Amma’s stories on Unselfishness, Compassion & Sacrifice – 4
1. Equal Punishment?
Long ago, there lived a very rich landlord in a village. He was a miser and lead a life of utter selfishness with no compassion for the poor and the needy.
One day, he went to the village magistrate and made a complaint against another villager saying that he had stolen money from his almirah.
The person accused was extremely poor. When the magistrate summoned him and interrogated him, he openly admitted that he had indeed stolen money from the rich man’s almirah because of unbearable hunger in his family. At the end of inquiry the magistrate gave a ruling that the stealer and the rich man should undergo imprisonment for equal period.
The rich man could not digest such a ruling. He made sure that a complaint about this reached the king of the country. The king called the magistrate for an inquiry. The magistrate spoke to the king, openly expressing his views without any fear, “Your majesty, while I punished the poor man for the act of stealing, I punished the rich man for his act of amassing money far beyond his needs and never coming forward to help the poor and the needy with his money and properties. Even if he could not help the poor directly, he could have at least come forward to donate money to charitable organizations who work for the downtrodden and the needy. He never did that too. Even though God has given eyes and ears to him, he could never see the suffering of hungry people; he could not hear the lamenting of the poor in need of help. That too is a crime according to me and that’s why I gave him punishment.”
The magistrate paused for a while and then continued: “Now I think it is wrong on my part to have given equal punishment to both the persons. I should have indeed given an additional punishment for the rich man for another crime — the crime of abetting a poor person to resort to stealing. Had he donated some money for the fellow villager whose family had been driven to extreme poverty and hunger, the poor man would no need to steal from the rich man’s house. This rich man indeed is the cause for creating a thief. That’s why he should have been punished for it too”.
[Amma: “Accumulating more and more possessions is also adharma; it is a sin. That’s why we should always negate pomp and extravaganza. By saving money being spent on such things, we should divert it to help the poor and the needy.”]
(Source: Amritam gamaya – Malayalam – Vol 2)
2. Compassionate request
Once a school girl took part in a prestigious competition and won the first place. The sponsors of the competition offered her a free trip to Visit USA as the reward.
At the award function, the anchor asked a question to the girl, “How happy are you feeling in winning the competition and getting the chance to visit to USA?”
The girl said, “I am indeed very happy to have won this competition; but I would be happier if I could get the award in cash equivalent to all the expenses of sponsoring my trip to USA”.
“Why are you desiring cash? Are you not interested in visiting USA?” asked the anchor.
The girl said, “It is not so. My mother is a nurse. Last week I accompanied my mother to the hospital where she is working. There I happened to meet a girl of my age, and as I interacted with her, we became friends. I came to know that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. It was shocking for me. My mother told me that her cancer was in advanced stage and if at all she should recover, she should undergo more advanced treatment in a bigger hospital. Unfortunately, her parents are poor and they could not afford any costlier treatment. She would not survive for long in this condition. I felt very painful; such an young girl, who would have lots of dreams about her future, who is not still aware of her precarious condition, who believes she would soon recover, will be dying shortly because there was no money with the parents to save her. Suppose this reward comes to me in cash, I want to give it to the girl’s parents so that they can use it for treating her. That would truly make my winning the competition worthy”.
Hearing her speech, the organizers immediately took a decision to give the reward to her in cash and they made an announcement about it immediately.
[Amma: “On this day of New year, let us all make a resolution to do at least one act that could bring happiness or comfort to others without any selfish motive. Even if we are not capable of doing big things, it does not matter. A word of compassion, a friendly smile, a friendly heart that is ready to hear the sorrows of others — even such little things are good enough.”]
(Source: Amritam gamaya – Malayalam – Vol 2)
3. Compassion is more important than worship
Once a group of pilgrims were travelling to Rameshwaram after taking holy bath in the Ganga at Kashi. They were carrying Ganga water in small pots for the purpose of doing abhishekam to Lord Shiva’s linga at Rameshwaram as per the traditional practice.
