Story of a Brahmin

There was a Brahmin, a true bhakt of Lord Krishna. He has expressed his views on Mahabharat. In Mahabharat there is a shloka "Bhavami na chirathparth" means God says "I take care of your life, I look after your needs and I will come personally to help you and carry you in my lap from the sea of sorrow."
The Brahmin opinion was "why should Lord take the trouble of coming personally and helping us. He has so many people with him. He can send his employees, his attendants, servants to come to earth for our help. So he scribbled with yellow colored pencil the word "Bhavami" from the shloka and inserted the word "vadami" in his book. After that he went to take bath in the nearby river. He was a very poor Brahmin and very little food was there in his house. While leaving his wife told him to get some foodstuff from the market after returning from his bath and pooja.

God Vishnu disguised himself as small boy of 10-12 years and went to his house. He carried a heavy load with foodstuffs like wheat,rice, pulses, salt, vegetables etc. When he reached his house he called out to the Brahmin's wife and said "See your husband has given me such a heavy load of foodstuff for your house and I am feeling breathless carrying this burden and see my full mouth has became yellow. The Brahmin's wife asked him "child, you are so young and innocent and why has my husband told you to carry such a heavy load. It is not right on his part. What is that yellow colour on your lips?

The child said "this is all done by Panditji." She replied "Has panditji gone mad, what is wrong with him? How can he smear your lips and cheeks with yellow colour. When he comes home I going to question him." She then told him to sit and have some breakfast. The child replied "I have some other work to do so I cannot wait for breakfast. Saying this the Lord who was disguised as a child disappeared.

When the Brahmin reached home, his wife started yelling at him "what is wrong with you? How can you send such heavy load with a small child? The child was feeling breathless by carrying this heavy burden of foodstuff which you had send through him. Now at this old age you played mischief with a small child by smearing the lips of the child with yellow colour. How could you do this to a small child. Being a Brahmin you should not do this. How can you be so cruel with a small child. You put so much burden on the child and made him carry heavy bag full of household eatables like rice, atta, dal etc. and you smeared his lips with yellow colour. I never expected you to behave like this with a small child atleast. This is like committing a sin?"

The Brahmin was stunned to see his wife screaming at him for no fault of his. He could not understand what was happening. He told his wife "Which child are you talking of? I have not met any small child and smeared his lips and cheeks with yellow colour. I have not send any foodstuff for our house. I don't have a penny to buy these things. Today I came empty handed."
The Panditji was surprised because he had not sent a small child to carry food items in his house. He was thinking that who could do this as he had no money also to buy these things.

Afterward he realised his mistake that he had overwritten with yellow ink the word Bhavami to Vadami in the shloka from pious book Mahabharat.. What God has stressed in the granth is true. He started weeping bitterly and said to his wife "Oh, How foolish I am? I tried to correct my Lord's word. He has strongly reiterated everywhere that He will come personally to help his disciples in need. But I was wrong by changing his words. I apologise and beg sorry from my Lord. I now firmly believe that you come personally to help us. You don't send your employees to help. The yellow ink smeared on my Lord's mouth is because of my foolishness. I am feeling so guilty. I thought I am right.

He further told his wife "you are lucky to have got darshan of God disguised as a small child, but I could not get to see him. How my Ego kept me away from my God. You being innocent got his darshan. Lord knew that we are poor and there was very little food in our house. He personally came to help me from this poverty. He gave his proof that he is always with me. In future I will never make any changes. I will accept whatever is written in the granth as his words, Lord's vani."

Firm Belief in God

Lord Krishna told Arjun "Matparah". Have faith and shraddha. Fully surrender to me"
Once there was a round table conference in England during British rule in India. Mahatma Gandhi, Madan Mohan Malaviya and the King of Jaipur were invited to attend the conference.

Mahatma Gandhi and Madan Moha Malaviya went by plane. But the King of Jaipur, who was strong believer of Govindji, wanted to travel by ship. He wanted to carry his Govindji's temple along with him. So a special ship was arranged in which the king carried his God Govind's temple. Many of his employees also traveled with him. He had full faith and strong belief in his God. A special cell was kept for king to pray in his Lord's temple.

