW AMAZING - THE POWER OF GOD’S

NAME!

There was a woman saint who lived with her Guru

serving him. Both were votaries of the divine Name.

She used to prepare cow-dung cakes which are used

as fuel in India. She would put them up in the sun for

drying. One day a neighbouring woman had also

prepared similar cakes and spread them out nearby.

When the cakes were dry, the woman saint and her

neighbour went to collect them. The cakes had all got

mixed up somehow. The neighbour wanted to take,

besides her own cakes, the cakes of the saint also.

Hearing of it, the Master, whom the woman saint was

serving, said he could easily find out the cakes

prepared by his disciple. He took each cake and placed

it near his ear. In some of them, he heard the sound

of God's name. Those in which God's name was being

sung, were sorted out from the others - these

belonged to his disciple. Thus the dispute was settled.

As the woman saint was always repeating God's

name, even while preparing the cow-dung cakes, the

cakes absorbed the divine vibrations and her Master

could hear God's name in them!

35. LONGING FOR THE MOTHER

Once several years ago, Ramdas was living in a

cave on the top of a hill from where he used to come

down for bathing in a tank. Near the tank was a resthouse

intended for wandering mendicants. One day,

after his bath, Ramdas went to the rest-house where

he saw a party of seven or eight young men who had

come from the town for a picnic. The town was about

four miles from the rest-house. These young men had

brought with them a child, may be a year or two old.

Perhaps, they thought it would be great fun to have

the child with them during the picnic. Each one by

turns played with the child and kept it quite happy

and cheerful.

After sometime they found the child getting

restless. It was looking in every direction for

something which it missed and was crying. The young

men made out that the child was thinking of its

mother. But she was far away in the town. So they

tried to divert the child's attention by giving it some

sweets, toys, and so on. It kept quiet for sometime,

but again turned its eyes here and there and started

crying, "Mother!" The young men got frightened as it

was not possible to take the child to its mother soon.

They brought some more toys and some more

sweets, but all these interested the child only for a

few minutes after which it started crying again for the

mother. Now the child grew more restless, fell on the

ground and cried aloud, beating its hands and feet.

So, one of the young men had to take the child at

once on his shoulders and run to the town for handing

it back to its mother.

We must be like that child, without any serious

attraction for the toys with which we play in the

world, and be satisfied only when we get the

Mother.i.e God. The Guru will take us to the Mother's

place, or the Mother Herself will come to us. It is the

Guru who brings us into contact with God. Here, the

man who took the child to its mother is something like

the Guru. So, if our longing for God is as intense as

that of the child, no time will be lost in getting Him;

we are sure to have His vision.

36. PLEASURE GOES WITH PAIN

A man was passing on the road when he saw a

blind man. He wanted to take the blind man to his

house for dinner. But as he had to go in a hurry, he

told the blind man to come to his house and have

dinner with him. He went to his wife and asked her to

have one more meal prepared as he had invited a

blind man for dinner. His wife replied she would

prepare two extra meals. When asked why she was

preparing meals for two instead of one, she said, "The

blind man cannot come alone, he will be led by

another."

This illustration is to show that worldly happiness

does not come to us alone but is always accompanied

by sorrow. Pleasure born of material things is always

mixed with sorrow. The objects of the senses cannot

give us unmixed happiness; this is the experience of

every one of us. We must, therefore, rise above the

pairs of opposites and, going deep into the heart,

discover the eternal source of joy within and behold

the whole universe as Divine, ever filled with light, joy

and peace.

37. GOD IS HIS OWN DEVOTEE

In the Bhagavad Gita, it is said that a devotee who

has attained Jnana or liberation is verily God Himself.

Lord Krishna showed the world how He venerated

those who had reached this blessed state. His humble

devotee, Sudama, went to have His Darshan in

Dwaraka. As soon as He saw Sudama, He received

him, placed him on His throne and worshipped him.

On another occasion, when Narada went for the

Darshan of Krishna in Dwaraka, he was told, at the

entrance of the palace of Krishna, that Krishna was

not then available for Darshan.

When asked for the reason, Narada was told that

the Lord was engaged in His usual worship. Narada

was surprised to hear this and wondered whom

Krishna worshipped, He Himself being the Supreme

God. So he went inside quietly and peeped into the

room where Krishna was sitting for worship. He saw

Krishna busy worshipping the images of Prahlada,

Ambarisha, Draupadi, Valmiki, Narada and others.

Narada went inside and asked Krishna what He was

doing. Then Krishna said, "I am worshipping these

devotees who are the images of my God."

38. MIND CONTROL

An itinerant Sadhu, in the course of his

wanderings, came to a village and settled himself

down in a temple for some days. He used to sit quiet

and serene on one of the verandahs of the temple. He

was hardly going out, and spent all his time inside the

temple. The Pujari of the temple, finding in the Sadhu

high spiritual qualities, gave him at mid-day a part of

the food offered to God as Naivedyam. The Sadhu

lived only on one meal a day. This went on for some

days. One day, the manager of the temple happened

to pay his periodical visit to the temple for inspection.