Somewhere at the middle of their travel route, they had to cross a dry landscape. It was a hot day and all the travellers were suffering from thirst. But unfortunately, they could not locate any source of water in the stretch. Since all of them were very particular to carry the Ganga water for Rameshwaram, they did not want to quench their thirst with the Ganga water in their pots. They somehow managed to bear with their thirst and moved on.
On the way, a donkey was lying on the road, breathing heavily. It was obvious that the donkey was fatigued by the hot sun and it was extremely thirsty. One of the pilgrims felt pity on the donkey which was at the verge of death. He decided to feed the donkey with his pot of Ganga water. The donkey hastily drank all the water in his pot and felt rejuvenated. The man felt extremely happy that he could save the life of a donkey with the water he carried.
However, the other pilgrims did not approve his act of charity. They said that it was totally wrong to ‘waste’ a whole pot of Ganga water which was really meant for doing Abhishekam to Lord Shiva. They said he lost all the punya of undertaking the pilgrimage.
The man said, “I don’t care if I lose all the good fortune of completing Kashi Yatra; saving the life of a poor creature by feeding it with Ganga water is far more more important to me than doing abhishekam to God at Rameshwaram; I saw God in that poor creature. Seeing its pitiable condition, it was just impossible for me to walk ahead without offering help.”
[Amma: “Four things make an act of charity invaluable: 1) Sacrificing one’s own possessions and comforts for giving to charity (2) Donating selflessly without expecting anything in return or without the intent of getting name and fame (3) donating to someone more deserving than oneself and (4) Seeing God in the receiver, offering a donation with humility. We all must develop the above attitude and do good to others. If we do charity with this attitude, we will get satisfaction and prosperity in our lives”.]
(Source: Amritam gamaya – Malayalam – Vol 2)
4. Indebtedness
Once a hunter shot an arrow tipped with poison on a deer. The arrow missed its target and hit the trunk of a large tree. Due to the effect of poison, the tree started withering. Soon, all the leafs in the tree dried up and the tree was dead.
There were plenty of birds, worms, insects, rats, and squirrels living in the tree all long. Once the tree dried up, almost all of the creatures left the tree in search of alternative places for their living. But one parrot that lived in the tree for long did not want to leave the tree, because of its indebtedness and emotional attachment to the tree that had supported it and nurtured it all along. Forgetting food and sleep, the parrot grieved for the death of the tree and continued to stay there. All the fellow birds advised the lone parrot that it was meaningless to keep attached to a dead and dry tree and urged it to move on along with them. But the parrot stoutly refused.
The news about the parrot spread across the three worlds and it reached Heaven too. Lord Indra was surprised to hear about it. He wanted to test the parrot.
Indra came to the tree in the form of an old brahmin and asked the parrot, “Why are you so foolishly clinging on to this tree which has dried up totally?”
The parrot said, “I know by virtue of my austerities that you are none other than Lord Indra. You see, I was born in this tree. I grew up in this tree and this is where I acquired all my skills and instincts. It was due to the protection given by this tree, I lived safely from the attack of predators. How can I discard this tree which has nurtured and protected me all along?”
Hearing this Lord Indra said, “I am extremely pleased to hear your words of compassion. I will offer you any boon you ask for”. The parrot immediately said, “Lord, I will be extremely happy if you could bring this tree back to life and restore its original status”. Lord Indra agreed and sprinkled nectar on the tree. Within moments, the tree started to grow fresh leaves and soon it attained its original condition bearing flowers and fruits. Seeing this all the birds and animals which had discarded the tree earlier returned to the tree joyfully.
[Amma: “If only all of us have the same attachment and indebtedness towards mother nature just like the parrot’s attachment to the tree in this story, preservation of Nature would become effortless. Let us develop such a mindset and pass it on to the coming generations.”]
(Source: Amritam gamaya – Malayalam – Vol 2)
5. Personal touch (1)
Once a new Managing Director joined his office. He was welcomed by all the managers. The personnel Manager said, “Sir, we have arranged your room ready at the 20th floor. We have one exclusive elevator for your use, which will take you straight to your floor without stopping at intermediate floors”.