While the ship was sailing, after sometime on the way, by chance suddenly there was storm in the sea with gushing winds. The ship was sinking. It was difficult to sail due to the storm.

The captain of the ship who was a Britisher sent messages to his sailors and the passengers on the ship to take safety measures and safety boats to save their life.

The captain approached the king and told him to vacate the sinking ship and take a safety boat. The king replied "it is my prayer time and I will not leave. Let anything happen. I am sitting under my Govindji's feet, there is not need to send any messages. If the ship sinks or no and if I die or no, do not worry and about me. No need to inform me. you can proceed and save yours and others life through safety boats.

The king sat to pray, he was fully immersed in his concentration, dhyan.

After sometime it became calm, there was no storm and the ship did not sink. Everybody was safe. After his prayer the king came out of his temple, he saw everything was fine, there was no storm and all were breathing a sigh of relief.

They all reached England safely. Then the news spread in London about the storm and how with the kings prayer and dhyan, the ship was saved from sinking.

When mahatma Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malaviya heard about it, they immediately rushed to the king, embraced and hugged him. They were very delighted to hear that the king had strong determination and had fully surrendered to the Almighty. No sign of panic.

This news was printed in bold letters about the faith and belief in the Almighty. Everything you leave to Him, He will take care. Do not panic in the time of crises, just pray and have firm belief and faith.
God gives us peace and satisfaction. Lord Krishna has strongly said that "I will save you from mritiyu rupi sansaar. I will come and lift you up in my arms from the sea of death."
There are so many proof that God will come and help us during any crises or trouble. He did this with Arjun, Draupadi, with elephant,Dhruv, Mira Bai, Jana bai, Naamdev. There are innumerable examples and experiences by us also that God exists and helps those who believe in him.

Prayer(Hindi)

Nurture True Friendship

Once two very good friends went on a tour to Rajasthan. It was summer time and weather was very hot. In the broad daylight they were walking along a road. They both decided to take rest under the shade of a tree. They were very tired and sweating due to heat so they sat under the shade of a tree for two to three hours. One of the friends was feeling sleepy so he slept in the lap of his other friend.

It was deserted place. One friend was in deep sleep resting peacefully in his friends lap. The other friend was reading a book as he was not getting sleep. Suddenly a snake came out of the tree and he wanted to bite the friend who was sleeping.

The friend who was awake asked the snake "why you want to bite him?"
The snake replied "This man had hit me with a stick and I started bleeding from my neck. I also want to suck blood from his neck."
The friend said "If you bite him, he will die. You are so poisonous and if you bite with your teeth his whole body will become poisonous and he will die. I will not allow you to do this."
The friend then said "O.K you want only blood from his neck then I will slit his neck and give you that amount of blood which was shed from your body."
The snake agreed.
The friend removed a small knife(to cut fruits,veg.)from his pocket and slowly slit the neck of his friend and removed little blood for the snake. The friend who was fast asleep opened his eyes as he felt the pain. He saw a knife in his friends hand on his neck but still he went to sleep again without making any noise. The friend who was awake gave snake the blood and the snake went away.
The friend slowly and peacefully did some first aid on his friend's neck to heal the wound.
When the friend woke up, his other good friend asked him "it is a deserted place, no birds and animals are around and it is so hot and I am holding a knife in my hand, you are not making any commotion. You are not resisting, not making noise or getting angry. Tell me the reason. You did not suspect anything foul with a knife in my hand."
The friend replied "when you slit my neck, I started bleeding and felt severe pain. I woke up saw a snake and I also saw that I was resting in your lap, I did not suspect anything wrong because I have full faith in you, my dear friend. Before sleeping I had completely surrendered and laid down to you because I trust you. You will never harm me in anyway."
The other friend who was awake narrated the entire incident to him. The friend who was sleeping said " I love you and I know in future also we will always be friend,never disown each other."

Here two friends trust each other. But do we trust God the same way. Always doubting.
If you maintain such relations with God, he will help you in need. So surrender fully to God.