He saw the Pujari in the act of giving food offered to

God to the Sadhu. The manager did not like this. He

told the Pujari, "Why do you feed this lazy fellow? He

is sitting quietly without doing anything. Such people

do not deserve to be given food. So I order you not to

feed him any more."

The Pujari obeyed. The Sadhu did not mind the

stoppage of food to him. He would go out at mid-day,

beg for food in two or three houses, and having

satisfied his hunger, return to his seat in the temple in

about half-an-hour's time. Thereafter, he would

continue to sit silent in his Asan until the next day.

Thus the Sadhu continued to live in the temple.

About a week later, the manager, as usual, came

and saw the Sadhu sitting quietly as before at the

same place in the temple. He came to know from the

Pujari that the Sadhu did not receive any food from

the temple and that he was satisfying his hunger by

begging.

Now, the manager, getting interested in the

Sadhu, was curious to know why he was sitting the

whole day doing practically nothing. He went up to

the Sadhu and, sitting near him, asked him "Sadhuji,

what is the meaning of your sitting the whole day

without stirring out?"

The Sadhu replied, "I will give you the answer in

five minutes. Please wait."

The manager waited. Five minutes passed. But no

answer came from the Sadhu. The manager reminded

the Sadhu about his question. The Sadhu again said,

"Brother, will you wait for five minutes more to get

the answer?" The manager, with a little impatience,

told the Sadhu he would wait for five minutes more

but would not do so any longer.

Again five minutes passed. Still the Sadhu was

silent. Then the manager questioned him a little

sternly, "What is this, Sadhuji, ten minutes have

passed and you have not yet answered my question?"

The Sadhu calmly replied, "Brother, will you please

wait for another five minutes?" The manager was

impatient and excited at what the Sadhu said. He

stood with his watch in hand and told the Sadhu

finally, "Look here, Sadhuji, I have a lot of work to

attend to. I cannot afford to idle away my time like

you. I give you five minutes more for the answer. If

you do not fulfil my wish, I will go away."

The manager waited for five minutes more and

no answer came. In a huff, grumbling and in an

irritated mood, the manager went out of the temple.

When he had gone a few yards, he stopped and

reflected - "I cannot sit at one place for 15 minutes

quietly, whereas the Sadhu is there on the verandah

all the 24 hours except for a short period. What

tremendous power and control he has over his mind!"

His admiration for the Sadhu became very great. He

turned back and, entering the temple, called the

Pujari and said, "Pujari, from tomorrow, you should

feed the Sadhu from the offerings of food to the Deity

as you were doing before as long as he chooses to

stay in the temple." After saluting the Sadhu in all

humility and reverence the manager left.

Verily, to control the mind and sit steadily at one

place without the thought of moving about is not a

joke. Only rare souls who have subdued the mind by

concentration upon God can do this.

39. SURRENDER AND YOU GET GOD

In a house there was a pot of curds kept in the

kitchen. The pot was not covered. Two frogs, one big

and the other small, while hopping about, fell into the

pot of curds. Both of them struggled for some time to

get out, but could not do so. The bigger frog gave up

all hopes, kept quiet, and sank to the bottom and

died. The smaller frog did not want to give in easily.

He struggled and struggled for hours together. He was

now completely exhausted and therefore kept quiet

for some time. By the frog's continuous struggles and

his constant movements in the curd pot, the curd was

churned and butter was formed on its surface. When

the frog stopped struggling through exhaustion and

became still, the butter gradually formed itself into a

lump. This gave a chance for the frog to leap out of

the pot.

It is clear from this story that struggle or Sadhana

is essential to secure freedom from the toils of

worldly life. You should strive hard to get God and

when you are completely exhausted in the effort and

lie still in surrender at His feet, He comes to you as

your saviour.

40. COMPASSION TO THE REVILER

Buddha is a great example of one who, through

the attainment of Nirvana, had love and compassion

towards all living creatures whether they were good

or bad. Once, in the course of his wanderings for

spreading the message of Dharma, he went to a

certain place where lived a man who did not

appreciate the life and mission of Buddha. The man

went up to Buddha and hurled abuses at him. Buddha

smiled and felt great compassion for him. In his

serene way, he told the man, "Friend! I am not at all

affected by what you said to me. Suppose you offer a

fruit to anyone and the fruit is not accepted by him,

where does it go?" It was a simple question and the

man answered. "Of course, it comes back to me."

"Friend," said Buddha again, "I can tell you I have

not accepted your abuses."

That very instant, a change came over the man.

He fell at Buddha's feet and prayed for pardon. It is

rightly said by a famous saint that God dwells in that

heart in which there is compassion, forgiveness and

peace.

41. BE NEAR GOD ALWAYS

Once a saint was passing through a street. On

the verandah of a house, a man was making flour on a

grinding stone. When the rice grains were being

crushed between the two stones, he thought within

himself that he too, like those grains of rice, was

suffering untold miseries in this worldly life. At this

thought, his heart was moved and he began to cry.