The MD took charge. After a few days, he called up the personnel manager and said, “Please shift my office from 20th floor to the ground floor”.
The personnel manager humbly asked the MD, “May I know the reason Sir? Are you not feeling comfortable there? Have we missed giving any facilities there?”
The MD said, “No. The office and facilities are good. No complaints. All my employees are spread across the various floors down below in this building. I am not able to effectively interact with them”.
“Why Sir? If you call any of them to your room, they will always be glad to come and meet you there!”
The MD said, “No. I don’t want to sit on a high pedestal and demand their attention. I want to interact with them all in a more personal way. I want to know about them, their hardships, their family problems and so on more freely. If I sit in the ground floor, all the people will have to pass through the ground floor only when they come to the office or leave the office and that way, I will have a better access towards them through casual meetings too.”
[Amma: “In a similar way, Avatara Purushas come to the earth for the sake of the common people. They come down to the level of the common man and teach them in a way they can understand,”]
(Amma’s Onam Satsang 31/8/2020)
6. Personal touch (2)
Once in an office, a departmental examination was conducted to select staff who are to be promoted to managerial posts in the organization.
While answering the question paper, a very odd question caught everybody’s attention:
- What is the name of your Manager?
- What is the name of the office assistant who does errands in the office?
- What is the name of the tea boy?
- What is the name of the sweeper in the office?
Practically all the people who wrote the exam wrote the Managers’ name correctly. Some people did not know the name of the office assistant. More people did not know the name of the tea boy. Most people did not know the name of the sweeper.
After the exam was over, they went and met the chief of HR department, who was in charge of setting up the question paper. “We wonder what is the need for that particular question. It is in no way connected with our technical skills, communication skills or knowledge of office matters and procedures which are essential for management.” they argued.
The HR manager said, “In fact it is one of the most important questions that carries lots of weightage. You see, when you people become managers, you are not just going to manage your work and responsibilities, but manage all the people who work under you. You have to be people-oriented and how you interact with your staff at human level is of paramount importance in your success as a manager.”
(From Amma’s Vijayadasami Satsang 25/10/2020)
One day, after partaking the food in the dining hall, many of the mendicants fell sick and several of them died.
The snake was almost dying and just before it breathed its last, it had opened its mouth and ejected poison. It was exactly at that moment the lids of the vessels carrying the food items were opened for serving right below and the droplets of poison fell into the food and got mixed with the food. It was by eating that poisonous food that the mendicants died.
All the happenings of the day ran through his mind. He felt relieved that he could travel so much far away from his palace before sunset. He felt confident that by doing so, he had managed to hoodwink death. He closed his eyes peacefully and soon dozed off.
Once a new servant maid was engaged in cleaning the Queens’ room in the palace. The servant maid who was seeing the queen’s room for the first time was awestruck at the grandiose furnishings seen in the room. The furniture were finely carved, smooth and impeccably polished; the carpets, the window drapes, and other artefacts were extremely fine. The servant maid touched them and felt thrilled. She pressed the queen’s bed and wondered how soft it was.
The queen got extremely angry. The servant maid was shocked to the core. She jumped up from the bed and stood there shivering. The queen took the broomstick and started beating the servant maid left and right. She called out her guards and commanded to them to arrest the maid and put her behind the bars.
In order to vent out his anger, the jester slapped a person standing next to him. That man asked “Why are you hitting me? I have not done anything to you”.
Fortunately, the well was not too deep and there was a thick growth of bush inside the well. So, he was not injured. After the dacoits left, he started shouting in full throat asking for help.
He had heard elders saying that everyone’s fate is written on their heads. The man thought ‘If so, is this the fate of this man? He is already dead, but the skull still contains the words “This is not the end”. Does it mean something more is still pending?’
Once there was a very narrow pass way adjacent to a house which many people used. A l branch of a tree from the house’s backyard had grown outward, interfering with the pathway. People found it difficult to cross the passage and many of them requested the householder to cut the branch.