Satva Guna

There are three gunas(qualities) of nature. Satva guna, Rajo Guna and Tamoh Guna.
In satva guna we try to speak truth and search truth. In extreme of satva guna we go into samdhi. In Rajoh guna twenty four hours our mind is filled with desires. We don't get sleep, we are all the time thinking and wanting. There are endless desires and restlessness. But if this continues for long we become abnormal.
In tamoh guna people get very angry, they become very stubborn. In extreme anger his whole body starts trembling and sometimes it may lead to death. People feel jealous, lazy, there is no willingness. Mostly suicidal tendencies are due to extreme of tamoh and rajoh guna.
We should always pray to God that he bestows upon more of satva guna so that we can live in peace and harmony. When we are happy and relaxed we should feel that the satva guna is increasing.

When Gautam Budha was born, his father Shudhyodhan had made big arrangements for his birth celebration. He had invited many kings for his son Siddharth's birth. One old Mahatma entered Shudhyodhan's palace to see Gautam Budha. He had come from far off place and was very lean and old.
Shudhyodhan was very happy to see a high tapasvi, a yogi Mahatma coming to bless his son. His happiness knew no bounds.
He touched his feet and said " Mahatma, you are welcome to my palace. I am so blessed to have you here. How grateful is my son to whom a saint like you has come to bless. I had come to your ashram many times and had requested to bless my palace, you never came. But today I am so happy but surprised to see you. Do you need anything. Can I help you in any way?. Is there any problem, please let me know?.

The saint said "I am no trouble. I don't need anything. I have come to take darshan of this child, your son, who has taken birth in your house. I am so lucky to take darshan of this child. I am so blessed."

Shudyodhan rushed and brought his child in front of the saint. When he tried to keep the child in Mahatma's feet, the mahatma said "stop please, I have to touch his feet and take blessings. As Mahatma touched Gautam's feet, his small toe got entangled in Mahatma's hair(jatau). Later on Mahatma Gautam Budha's life was entangled in helping and solving people's problems. He became saint who brought peace on this Earth.

When tapasvi was about to leave, he started crying. Gautam Budha's father asked him "why are you crying? Is there anything wrong"
The saint replied "there is nothing wrong with your child. But 29 years from hence when this child attains knowledge(Nirvan), I will not be alive to see and hear him. How unlucky I am, how amangal for me.
The saint predicted that after 29 years this child will bloom like a flower, he will become a tapasvi. He will attain knowledge and will spread the fragrance peace and ahimsa all over the world. whoever will touch his feet and come in his contact will get moksh. I am feeling sad that I will not be able to witness all this. This is my last birth."

This is satva guna quality. The true saints and tapasvi can smell and feel the presence of satva guna person. They can easily identify the qualities within you.

Nurture Good Qualities

One thing we should all understand that inside our body(shareer) except the soul(the atma) whatever parts are there, are given by the earth, the nature(prakriti). Everything is Prakriti made. Only soul is not prakriti. It is the nature of prakriti to go downwards. It does not lift you up.

If you see water flowing from mountain, it goes downwards towards river. Water has the tendency to flow down. But the tendency of the fire is to move upwards. Fire down not go downwards. If you light a diya or candle, it will blow upwards. If you do Havan. the fire from Havankund goes up. The light from the deepak, candle or any fire goes up. The light goes up. The soul is like a light which goes up. Our soul is like a fire which moves in upper direction.

Like hunger, thirst,sleep, anger,moha. lobh all these desires are natural, nature made(prakriti).
But for dhyan(concentration)prayers, pooja-path, anything that connects to God, you have to find time and work hard. It is not natural or spontaneous. It is easy to learn bad things, but to learn something good, we have to take some pain. For learning good things so many schools and colleges are opened up. Are there any school. colleges for teaching something bad. We would remove our children from any school or college where we feel our child is getting spoilt. To teach good we have to struggle and work hard.

We have to plant good seeds and wait patiently for trees to grow so that we get good crop. Otherwise grass and other unwanted plants grow without any effort. But we don"t consume them We want good and healthy food.

Same way the nature has three qualities like satva, rajoh and tamoh. Excess of Rajoh and Tamoh Guna is harmful but excess of satva guna is always beneficial.

Control over Sense organs(Indriyan)

Lord Krishna tells Arjun in Geeta "Indriyani pramathini haranti prasarbh manah"do not have full faith in your sense organs(indriyan), However strong a man may be he can make mistakes. There may be highly religious saints, munies, rishies but they too can mistakes at times. So do not be over confident that you have full control over your sensory organs.