The saint seeing him thus, went up to him and asked,

"Brother, why are you crying?" The man replied that

he felt he was like the grains of rice which were being

crushed between the two stones. Then the saint

asked him to lift up the upper stone and showed him

how the grains near the centre peg remained whole

and uncrushed, while those that had moved away

from the peg had been powdered. He exhorted the

grinder, "Look here, if you remember God and be near

Him, you will never be caught in the meshes of the

world. You must always be devoted to God, and then

you will be able to live in the world just like the

uncrushed grains which are in close touch with the

peg. You will then remain unaffected by adversities

incidental to worldly life."

42. SEE GOD EVERYWHERE

During the fight between Rama and Ravana,

there came a time when all the monkeys who formed

the army of Rama, were attacked by the Rakshasas

with such a terrible destructive force that their

condition was most precarious. Sri Rama, seeing the

pain and panic of His monkeys, decided to do

something to save the situation. By His divine power,

He suddenly changed the combatants on both the

sides into His own form. All the monkeys of Sri Rama's

army and all the Rakshasas of Ravana's army now

appeared as Sri Rama Himself. Thus each monkey saw

the other monkey on the battlefield as his Lord Sri

Rama and so embraced him and danced with joy

whereas every Rakshasa saw the other Rakshasa as Sri

Rama - his avowed enemy. So, they fought ferociously

among themselves in the battle-field and killed one

another.

If, like His monkeys, you also see Rama

everywhere with the eye of faith and devotion, fear

will vanish from you. You will have nothing but love

flowing from your hearts. You will love all alike and

swim in an ocean of bliss.

43. YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK

In a school, a teacher was giving lessons to a class.

He noticed that one of the boys was not attentive to

the lessons taught. His mind seemed to be

somewhere else. The teacher asked the boy why he

was so inattentive. The boy admitted that his mind

was not in the lessons. He had a bull in his house

which he loved so much that he was always thinking

of it alone when away from the house. The teacher

then asked the boy to go to a hill nearby, sit there and

think of the bull as long as he liked. The boy

accordingly sat on the hill consecutively for seven

days, thinking only of his beloved bull.

After seven days, he felt he had no more to

think of the bull and so decided to attend his class. He

went and waited outside the class. The teacher from

the class-room asked him to enter the class if he had

done with the meditation on the bull. The boy replied

that he was not going to the hill any more but that he

could not enter the class-room as his horns were too

long to allow him to pass through the door. By

constant thought of the bull, the boy felt that he had

become the bull itself. Such is the power of

concentrated thought. By this concentration on the

bull, he came to believe that he was the bull. Whereas

a man, whose real nature is already divine, can attain

Divinity more easily by fixing his mind on God in

meditation.

44. KING'S SECRET WAS OUT

There lived a king and a queen. The queen was a

very devoted woman, engaged most of the time in the

worship of God and repetition of His name. She was

happy in every way except one thing, namely, that her

husband was not devoted to God. She wished so

much that her husband should also have faith and

devotion. She never saw him sitting for prayers or

repeating God's name.

Once when the queen woke up at midnight from

sleep, she heard the king, who was sleeping by her

side, uttering "Ram, Ram" in his sleep. This gave her a

pleasant surprise. To hear her husband repeating

God's name even in sleep was not an ordinary joy to

her. To celebrate the great event, she arranged for a

festival and a grand feast the next day. When the king

found the great preparations going on for an unusual

festival, he enquired of the queen as to what the

matter was.

The queen replied that it was a very important

day in her life as she had heard him uttering God's

name the previous night in his sleep. Hearing this, the

king was taken aback. He was extremely sorry that the

spiritual discipline which he had carried on so long in

secret, was then revealed to others.

45. A TRUE MIRACLE

There was once a king in India. One of his many

servants received divine grace with the result that his

mind turned towards God. After devoting himself to

God for some time, he found that he could no longer

serve the king. So he gave up his job and went to the

Himalayas for performing austerities. Some years

later, he realised God and came down to the plains to

work for the benefit of humanity - what in Sanskrit is

called Loka Sangraha.

In that connection, he decided to perform a great

Yagna or sacrifice. Sacrifices are done in India by

offering oblations to God through fire for gaining

particular ends. In this case, the end was the securing

of plenty and prosperity for humanity. The saint

invited donations for this great work from various

princes and other rich men he knew. He was very

popular already. So, large donations poured in. He

had sent his appeal also to the king under whom he

had served some years ago. Though the king did not

make out from whom he had received the appeal, he

too sent a decent amount as his contribution for the

sacrifice. When the day of the sacrifice arrived, all the

donors came and attended the function. The Yagna

was performed on a very large scale and many people

were present, among them this king was also one. The

king could not recognise the Yogi, because he had left

him many years earlier and had by then completely

changed in appearance.

After the whole function was over, when the

guests were about to take leave of the Yogi, they

approached him one by one for bidding farewell. The

king also went to him and, kneeling before him, said,

"O Lord, I hear you possess great miraculous powers.

Will you be kind enough to show me a miracle?"

The Yogi replied, "The miracle has already been

performed."

"How?" asked the king, in surprise, "I have not

seen any miracle here."