They had a family Guru, who was a mendicant, always travelling from place to place. One day the Guru visited the village and came to the temple. The boy was extremely happy to see the Guru there. With the basket of flowers that he plucked in the morning, he rushed to see the Guru, fell at his feet and offered the full basket of flowers at his feet.
In the play there was a scene where an old, lame beggar was walking in the rain. He was hungry and cold. He comes in front of a shop and decides to sleep at the entrance steps of the shop. The shop-owner is just shutting his shop and as he notices the beggar, he chases him away. 
One or two who happened to notice the happenings from the two banks started shouting excitedly and soon many people had gathered at the banks to watch the maverick little woman rowing a boat with lots of people successfully across the backwaters. Once Amma reached the bank at Parayakadavu side, there was a huge clap from the onlookers! It looked as if they were excitedly watching a cricket match!
Seeing it, Damayanthi amma became furious. “Edee, what I wanted is just a leaf and you have done an atrocious act of breaking a branch of the tree containing so many leaves! How insensitive and careless you are!” shouting so, Damayanthi amma started beating Amma! Amma had to somehow manovre herself to get freed from her mother and explain that she had brought only what had already broken and fallen.
Poverty was a common problem in Amma’s neighborhood where most were fishermen families; feeding of children in a day would be possible only when the fishermen return from seas with their catch of fish. Sometimes, their arrival would get considerably delayed and the family members would not have eaten anything since morning till late noon. Especially during rainy seasons, as fishermen could not venture into seas, there were families which found difficult even to have a single meal a day.
If a class contained 50 students, at least 10 to 15 children in the class will not have anything to eat during noon meal time. Many children would bring their noon meals in a tiffin box and eat at lunch time. Some children, who lived close by, would run to their homes to eat their lunch. While those children who brought food took their lunch, those who had nothing to eat would while away time in the corridor or in the grounds.
Suddenly, the Sudarshana Chakra came whirling and killed the demon instantly. The chakra started moving towards Sage Durvasa in order to cut his throat too. Shocked, the sage started running and the chakra kept chasing him. The sage ran to Lord Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu but none came forward to save him. Lord Vishnu told him to run back to the King Ambarisha and seek his pardon so as to escape from the Chakra.
He asked his son to bring some milk and sugar. Then, he told him to mix them together and taste it by picking up some milk from different directions in the cup. He asked, “How does it taste?”
In Ramayana, Ravana abducted Sita and kept her confined in Ashoka Vana. Many Rakshasis (Demonesses) were around her, constantly troubling and threatening her both physically and mentally. They were forcefully compelling her to accept Ravana and marry him.
When Rama arrived at the place to take part in Swayamvara, all the rest of the kings who had already gathered there to take part in the swayamvara saw Rama. They cursed: “Oh God! Why did this young prince come here? Will our chance of winning Sita become a distant dream because of this young man? Dear God, How nice it would be if only he could disappear totally from this scene!”
However, the five persons who were sleeping together were not Pandavas but were the five children of Draupadi born to the five Pandavas. When she came to know of her children’s murder, her grief was inconsolable. Arjuna and Lord Krishna were seething in anger; they came to know that it was Ashwathama who committed such a gory murder. They went out in search of Ashwathama. Soon they located him, arrested him and brought him before Draupadi. Their intention was to kill Ashwathama right in front of Draupadi’s eyes so as to avenge for her grief.
But, even before her marriage, Kunti made the mistake of experimenting with the Mantra by calling Sun God. Because of such an act she had to go through the ignominy of bearing a child and the pain of discarding it secretively. Some people may think why Kunti had to undergo such a painful incidence in her life despite getting a boon from a saintly person.
After praying, Arjuna took more effort to construct the next bridge which would be extremely strong. Now the monkey jumped over it and started walking. Nothing could happen to the bridge! He was surprised. As the brahmin and Arjuna watched, the monkey suddenly started growing bigger and bigger and soon stood there as tall as a mountain. Only then, Arjuna realized that the monkey was none other than Lord Hanuman! He fell at the feet of Hanuman with humility. Hanuman now tried to crumble the bridge with his one foot. However powerfully he stomped over the bridge, the bridge did not yield a bit!