In Kashi there was saint, a Mahatma. He was very simple and easy person. He was a sadpurush, gyani, big yogi. He had thousands of disciples. He had control over his eating habits. He used to eat very simple food and talk very less. Most of the time he used spend in his sadhana. Whatever he would say it would come out to be true. People used to treat him like God.

Everyday early morning at 4 a.m. he used to wake up and go for bath at river Ganga. On his way there was a house of a prostitute. Whenever he used to pass through her house, she used to come out of her house bow to him and would ask him one question "Are you a true saint?" The saint would not answer, remain quiet and walk towards his destination. This went on for many years but he never gave any reply to the prostitute.

One day the Mahatma passed away. The people in the ashram gathered to pay their last respect to Mahatma's body. Everybody touched his feet. Finally the body of the Mahatma was taken for cremation with drums etc. as was the ritual in that place. The moment they passed through the prostitute's house, she came out hearing the band and the crowd. She stopped and asked them that who has died, who has passed away. The people said that this is the body of the Mahatma who used to go at 4 a.m. for Ganga bath. He passed away today after coming back from bath.

The prostitute was surprised. She went and stood in front of the dead body of the Mahatma, bowed and said "Are you going without answering my question?" The Mahatma came out of the body and boldly said "Yes, today I swear by my heart and my Lord that I am a true saint" and then the body rested.

People say that it is a true story.

This means that the Saint knew that till your death time you are not sure of your sensory organs. They can ditch you. Only God is perfect. Human make errors.

Last minutes of death also you cannot trust your indriyan, your mind. It can change any time.

Knowledge in any Field is Blessings of God

A Mahatma has written beautiful experiences of life and people around in his autobiography.
He said that he used to think that he was very talented, very knowledgeable person. He used to feel proud that he has gained so much spiritual knowledge. He has read so many books. He can give discourses on spirituality and has so many disciples. He said he became egoistic due to this special quality, which was bestowed upon him by the Almighty. He also said "I used to feel I am the greatest because people used to give me so much importance and I could solve many of their problems and queries and I would give them knowledge even if they did not ask for it."

Once he was passing through a village, it became evening and the sun started setting. It became very dark. On the way he met a boy of 8 to 9 years carrying deepak lit by him in his hand. He was carrying the diya towards a temple. The Mahatma stopped that boy and asked "where are you going ?"
The boy answered that he was going towards temple to light diyas in the temple.
Then Mahatma asked him that has he lit the diya which was in his hand. The said that Yes, he has only lighted the diya.
The Mahatma further questioned him"dear son, do you know from where the light in the diya comes or who gives us the light?"
The boy stared at Mahatma. Then he blew the diya and the light went off. He asked "now can you tell me where the light has gone?"
Mahatma was surprised by the boys question. He bowed in front of that young boy and said "you are my teacher(my Guru) from now. I could not answer this simple question of the boy that where the light disappears. I give such big lectures but do not know where light goes." A boy of about 8 to 9 year old boy became his Guru.

After sometime he saw a young woman who was walking in an uneasy position. Her body was not properly covered and her hair was also not tied properly. She dashed against the Mahatma and said "Did you see a young boy passing from here?' The Mahatma looked at her said "please look at yourself first. See the condition of your clothes and hair. You have no shame."
The young woman did pranaam to Mahatma and thanked him by saying " I am madly in love with a boy, I have passed from the big market, but nobody noticed my scattered clothes and hair. I have no idea what I am wearing and what I am doing. But I am surprised you being a Mahatma and madly in love with Parampita Paramatma(God), could ask me this question. You should sympathise with me and understand my condition that being in love you are not in a condition to know what is happening around you. You are not conscious. I love a boy and you love the Almighty.

The Mahatma then bowed in front of the young woman and said "you are my teacher(my Guru), who taught me how to love God, the Almighty. I was still paying attention to worldly things. Now onwards I should forget everything and get immersed in the love of my Parampita Paramatma.

The Mahatma realised that it was because of his Ego he could not understand God properly. But when he met these two Gods loving human being (the boy and young woman), he learnt a lesson that everything the Almighty knows. It is because of his blessings that we are able to attain knowledge. Otherwise in one instance he can destroy us. We should be thankful that we are by him in some field or the other.