Then the Yogi smilingly said, "Need I say I was

your servant some years ago? Whenever you

beckoned me, I used to run up to you and bend

before you to receive orders. Now, I am sitting and

facing you like a king and you are bowing before me.

Can there be a greater miracle than this?"

46. GOD SAVES HIS DEVOTEE

Under the Nawab of Bijapur there was a

revenue officer in charge of the Mangalwedha Taluka.

His name was Damaji. He was a great Bhakta of

Vithoba. In those days, taxes and rent from

landowners were collected by the village officers in

kind, i.e., in the form of rice and wheat, and stored in

a godown. So the godown at Mangalwedha was full of

grains, collected as taxes and rent. There was once a

great famine in the Taluka and people were starving.

They came to Damaji for help. He gave whatever he

had and finally distributed all the grains from the

government godown to the starving people.

The head-clerk of Damaji was jealous of him and

thought that if Damaji were to be removed from his

office, he would get a chance to take his place. So he

sent information to the Nawab of Bijapur that Damaji

had distributed all the government grains to the

people. Hearing the news, the Nawab immediately

sent his men to arrest Damaji and bring him before

the Nawab. When the sepoys reached Mangalwedha,

Damaji was performing Kirtan. The sepoys interrupted

it and wanted Damaji to follow them. Damaji told his

people that he was summoned by the Nawab to see

him at once, and left. Beholding His devotee in great

trouble Vithoba decided to go to the rescue of Damaji.

Vithoba took the form of a Pariah, appeared before

the Nawab and said, "I am the servant of Damaji of

Mangalwedha. He has sent with me the money to

cover the full value of grains due to you as taxes and

rent."The Nawab replied," That will amount to lakhs

of rupees. How are you going to pay it? Where have

you got the money? "The Pariah said," I have got it

here. You may take the money from this bag." So

saying, he handed over to the Nawab a small bag. The

Nawab emptied it and got the money counted. It

contained the exact amount due to him by Damaji. As

required, the Nawab then gave the Pariah a receipt

for the money.

The Nawab was fascinated on seeing the strange

Pariah with his lustrous eyes, radiant face and

attractive features. When asked to give his name, he

said, "I am only a poor servant of Damaji. My name is

Vithoo Mahar," and disappeared. The Nawab was

simply mad after Vithoo Mahar. He ran here and there

to find the Pariah. But nowhere could he be found.

The Nawab refused to take food and drink until he

met the Pariah again. Two or three days passed. Now

the sepoys brought Damaji before the Nawab. The

Nawab was surprised on seeing Damaji and asked,

"Why have you come? There is no charge against you.

The money due to me has been paid up by you three

days ago. Your servant Vithoo Mahar came and paid

it. I want to see your servant again. Where is he?"

Damaji : I have not paid you the money. I have no

servant named Vithoo Mahar.

Nawab : How can it be? He has paid in cash all the

money - the full value of the corn - and I

have given him a receipt also.

Damaji was astonished to hear this. He had a

copy of the Bhagavad Gita in his hand. A small piece of

paper was protruding from it. The Nawab asked what

it was. Damaji took it out and found to his surprise

that it was the receipt, the one given by the Nawab to

Vithoo Mahar.

Nawab : You said that you did not know about Vithoo

Mahar. He has handed over the receipt to

you. So you surely know about him.

Otherwise how could you be in possession of

the receipt I gave him?

Damaji was greatly perplexed and did not know

what to say.

Nawab : Now I want to see Vithoo Mahar. You must

show him to me.

Damaji : Oh Lord, you have saved me from one

trouble and put me into another. The Nawab

wants to see Vithoo Mahar. How can I show

him whom I have myself not seen?

92

Damaji then took the Nawab to Pandharpur for

Darshan of Vithoba. Both of them stood in front of the

Deity.

Nawab : I do not want to see the stone idol. I want to

see Vithoo Mahar. You should show him to

me.

Then Lord Vithoba revealed Himself to both of

them in the form of Vithoo Mahar. The Pariah who

handed over the money to the Nawab was standing in

front of them in place of the stone image. Thus the

Lord saved His devotee and gave Darshan to the

Nawab also. The Samadhi of Damaji and that of the

Nawab are side by side in Mangalwedha.

47. THE TWO BIRDS

When we turn our gaze from the world to

God, we grow into His likeness and become one with

Him. Otherwise we are subject to all kinds of anxiety

and miseries. Here is an example.

On a tree were two birds. One was seated on the

top most branch of the tree, still, calm, serene and

peaceful. The other bird on the lower branch was

hopping from branch to branch, in pursuit of the fruits

of the tree. It would once eat sweet fruit and feel

happy and at another time eat raw or sour fruit and

feel unhappy. It was restless and running about

constantly for objects that yielded it momentary joy

and grief. At last, it aspired to achieve a peace and joy

which never changes. So it turned its gaze upward in

search of that blessed state. It now saw the bird on

the uppermost branch seated in a state of perfect joy

and peace. That very instant, the bird of the lower

branch vanished and now there was only the one on

the top branch. The lower one had become one with

it.