Vamana asked for just 3 feet of land as a gift. Mahabali, who was capable of even donating a whole country if asked, was bemused to hear the request for just a 3 feet of land by the young brahmin boy. He thought it was paltry. But when Vamana took viswaroopa (huge cosmic form), with 2 feet, he had measured all that worlds under the rule of Mahabali. With that Mahabali’s ego too was crumbled. At last he gained humility be realizing that in front of God all my possessions are meaningless; even I am nothing in front of Him. He thought, “There is nothing that I can claim to be my own. The whole universe belongs to Him”.
But Karna replied with pride, “Once I set my aim and of focus for my arrow. I won’t change it. This arrow will hit Arjuna’s head and kill him for sure”. So saying he shot the arrow.
Lord Krishna, who was the charioteer, still sitting in the chariot holding the reins, asked Arjuna to get down. Suddenly, Arjuna’s ego shot up. He felt that the charioteer should get down first and then respectfully assist the warrior to get down. So, he asked Krishna to get down first.
Vritrasura then entered into the water. The weapon came chasing him there. Vritrasura hid inside the fire. But the weapon chased him inside the fire too. To escape, Vritrasura hid in the air. But the Vajrayudha came chasing him there too. Then he hid in the Akasha (sky). But Indra’s weapon chased him there too.
He took a resolution.
Sanyasi looked up at him and said, “Oh! That piece of diamond stone?” He searched inside his bag and gave a large piece of diamond to him nonchalantly.
At that time, Lord Krishna came to see him. He wanted to test Karna’s mindset in donating things. He asked Karna to give him the golden cup containing the oil. Karna was surprised. He said, My lord, I am really surprised why you want such a lowly thing from me! Anyway, who am I to judge your motives? Please take it right now”. Saying so , he extended his left hand with the cup.
At that time, his close friend came to him and said, “Why are you crying unnecessarily? Your son has sold this factory yesterday. It is no longer yours!”. The factory was still burning, but the fire in the owner’s heart got extinguished instantly! He wiped off his tears and breathed peacefully.
The boy did the actions as told by the sadhu and went to his home. He came back early morning the next day and the cow was very much there at its place! He untied all the cows and released them. Since this cow had not been really tied, he pulled the cow to get up from its place to join the herd. But the cow would not move! The boy started wondering what was wrong.
One day he attained samadhi. After his last rites were over, his disciples started searching for the book of his teachings. When they located it, they were surprised to notice that it contained just a single sheet of paper. In it, it was written, “My children, know the difference between the container and its content. Once you know it, you too will attain the wisdom that I attained and the darkness of ignorance will get dispelled”.
At that time, he said, “Alright, I will take you with me provided you fulfill three conditions”.
The old servant came to know of the pitiable status of his previous master. One day he came to see him. He brought the doll too with him. The moment he saw the master, he handed over the doll to him. The rich man understood immediately. But he nevertheless felt humiliated. In a pitiable voice, he said, “Are you adding fuel to the fire?”
The king said, “Weren’t you a king before becoming a sanyasi? You have relinquished your country and all the comforts of a king’s life and took up sanyas. For such a grand sacrifice, I bow before you”.
Watching his carefree behavior inside the jail, the enemy kings felt very disappointed. They were also surprised how a defeated king, devoid of any royal power, could lead a happy life inside the jail. They came to meet him one day and asked him how such a behavior was possible for him.
It was very hot and spicy and not sweet at all. With doubt, he bit the middle portion too and it remained hot. He thought “Perhaps this particular piece is spoiled; let me try another one”. He took out another fruit and bit it. There was no change. It tasted hot only. Frustrated, he took out the remaining fruits one after another and continued to taste them hoping that at least one of them will taste sweet, but he was disappointed. His tongue was burning unbearably and he ended up shedding copious tears.