Shishyasteaham(I am your Student, my Lord)

One precious moment in Arjun's life was when he surrendered to Lord Krishna and said "shishyasteaham, Shadimam" He said "I am your student, Oh Lord! Rule on me, guide me.Show me the direction"
He was a warrior, a fighter, a very proficient arrow shooter. He had never given up in any war. He was a prince, highly egoistic. First time in his life he bowed, he surrendered to Lord Krishna, a true friend.

In such a big universe do we have somebody to whom we can surrender. We can have trust and agree to lead life as per his instructions. Man is filled with Ego which does not allow him to bend.
Parikshit, a king, grandson of Arjun, surrendered to Saint Sukhdev and asked him to give direction.
That was valuable time in his life. The same way King Janak bowed to Ashtavakar.
Sant Kabir took directions from his Guru Ramanand and that became a golden moment for him.
Swami Vivekanand became Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans's disciple. He gained his knowledge in Swami Paramhans's feet.
There are many true saints who would always guide you when in need. They can atleast tell you that what are you and why are you here on this earth? Don't hesitate to quench your thirst, your willingness to know about Almighty from a true saint.

If the saint is not able to answer your wish, your queries about God then He is not an honest saint. He will misguide you. We know we are all highly educated, we have enough of knowledge about religious books. But knowledge alone is not suffcient. There should be true guide to help us bring that knowledge in practice, help us to preach and be under right direction.

If your desire is genuine and the thirst is real, the Lord knows, He will find a true guide for you. Wait for his blessings and have full faith in him.
As with the blessing of Lord Krishna, Arjun attained the true knowledge and his Ego, Moha all desires vanished. He became pure and said "My moha is gone and it is all because of you, your blessings this could happen. It is your prasad(Tuva Prasadh)

Lord Krishna told Arjun " if you cannot do japa, tapa,path, pooja, dhyan, samadhi, cannot do fast, cannot go to temples or pilgrimage, cannot believe in dharma, arth but atleast you can have shradha(Faith) in me. You only do naman to me. Naman means Na(no) man(mind). You give your mind to me and rest I will take care of." Can we surrender our mind to the Lord which is all the time wandering from end to another. It is never stable.

Amongst Pandavas why God chose to guide Arjun. There was Yudhisthir, who was called dharamraj, highly religious, who would always speak truth. There was Bheem who was very powerful. Even Nakul and Shadev were very kind. But Lord Krishna gave knowledge of Gita to only Arjun because he was very simple(saral) and easy(sahaj) and spontaneous. Whatever was in his mind he would straight away tell or agree, a straight forward. No double mind.

Lord abides in the minds of those who are easy, simple, there is no double thinking in them. They do whatever is in their mind. There is nothing hidden from the lord. Lord knows us very well. He can judge and select only those who agree with him.

Thirst to Search God

On this earth very few people have the desire, the thirst to search God. We pray,do fast. visit temples and other things to please God so that our desires are fulfilled. But our desires don't end. We have no true feeling to search God. There is not need to search from outside. God is within. Go deep in dhyan and you will find there is some light, some omnipotent power within you.

Sikander(Alexander) after winning over many countries was on his way to India. He went near Hindukush. While he was passing near the river, he saw a saint with simple clothes was sitting in his deep dhyan(concentration). Sinkandar was on a horseback, he went and stood in front of the saint. The fakir(saint)looked at him and laughed a loud. Sikandar got wild and said"you don't know who I am? I am Sikandar, the great. I have won over many wars and countries. You are making fun of me by laughing. You are mocking me"

The fakir laughted again and said "You fool. You are so foolish that your are praising yourself. You are trying to force your greatness upon me. You don't look like a great man. You look like a poor beggar. Always wanting, not satisfied."

Sikandar got very angry, he immediately removed his sword from the dagger to kill the fakir and said "either you tell me how I am a beggar, a poor man, or get ready to die."
The fakir replied "I am not scared of death. I have already surrendered my neck to my Lord. Since you want to know why I called you a Beggar, a poor man, I am now going to answer that."
The saint said "Sikandar, for a while you image, you think that you are lost in a desert. It is very hot. There is no greenery there. You are just wandering around and you mouth has gone dry. You are thirsty, you are sweating and there is no water around. You are dying of water and that time I come in front of you with a glass of water. You need water badly. So what price would you pay me for that one glass of water."