48. GOD IN YOUR HEART

A devotee, who was very keen on beholding his

Ishta, Sri Krishna, desired to have guidance. So he

asked some devotees he met whether they could help

him in finding Krishna. They said that they had

themselves not seen Him and so they were not able to

guide him. They suggested he might be able to get

suitable advice in the matter from the devotees living

in Brindavan. Krishna's devotee made his way directly

to Brindavan with the purpose of fulfilling his quest.

He went to various temples of Sri Krishna, met the

Pujaris and the devotees assembled there and asked

them if they could give him the clue for beholding

Krishna. With one voice they all said that they

themselves had not met Krishna; so they were unable

to help him in the quest. They directed him to Gokul

where they thought he might be able to succeed in his

attempts to see Krishna. He went to Gokul but did not

gain his purpose. As directed by the people, he went

also to Govardhan, Mathura, Dwarka and other

places. Practically he went over the whole of India,

wherever temples of Krishna existed and devotees of

the Lord resided. But, all to no avail.

The devotee was stricken with despair and did

not know what to do next. In a dejected mood, he at

last sat on a stone in a solitary spot and in a plaintive

voice said, "Oh Lord, I am tired of searching for You.

Where can I find You? How can I have Your Darshan?

Oh Lord, knowing that I am Your devotee craving

intensely to meet You, do grant me Your beatific

vision."

Then a strange thing happened. A charming and

melodious voice spoke from within his heart - "Oh my

child, I am here seated in your heart. Turn to Me and

behold My resplendent figure and be permanently

blessed."

49. GOD IS EVERYWHERE

Once a saint, to test his disciples to find out if

they were conscious of God's presence everywhere,

called a few of them, gave them a mango each and

asked them to eat it in a place where nobody could

see them. They all went with their mangoes and,

except one, returned and reported that none saw

them eating the mango. But the disciple who was an

exception came back with the mango and told the

Guru that he could not find a place where he was not

watched by God, who is an eternal and all-pervading

witness.

50. YOU MAKE YOUR OWN BONDAGE

Once a man went and embraced a thorny

tree. He embraced it so hard that the thorns caused

him intense pain. He was crying aloud but was only

tightening his hold on the tree. Seeing a man pass by,

he shouted for help. The man told him, "Give up your

clutch on the tree and free yourself from the prick of

the thorns." But, he would not leave his hold on the

tree. He went on wailing for help to set him free.

Who, in such a state, can help him except himself? So,

to free yourself from bondage is in your own hands

and not in the hands of others.

51. GOD HUNGERS FOR DEVOTEE'S LOVE

There was a butcher in a small town. He was a

great Bhakta. Even when he was plying his trade, he

used to take God's name mentally, and in course of

time he found it hard to kill animals. He, therefore,

stopped killing. But he had to carry on his business as

he had no other means of livelihood. So he purchased

meat and sold the same at a small profit. For weighing

the meat, the butcher was using a stone which

happened to be a Salagram of whose sanctity he had

no idea. He did not even remember how the stone

came into his hands. He had been using it for a long

time.

One day, a Brahmin who was passing in front of

his shop chanced to see the butcher placing the

Salagram on the balance for weighing meat. Naturally,

the Brahmin was pained and shocked. He, therefore,

asked the butcher to have the stone washed and

handed over to him for closer scrutiny. Confirming

himself that it was a Salagram he enquired why the

butcher used such a sacred stone for weighing meat.

The innocent butcher replied that he did not know

anything about a Salagram or its sanctity. The

Brahmin then explained to him that Salagram was a

sacred object worthy of worship with flowers, sandal

paste, etc. The Brahmin asked for the Salagram so

that it could be worshipped along with the other

deities in his shrine room. The butcher readily agreed.

The Brahmin took it home and kept it in his shrine

room along with other images of God, and carried on

the worship as usual with elaborate rituals and

offerings of food, etc. But the deity embodied in the

Salagram did not like the change. It missed in the

Brahmin's house the spirit of true love and devotion

with which it was handled in the butcher's shop.

Unable to bear the loveless worship and company of

the Brahmin any longer, the deity appeared to him in

a dream and said, "Why have you brought me here? I

was very happy with the butcher who is a true

devotee. He was always chanting my holy names and,

now and then, putting me gently on the balance with

his own hands. Oh, what a soft and loving hand he

has! His touch is like a warm embrace. His heart is full

of devotion. He used to talk with his customers mostly

about my glories. But here for want of love and

devotion, I am not at all happy though you give me

rich offerings, and perform elaborate Puja. Please take

me back to the butcher so that I can again be happy."

God hungers only for love. He is not satisfied with

mere rituals and ceremonial worship. Pure love and

devotion alone does satisfy Him.

52. TRUE SAINTHOOD

The name of Saint Jaffer Sadi is famous. One day

a person's purse containing some rupees was stolen.

Wrongly, the owner of the purse suspected the saint

and caught hold of him, rudely demanding the return

of the money.

The saint calmly asked the man, "How many

rupees were there in your purse?"

The man said, "One thousand rupees." The saint

quietly paid him from his own pocket one thousand

rupees and went away.

A short time after, the real thief was captured.