He converted some money into 5 paise and 10 paise coins. His idea was that if we donate in coins, they would look very sizable, but would not cause him too much expenditure. Since he was instructed not to count money and donate, he could now give away bundles of coins without counting!
When she returned from bathroom, she was somewhat scantily dressed. Upon looking at her, the man’s mind got very disturbed. Amorous thoughts welled up in his mind and he felt a deep urge to go and hug her.
Noticing it, the temple priest came to him and said, “This is a holy place; please don’t smoke here”.
Once a Guru was giving a lecture to his disciples. During the discourse, he narrated a funny story and everyone laughed loud hearing it. After a minute, the guru repeated the funny story again. This time only a few laughed. After a while the guru repeated the same story all over again. This time no one laughed.
As the prince grew up and he became the king of the country, he was fully gripped with a desire to be a great emperor. He spent his time and resources in building a huge and powerful army. He started attacking his neighboring countries and won one after another in gory wars. His army went about mercilessly killing enemy kings and soldiers. The countries won by him came under his rule. He ruled the countries he had captured with an iron hand; people were subjected to lots of hardship; his army looted people’s wealth and possessions. His army marched ahead further and further to conquer many other nations. His very name became synonymous with terror and violence in the continent.
The emperor was dumbfounded by what he saw there! The entire area of the summit was full of flags of so many countries and there was not even an inch of space for him to establish his flag. He asked the old spirit what to do. The spirit said, “I have been guarding this gate from time immemorial. I have seen thousands of emperors from across every nook and corner of the world coming here to plant their nation’s flag in memory of their conquering many other countries! You are not the first person to find no space here either! If you want to establish your flag here, simply remove any one of the existing flags, throw it away and plant your flag post there. That’s what all the others did!”
Once two beggars were walking on an isolated path. Suddenly they noticed two shining coins lying in the path. Each of them picked up a coin and checked it. “Ah! this is a gold coin! Thank god. If we sell it, we can lead a happy life hereafter” said one of them.
After a few months, the Sage visited the same village again. This time, he found the village totally different from what he saw last time.
The bullock did not even feel like walking through the filth to reach out to his friend. However in order to fulfil his promise, he reluctantly walked through the filth. His friend mosquito was sitting over some dirt. The bullock lifted up his front leg to crush the mosquito. Noticing the intent of the bullock, the mosquito cried aloud, “Hey you! Stop, stop! What a cruel act you are trying to do? What harm have I done to you?”
Hearing this, Viveki said, “No. Mother has given us very specific and clear instructions that we should use this bridge only on our return journey and not on the onward journey. She has told us that it is very risky. So, drop the idea and come along with me”. However, Aviveki was adamant. “I know all that. I can be very careful and manage without using any stick. I will go alone if you are not joining me”. Viveki refused to give him company and he proceeded further to go to the east side Teakwood bridge.
Once a king, after waking up in the morning, came out of his room to the balcony and looked outside. There, on the street, he saw a beggar in tattered clothes. The beggar too looked at the king and bowed. The king immediately withdrew to his room with revulsion, thinking “Oh! What a bad sight to see first in the morning! It is so inauspicious to see a beggar first.I am worried what is going to happen today. Will there be any arrival of a war or any news of famine?” With such a thought troubling his mind and his heart welling up in hatred on the beggar, the king restlessly paced up and down in his room. Unexpectedly, he slipped, fell down and sprained his leg.
The representative of the first country pointed out the rep of the second country and said, “If you destroy his country fully, we will start believing in your power. We are even willing to build temples for you and worship you in our country.”
“Sir, are you mad? How can I ever give my legs? They are priceless”
The friend said, “At the end of this street where taxi drivers park their cars, there is one driver who hits me at my back whenever he sees me. I have not been able to stop his behaviour. I am getting uncontrollably angry with him day by day. I want to teach him a fitting lesson one day”.
One man was cutting down a tree which was growing by the side of the road. Another man who noticed it and said, “Don’t cut down the tree; it belongs to Government and cutting it down is against the law”. The first man not only did not listen but also started scolding the other severely. Actually, the person who tried to prevent the man from cutting down the tree was a policeman. He left the place immediately and soon returned in his official dress.