Sikandar replied "I am very rich. I will give half of my captured property."
The saint said "but if I don't agree to half of your property, what would you do?"
Sikandar said "I will give you everything that I have for that one glass of water."
Saint said "You have so much property in millions and you are the owner of such a big state. Think again. would you prefer water or the huge property."
Sikandar said "I will not hesitate to think twice for giving up the entire property for the sake of a glass of water."
The saint smiled and said "See the value of a glass of water. A rich man ready to give up everything in exchange of a glass of water. Oh! what a bargain. Now who is a beggar, who is poor man. Am I not richer than you and happier than you."

Sikandar felt ashmed and agreed that the desires make you beggar like a poor man.

This is just an example of a glass of water. But if somebody says I will give you GOD, the Creator for your entire property. Will you agree?.
No we would not agree. We have no thirst, no desire, no eagerness to get God. We are fully entangled with worldly things, where is the place and time for God.

Fear of Mind causes Diseases

Nowadays our whole life is filled with Fear. From head to feet are living under some fear or the other. Day and night we carry this fear with us. The fear to lose your money, your status, your family. Fear of any accident, of ailments and sickness. There are innumerable fears hovering around our mind. It does not allow our intellect to think steadily. When there is some fear our hunger, thirst, sleep get disturbed. Our sensory organs get weak. Our mind get disturbed, whole body get affected due to fear of future and the past and we are gheraoed by various unwanted diseases like Blood Pressure, Diabetes etc.

Remove this fear from your mind. Whatever has to happen will with God's wish. Accept this fact. Have faith in Almighty. If you are truly and honestly dedicated to the Almighty, no fear dare to come near you. Just relax and enjoy every minute of life fearlessly. Just remove that tag of "I" and feel that everything belongs to you My Lord. This whole Universe is your creation. Nothing can be created or destroyed without your permission. Things will become easy and the unwanted load of worries just hand over to him. He is there to take care. Just surrender fully to him.

Some fifty years back a saint went to varanasi to give satsang. It was a rainy season. Swamiji also had gone to attend his satsang and stayed in the same ashram where the saint stayed. He was a very brilliant and highly revered saint in those days.

Once middle of the night swamiji heard some noise. He got up and saw the disciples of saint were awake. Swamiji asked one of them "what is matter, why are you all awake?' Then one Mahatma said that the Head Mahatma of this ashram has been bitten by a snake. The Doctor came immediately. Swamiji looked at that Mahatma and saw his whole body had become pale and he was looking very nervous. People were not allowing him to sleep otherwise the poison will spread.

Swamiji had a torch with him. He said "let me see where is the snake, it can bite others also."
They said that it is in the toilet. It was quite dark and and there was no light that time. So swamiji took his torch and there he saw the snake was still lying in the toilet. He threw a small piece of stone on the snake,but it did not move, again he and other people tried to remove the snake by throwing stones but still it did not move. Finally with a big stick they took that snake out and to their surprise it turned out to be a rubber snake. Some children while playing must have left it there.

Immediately swamiji and other disciples rushed to the Head Mahatma and said that the snake
has not bitten him. It is a rubber snake. Hearing this the Mahatma looked relaxed, his face started blooming and immediately he became alright. Had it been little delay in finding the truth, the Mahatma could have collapsed. This is Hallucination, an unknown Fear.

So always relax, find the truth and keep the devil named "Fear" away from your life.

Path to God

Once a King(samraat) invited to his palace the heads of all religion prevailing at that time. He called each one them in his palace and wanted to know what their God or devta(in whom they believe) has to say. What are their preaching. What do their religion teach. How do they pray and whom do they pray.

Everybody gave their viewpoints. They explained to him about what their religion is about and what message does it convey. Each one stressed their opinion.

The King was not convinced with any of the religion. He was not contented, satisfied. He wanted perfection.

After sometime a saint had come to his palace as a guest. The king expressed his worry. His discomfort towards different religion. He asked him to solve his problem about a particular teaching which would give him peace. He wanted to know Which is the best knowledge.