The owner of the purse was now terribly frightened

over the wrong he had done to the saint and taking

the thousand rupees he had unjustly got from him, he

laid it at the feet of the saint and sued for pardon.

The saint, in all humility, said, "My dear friend,

keep the money with you. What was once given by

me to anyone I never take back." Seeing the

extraordinary magnanimity and good nature of the

saint, the man felt great repentance and became one

of his ardent devotees.

53. VIVEK - TRUE COUNSELLOR

In the kingdom of Dehapuri, Mind was the ruler and

Vivek was the minister. The king had six friends. They

were Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and

Matsarya. The king, Mind, in the company of these

friends, engaged himself in all sorts of evil ways and

made Dehapuri subject to all vices. When the

minister, Vivek, advised the king to go on the proper

path, the latter would not listen but would obey the

false friends. Things gradually got worse. One day, the

king was found heavily drunk rolling in the streets.

Another day, he was found unconscious in a gutter.

The minister, Vivek, rescued him. Later on, the king

realised his folly in following the advice of his six false

friends and in not paying heed to his minister's

counsel. He was able to realise this only after

experiencing great misery. Now he repented for

having wasted his life so long and resolved finally to

break off his connection with the false friends and act

only as Vivek advised.

Lastly, the king, Mind, as a Sannyasi in Gerrua

clothes with his head shaven, Mala on and a

Kamandal by his side, was sitting calm and serene.

From a distance, the old friends, Kama, Krodha, etc.,

were looking at him, not daring to come closer. They

had realised very well that when the king was under

the control of Vivek, they had no influence over him.

54. ABSOLUTE RELIANCE ON GOD

A devotee of Shiva was passing through a

forest. He had with him some valuable things. He saw

a robber who was about to attack him and he got

frightened. He called upon the Lord to save him. Shiva

then rushed towards his devotee for his rescue. By the

time He had gone near his devotee, however, the

latter had taken a stone in hand and was about to

fling it at the robber to save himself. Seeing this, Shiva

turned back. Parvathi, Shiva's consort, asked why He

returned so soon. Shiva replied that His help was no

longer required by His devotee as he was trying to

protect himself, and so He had returned.

People have no real faith in God, though they say

they are His devotees.

55. HOW PRIDE DELUDES

There was once a Brahmin in a village. He had a

beautiful garden in front of his house. One day, a cow

entered the garden and damaged some of the plants.

The Brahmin became very angry and, in a fit of fury,

dealt such a heavy blow to the poor cow that it died

on the spot. It is deemed a great sin to kill a cow. But

the Brahmin consoled himself thinking that he was

not responsible for the cow's death, as his right hand

with which he killed the cow was an instrument of

Indra, and so Indra was responsible for the cow's

death.

Indra planned to test the Brahmin. So he went to

him in the guise of an old man and praised the beauty

of his garden. The Brahmin was naturally pleased and

proudly took the old man round. The visitor

appreciated very much all that he saw and asked him

who had reared the garden with so much skill. The

Brahmin unhesitatingly replied that he did everything

himself, with his own hands. At this, the old man

turned round and revealing himself in his true Deva

form, told the Brahmin, "So whatever good you do,

for which others praise you, is done by you with your

own hands, but the act of killing the cow alone rests

with Indra and the sin goes to him!" Many people in

the world are like the Brahmin in this story.

56. GOD DWELLS IN ALL BEINGS

This happened more than fifty years ago. The

famous saint of South India, Sri Sai Baba, had gained a

great name in the spiritual world. Once, he was

absorbed in some thought when, suddenly, a smile

appeared on his lips. "In your temple, does any person

come to you?" he lovingly asked his well-known

disciple Sri Upasani Maharaj.

Upasani Maharaj, as commanded by Baba, was

then living in the outskirts of Shirdi, in the temple of

Khandoba, in the cremation grounds near the river.

The temple was dilapidated. Being an orthodox

Brahmin, he had refused to stay in the Dwarika Mayi

Masjid where Baba stayed. He was having Darshan of

Baba every day. He was preparing meals daily in the

afternoon and taking them to Baba in the Masjid. Only

after Baba's meal was over, he would take food and

water.

"Baba, nobody goes there," replied Upasani

Maharaj in reply to Baba's query.

"Well, sometimes I shall come to you," Baba

graciously told the Maharaj.

Some days passed. Once, at midday during

summer, when the earth had become very hot by the

fiery rays of the sun, Upasani Maharaj was taking to

his Guru a plate containing food. Maharaj was

suddenly obstructed on the way by a black dog which

was very hungry. Maharaj thought to himself, "Only

after feeding the Guru, and not before, will it be

proper to give food to the dog." On going a little

distance, his mind changed. Looking back for the dog,

he found that it had disappeared. He walked on and

reached the Masjid. There he met Baba who asked

him, "Where was the need for you to come as far as

here in this terrible heat, when I had already met you

on the way?" When Baba spoke like this, Upasani

Maharaj remembered the dog he had met on the way

and repented very much over his failure to feed it. Sai

Baba remained silent.

The next day, when Maharaj started as usual

from the temple with the food, he saw near the

compound wall a Sudra standing and asking for food.