They said, “Any fruit in this forest is good to eat. Even naturally bitter fruits are sweet here.”
He started washing them one by one at his kitchen sink. While he was doing it, he noticed that the plants he had kept at the windows were withering because they had not been watered for the past couple of days. He stopped the cleaning work and started watering the plants. As he walked around to water various plants, he noticed that his car in the garage had gathered lots of dust as he had not bothered to clean it since a couple of days. He suspended watering the plants and went to the garage to wash his car.
One day, he called his sons and said, “I am not going to live any longer. I am sharing this secret with you. Please listen; I have got a huge treasure containing lots of gold and diamonds earmarked for your inheritance, I have kept them buried in four huge pots under four different trees in our orchard. After my death, you may dig them out and make use of it for your future”. He breathed his last.
Someone reported the matter at the police station.
His wife died. So many people came to his house to inquire about the untimely death of his wife. His friends and relatives kept on speaking about her excellent qualities and consoled him. Only then the man realized that his wife was indeed an wonderful woman that he had never bothered to understand. He felt very bad about his hasty decision of asked his Lord to take away her life. He started wondering whether he could ever get another wife with such sterling qualities that his dead wife had.
On a night, a thief was on his rounds, trying to locate places where he could steal. On his way, he noticed a large gathering of people where a person was seen delivering a lecture. He went closer to see what was happening. There a Pundit was giving a discourse of Srimad Bhagavata Purana (The stories of Gods, particularly of Lord Krishna from Indian mythology). He was beautifully explaining the childhood pranks of Lord Krishna at Gokulam.
He roamed around the forest shouting “Krishna, Krishna…”. He was gripped by a single thought: ‘If I could locate Krishna and get all his jewels, rest of my life will be carefree’. His motive was wrong. Yet his mind was totally preoccupied with the beautiful form of Krishna adorned with jewels, as vividly described by the pundit. He roamed around the forest for three days, forgetting food and drink. His foot got pierced by thorns and sharp stones. He was bleeding. Yet he would not stop his search. He would climb over tall trees and look around for Krishna. His mouth was constantly calling “Krishna, Krishna”. Finally, having lost all his energy, he fell down unconscious and yet his voice mumbling “Krishna, Krishna”.
But Krishna did not show his face to the thief again. He searched for Krishna like a mad man for a few more days. Disappointed, he took the bunch of golden ornaments with him and returned to his native place; he headed straight to the house of the pundit and knocked at his doors.
He too roamed around the forest, shouting “Krishna, Krishna!” He pleaded to Krishna: “My lord! Am I not fortunate enough to have your darshan? Have I not been telling your story and singing your glories for the past thirty years? I wonder what extra merits that thief who commits murders and robberies could have acquired for getting your darshan! AM I not worthy enough to get your darshan like that thief?” He fell unconscious crying aloud like this. He woke up, cried again and lost his conscience again and again.
Now Indra himself went to see the yaksha; he went there with some humility as the other two, who themselves were powerful celestial Gods, could not grasp who the yaksha was. The Yaksha disappeared and in his place he saw Divine Mother (Parashakti) shining forth as a brilliant light.
One day, he had an idea. He took some stones and placed them one on top of another. Considering that as lord Shiva, he started doing the worship. But the poor boy did not have the necessary ingredients to offer to the deity as the priests in the temple. Therefore he offered plain water, imagining that it was rose water; sand became the food offering and he used pebbles instead of camphor. After the worship the boy sat in meditation just as he had seen the priests do, all the while thinking of Shiva. Seeing their friend doing the puja to the Shivalinga, the boy’s friends too sat around him and imitated him, their eyes closed as if meditating.
The other lady, although she was munificent, always spoke critically of the prostitute neighbor to anyone who came to visit her. Having given something in charity, she would tell them, “look, that woman is a prostitute. Don’t go there”. She would say this even to beggars. Having heard of this criticism, and the fact that the neighboring lady had talked about her manner of making a living to all the visitors, the prostitute’s mind was always filled with repentance. She sincerely prayed to God for forgiveness.