The saint requested to meet him the next day in his ashram. The king immediately went to meet him. The saint took him near a river bank. There the saint told the king to get the best boat so that he and the king could reach the other side of the river. The king ordered his men to get the best boat to cross river.

The saint was not happy with it. He said "no this is studded with silver. I want something more.
Then the king asked for another boat. Again the saint rejected by saying "Oh, this is studded with diamond. Please get another." This way one by one the saint went on rejecting boats by finding some fault or other. This way the saint did not agree for any boat. He was looking out for a perfect boat to pass the river.

The king showed the saint best possible boats, but saint refused all. Finally, he requested saint by saying " I am sorry I showed you all the boat. But one thing you tell me that the river is so small and we have to reach the other side of the river, then any boat will do. Why so much of a fuss?" Why you to create so much displeasure or find faults with the boats?"

The saint smiled and said "Yes, this is what I wanted to tell you. Life is so short, so pleasant like river water, why you need any special religion(like a special boat). You take any path honestly you will reach your destination. To reach God you don't need perfection or beauty. You need simple and honest path that leads you there. Where we are standing is river bank is Earth, the boat is your Belief(Religious views) and to reach the other side is God's Path. Why so much of a fuss over religion. All the religion finally lead you to the same path. There should not be any force or compulsion. Stick to your Belief and path. Be firm in what you believe.

Stable Mind and Intellect

In Hindu Shastras there is a story of a woman named Shandilee . She was very young and beautiful. She used to sit in her ashram and do tapasaya. She had taken an that she will never and remain Brahmcharini. Once by chance Maharishi Gaalav and Garuda( a bird) reached her ashram.
They saw her ashram was very neat and clean and there was so much of peace. When they entered Shandilee's ashram, they admired her glittering beauty. She was deeply immersed in dhyan. She looked very calm, beautiful and satisfied and busy in her own tapasaya.
Then Garuda told Gaalav " look this Shandilee has more beautuiful appearance than Laxmi. we have never witnessed so much tez and powerful woman adorned with beauty. There is so much light in her looks.

Then they asked Shandilee "what is the reason of your tapasaya?"
Shandilee replied "I want to remain aajanam brahmacharini beside that I have no other tapasaya to do. I do tapsaya for peace, for stability of mind."
Garuda asked "Would you like to get married to Lord Vishnu?"
She flatly refused and said there are many other women wanting to get married to Vishnu. You don't have to worry about me. Once I have taken oath, I will stick to it. My body, mind and intellect are isthir(stable). It will never waver, it will not get carried away by your talks or any attractive offers. I keep to my words. I will firmly stick to my oath. You cannot break it"

Then Garuda and Galave tried to play trick on her so that she may change her mind. Gaalav told Garuda that you carry her on your back and take her to Lord Vishnu and we will forcefully get her married to him. Since Lord Vishnu is most handsome, she will agree to marry him.

Shandilee was a brilliant woman. She knew in advance that they have come to break her promise and they have plotted some trick, some plan to trap her and break the oath. She got very annoyed with them. She took holy water from her jug(kamandalu) and gave them shraap that Garuda's wings get burnt so that he cannot fly and Gaalav's body get decayed as he cannot think evil tricks against her.

They both begged sorry from her, apologised for their behaviour. They promised that in future they will never think of breaking her oath. Shandilee then took away her shraap.

There are very few people who keept to their promises. We should have firm determination towards our goal. How much ever others try to tempt or break it, We should be strong enough to retaliate.

This shows that if you your determined and do not get carried away by people's trick, you can have pwers like shandilee.

Humanity is our Religion

When Pandavaas were going towards Swarag(Heaven) they had to pass through Himalaya.
There were long shivaalya peaks and heavy snowfall on the way. One by one they had to cross Himalaya peak to reach Heaven. But it was chilling cold with gushing winds which they could not bear . One by one they started falling. Bhimsen body could not take this heavy snow storm. So he fell. Similarly Arjun also fell down after climbing little further. Nakula and Sahdev also could not reach due to the strong cold winds. Even Draupadi, their wife surrendered and could not accompany them. All the four brothers and their wife body fell off in the snow due to the storm. Only the eldest brother Yudhishthir could reach his destination.