Maharaj did not even cast a look at the hungry Sudra

who cried for food. He wanted to reach the place of

the Guru as early as possible. So he walked towards

the Masjid. When he reached the place, Baba again

told his disciple, "Today also you have needlessly

taken so much trouble. I was standing near your

temple itself. But you did not care to look at me."

The disciple's eyes were now opened by Sai Baba

who said, "I myself appeared before you as the dog

and the Sudra. In all these resides one Paramatma or

God. I wanted to teach you the secret of

Parabrahman. He is all-pervading, as established by

Vedanta. He resides in all beings. So you have to look

upon all with equal vision, bear good feelings towards

everybody and always do the right action, which is the

highest duty. God dwells in all beings. Recognise Him,

know Him and serve Him in all." Thus, Sai Baba

blessed his great disciple.

57. SAINT IS GOD HIMSELF

A woman who had lost her only child was utterly

disconsolate and grief-stricken. She approached

physicians and temples and pious men and prayed to

them to bring her child back to life. Having received

no help in any direction, she at last went to a devotee

of a Mahatma living in the nearby forest.

The devotee advised her to go to the Mahatma

and pray to him for the fulfillment of her wish.

Accordingly, she went to the place where the

Mahatma lived and requested him to pray to God for

the revival of her dead child.

The Mahatma came to the house of the sorrowstricken

woman and, before a large crowd which had

gathered hearing of the visit of the Mahatma, prayed

thrice for the revival of the dead child. But it was of no

avail. All were astonished that in spite of the

Mahatma's prayer the child did not return to life. The

mother was greatly disappointed and began to cry

aloud. Seeing the pitiable condition of the woman and

feeling great compassion for her, the Mahatma looked

at the dead body of the child and said, "I command

you to get up." To the joyous surprise of the mother

and all the assembled people, the child got up as if

from sleep and rushed to its mother.

108

The moral is - Saints are the very embodiments of

God. There is no meaning in asking them to pray to

God for our sake. Pray to them for blessings and

grace.

58. THE COCONUT THIEF

Once at about 2 o'clock after midnight, we in

the Ashram heard noises at one of the Ashram

windows. We came to the window to find out what

the matter was. We saw two able-bodied Ashram

workers bringing with them a stout young man by

holding him firmly by his arms. One of the workers

related that the man was a thief. "We caught him redhanded

when he plucked coconuts from the Ashram

trees." The workmen said that the man had already

plucked 11 coconuts which were lying under the tree

when they found him.

Mataji told the workers to take him down to the

kitchen and keep him there till day-break. This was

done. Mataji detained the thief till breakfast-time

and, having served him a full breakfast and presenting

him with eight of the 11 coconuts, sent him away with

mild and motherly advice.

A few days later, in the evening, after the daily

Bhajan was over, the Ashram workers again brought

the same coconut thief to the front-door and Ramdas

was called to see him. Ramdas asked him why he had

committed theft again, and whether he would give his

word to Ramdas that he would no longer commit such

thefts. The man felt shy and, lowering his head, said,

"I promise that I will not in future steal coconuts -

from the Ashram compound."

Ramdas said he was not satisfied with such a

promise. He must give his word that he would not

steal coconuts from anywhere henceforth. The man

stood silent for some minutes and then with an air of

assurance he promised not to commit thefts in future.

59. A SILENT MEETING

Emerson, the famous philosopher of America,

wished to see the Englishman, Thomas Carlyle. The

former travelled from America to England by steamer

and it took him more than a month to reach

Southampton.

On landing, he proceeded straight to London

where Carlyle lived. He went to Carlyle's house and

not finding him there, went as directed to the Club

frequented by him. The man in charge pointed to

Carlyle seated on a chair at one of the tables. Emerson

made for the table and sat on a chair by the side of

Carlyle. They sat beside each other without

exchanging a single word for about two hours. Then,

Emerson departed from the place, proceeded to

Southampton, caught a steamer and came back

home.

One of his friends, on his return asked Emerson if

he had met Carlyle in England and whether he had

any talk with him. Emerson replied he felt extreme

peace and joy in the delectable company of Carlyle.

That was all he said.

60. SHIVAJI'S PRIDE HUMBLED

Shivaji was an ardent disciple of Samarth Ramdas,

the famous saint of Maharashtra. Once it happened

that Shivaji was building a new fort for which he had

engaged thousands of workmen. Shivaji used to go to

inspect the construction work every day. One day,

seeing the thousands of workers busy with the

construction of the fort, he felt a certain amount of

pride in being responsible for feeding thousands of

men. Just at this psychological moment, his Guru

Samarth Ramdas arrived on the spot. He made out

from the demeanour of his disciple that a wave of

pride had arisen in his heart. In order to free him from

it, the saint asked him to call some of his workers for

breaking open a huge rock which was lying nearby.

Shivaji, obeying the instructions from his Guru,

called upon some workmen to break open the rock.