A few passerbys came that side and were curious to see what was happening. They were shocked to find the man sending his young boy deep into the well. They asked the man. “Are you a fool? Hod dare you risk the life of the boy by doing this?”
His son, as he started growing , proved to be very adamant and mischievous. He had least interest in studying. Now the man’s mind was preoccupied with the worries of his son’s future. As he got matured further, he stared developing bad habits; he had evil company; teachers started complaining about him to the parents.
He started selling off their wealth and possessions in order to get money to feed his evil habits. One day, he took out a dagger and threatened his parents that he would kill them if they were not meeting all his demands. Fearing that he would do as he said, they started borrowing money and giving to him, as they have already lost their properties to meet his lavish expenditure.
His wife gave birth to a male child. The couple were not really overjoyed and they continued to live a life dedicated to God. They brought up their child in the ambience of chanting God’s name and singing his bhajans. The child grew up to be a boy of very good virtues. Everyone in the village liked the boy. The parents were not extremely attached or possessive about the child. They continued to be totally devoted to God.
The king’s health went down day by day. It became very clear that he was not likely to recover and rule the country effectively. Hence the old,erstwhile king decided that his younger son should be made the new king of the country. The decision was announced and the coronation date was fixed.
Yet, as they started practicing swimming, one of the boys sank into the water and started crying in panic. Immediately, the mother of the other child who was with them immediately lifted the boy from water. She asked him, “Why are you panicking like this? The water is not deep at all; look at this boy; is he not swimming without any fear? Why are you creating a scene here?”
Narada said, “It is indeed true that you people have been conducting Yagas methodically across many years; but tell me, have you ever had deep love and yearning for God? Were you guileless in your conduct?
However, the second person was not overtly troubled by the prediction. He started looking for ways and means to escape from any snake bite. He consulted many people on this matter, but soon understood that there was no foolproof way available for permanently escaping from any possibility of snake bite. He resigned himself to this fact and surrendered to God for saving him. Moreover, he also took necessary precautions to avoid any encounter with snakes to the extent possible. He mostly stayed in his room.
The pundit went near the farmer. The farmer seemed totally oblivious to the surroundings. His face was shining blissfully, reflecting the inner joy he was experiencing. A feeling of total peace seemed to be surrounding the farmer. The pundit touched him. The farmer slowly opened his eyes. The pundit asked, “Was my discourse so impressive for you?”
As she stood there appreciating its beauty, she noticed that the paint in the room walls had faded and discolored at several places. She felt that the nice looks of the room on account of the chandelier was marred by the wall paint and she immediately took a decision to repaint the walls. Once it is done, she noticed that the curtains in the windows were pretty dirty. She washed them. Next she noticed that the carpet in the room had become very old and the coir in them were loosened at several places. She threw the carpet away and spread a new one.
The policeman got very suspicious. Is this fellow a criminal who is out to do some mischief and trying to evade questions? He ordered the man to climb into the vehicle, took him to the police station and locked him up. The policeman said, “Don’t try to play dirty tricks with police. Tell the truth or you will not be released”.
Once there lived two neighbors who were extremely antagonistic towards each other. One day, one of them went to a wood mart and bought two logs of wood for doing some carpentry works at his house. When he brought the material and started cutting on it, he noticed that both the logs had been eaten by termites inside and they were unfit for any woodwork. The wood mart did not offer any guarantee and hence he was forlorn on account of the loss. For a change of mood, he went out of the house for a walk.
He ran towards the pit and there he noticed that a man had fallen into the pit and was not able to climb up. It was he who was shouting for help.
Hearing this, the Sanyasi asked, “Do you really mean that this entire island and the palace truly belong to you?”
This website has been conceived and being developed by C.V.Rajan. He is a retired Engineer and an ex-design consultant, now living with his wife in Ashram at Amritapuri, Kerala, spending his retired life in quest of spirituality under the holy feet of Amma, Satguru Mata Amritanandamayi.