This was done and lo! inside the broken rock were

holes in which there was water and which were

occupied by a number of frogs. Now the Guru,

drawing the attention of Shivaji to the frogs and the

water, questioned him, "Shivaji, are you feeding and

looking after these frogs as well, who reside in the

holes inside the rock?" Hearing this, Shivaji's pride

was humbled and at once he fell at the feet of the

Guru and sought pardon for his erstwhile conceit and

sense of self-importance.

61. IGNORANCE IS LIKE DUST IN THE EYE

To realise God is to know the Self which is our

real and eternal nature. We are always That, but

through ignorance we come to believe we are

perishable bodies and changing individual souls only.

What is needed is to remove the veil of ignorance and

reveal our inherent divine Self. Here is an instance.

A man travelling in the train, when peeping

outside the window, got coal dust into his eyes.

Irritation in the eyes started and the man became

restless and unhappy - his eyes reddened. He tried to

remove the dust by rubbing the eyes with his

handkerchief but the speck of dust could not be

dislodged. Soon after he got down from the train and

reached home, he asked his mother to remove the

dust by pouring oil into the affected eye. When the

mother did so, the coal dust came off and the

irritation stopped. Now the man exclaimed, "Oh! how

happy I am!"

The question now is - after the removal of foreign

matter from the eyes did he get any new happiness or

did he only recover the happiness that he had lost for

the time being? It is certainly the latter. But when he

was relieved of the irritation, he felt at first as though

he had got new happiness.

So, in the case of an ignorant soul, the removal of

ignorance means the recovering of Divine

Consciousness, which he had lost, being obsessed by

illusion. We are eternally one with God, only the false

sense of separation must go.

62. LOVE FOR THE DIVINE NAME

Faith in the power of God's name is a rare thing.

Those blessed ones who acquired this faith have

scaled the supreme heights of spirituality and attained

the vision of God. Tukaram, a famous saint of

Maharashtra, was a great votary of the Name. He

would sing and dance in ecstasy taking God's holy

names. His songs would awaken and thrill the souls of

those who went to listen to him. He was in the habit

of performing Kirtans in the temple at his place. Vast

crowds would gather to partake of the spiritual feast

he offered.

One day a friend who attended Tukaram's Kirtans

came to him and requested him to perform a Kirtan

which should excel all those he had done previously.

Tukaram agreed. The following night was appointed

for the unique performance, and the news of it spread

far and wide. The crowd this time was unusually

enormous. The temple was filled to overflowing.

All waited expectantly for the Kirtan. Tukaram

stood up with his pair of cymbals and started, "Vithal,

Vithal" - the name of God worshipped in the great

shrine of Pandharpur. The sweet Name rang through

the audience, "Vithal, Vithal" continued to pour out

from the lips of the saint like a stream of nectar. Love

welled up in his heart, and in ecstasy he danced, his

eyes closed - absorbed in Divine Consciousness. He

went on and on - the sound of "Vithal, Vithal" in his

melodious voice mingled with the music of cymbals

issuing ceaselessly from him. One hour passed, two,

three and on and on the fleeting hours sped, and

Tukaram continued dancing and singing "Vithal,

Vithal". The night advanced unconsciously and the

morning drew near. The faint streaks of dawn had

cast their magic glow in the waking world. Tukaram

stopped and opened his eyes. All those who had

assembled there the night before except one had

disappeared.

One man was sitting with sleepy eyes in front of

Tukaram on the blanket on which he stood. Tukaram's

joy at the sight of the friend who sat up to the last for

the Kirtan knew no bounds. He could not resist saying,

"My friend, I am simply delighted to see that there is

at least one in the vast audience collected here who

has a love for the divine name 'Vithal'."

"None of your devotion and talk of love for the

Name", retorted the man. "I am fed up with it all. The

reason why I have remained here till now is that you

are standing on my Kambal and I cannot go home

without it."

"Oh!" exclaimed Tukaram, "I am very sorry, my

friend. Here, take it," and Tukaram moved away from

the blanket. Instantly rolling up the Kambal, the friend

walked away with it as quickly as he could.

63. LIFE IS BUT A DREAM

A man and his wife lived in a cottage with their

only child. Once it so happened that the child fell ill

and after some days, it passed away. The mother of

the child was sorely stricken with grief over the loss of

her only child, whereas the husband remained quiet,

composed and griefless. The wife saw the strange

attitude of her husband towards the death of their

own child. She made bold to ask him straight-away,

"How is it that the death of our only child does not in

any way affect you? You seem to possess a heart of

stone. You have no grief for our loss. How is this?"

The husband then in a gentle and quiet voice

replied, "Look here, my dear, last night I had a

wonderful dream. I was a king married to a beautiful

queen and had seven children. I was very fond of

them and they used to play with me, and I enjoyed

their company very much. They used to sit on my lap,

climb on my shoulders, clasp my neck and so on.

Suddenly, I woke up and the dream vanished. Now I

find a son of mine has died. I am wondering whether I

should bemoan the loss of seven children I had when I

was the king in the dream or the loss of one son of my

so-called waking state. In this perplexity I am unable

to decide and so am keeping quiet and at peace."

Om Tat Sat
                                                        
(Continued) 

(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of H H Swami Ramadas ji  for the collection)