As soon as the doors of Heaven opened, the devtaas were waiting to greet him with garlands. Dharamraj was waiting and greeted Yudhishthir with the words "welcome to Heaven, but the dog alongwith you is not allowed. There is no entry for your dog. In Heaven all the man don't get easy entry, how can a dog be allowed."

Then Yudhishthir calmly and politely said "please then close your doors of heaven. My brother Bheem, who was so powerful could not come with me. Arjun, who was proficient arrow shooter could not accompany me. Nakul and Sahdev, my handsome and qualified brothers are left behind. My wife Draupadi who used to say you are my life, my everything also could not reach Heaven. How can you expect me to take entry alone. Only this dog, who is faithful and true to me, accompanied me till the end. You expect me leave him alone. I can't be so selfish. I am not worse than a dog. Please shut the doors of Heaven. I don't need Heaven. First my dog will should be allowed only after him I will enter." It was a difficult test for Yudhishthir as he was strong believer of Human religion. For him taking care of everything and being true to everybody is the TRUE RELIGION.

The Devtaas laughed at Yudhishthir. They put their garland and threw flowers on Yudhishthir. They said "Look, who is there with you. The Dog was actually Dharam(true believer of mankind and humanity). That was Lord Vishnu disguised as Dog to test Yudhishthir.

When man dies nothing goes with him. His own body, his family, his money, his status, his country, his property, his children, everything which a man stakes claim of, is snatched from him by the hands of Death.. Nothing goes with him. But his Dharam( good qualities, good deeds, truth, humanity) goes with him. His dharam of being a true human being cannot be snatched by Death. Dharam is True Love and Faithfulness towards all nature's creations.

Keep balance between Praise & Criticism

A true follower of Almighty and strong believer in God never gets disturbed by praise or criticism. He never gets bloated when somebody praises him. Never looses his calm when he is criticised. He leads a balanced life. For us it is so difficult to live a balanced life. When somebody praises us for our looks, our status, our knowledge, our property and money, about our family and so on, we are never tired of hearing it. We love to hear people appreciating us for whatever we have above others. But when somebody finds fault in us, tries to criticise us, we get wild. We don't like to make friends with such people. We avoid people who criticise us.

Do not get carried away by false praise and criticism. Even big saints and kings had to bear all this. Just control yourself. Know to judge your true friend who will not praise or criticise you unnecessarily.
A saint was sitting near the bank of river lost in his thoughts. There was no worry, no tension, no fear or sadness. He was blooming like a flower. But we have everything like family, status, money still we are unhappy. We feel jealous of those who are happy with whatever little they have. A rich man was sitting in his car. He went near the saint. He saw that the saint was very relaxed. He felt jealous and started abusing him. He started using foul language by saying you are lazy, you a beggar, a thief, you don't want to do any work. In anger he spat on him and also threw dirt.
But the saint just smiled, remained calm. The man was surprised that he abused him, threw mud on him, spat on him, still he is not retaliating. He is not answering me back. He is not fighting or getting angry. The man felt concerned. He was also burning with fire of jealousy. He asked him again"Aren't you hurt, why are you not talking?" The saint was calm and peaceful.

That minute another man came. He bowed in front of saint, did pranaam to him. He knelt and washed his feet and said "you are so great, you are my God. I get so much peace under your feet. I feel very relaxed and comfortable when I sit with you. I feel highly satisfied when I am on your company."
Still the saint kept quiet. He did not answer. The second man who was praising the saint asked him"will you not talk with me and answer me, I have so much regard for you?"

Now the saint answered politely "See this man who came before you calls me a thief, a bad man and you are saying I am God. Now both of you sit together and decide whether I am God or I am shaitaan(Devil). Don't involve me in between. I am not worried about with what names people call me."

The saint was not perturbed by praise or criticism. He continued to do his service towards Almighty.

Search of Almighty

A gyani bhakt does not need dharam, arth, kaam, krodh, lobh and moha. He only wants God. He is always in search of God, the Truth and the Peace. Once he achieves Peace and the Truth, he is satisfied with life. He is close to God.
A sufi saint was peacefully sitting in his small house(kutiya). A young boy entered inside his house in a haste. He removed his shoes and threw them roughly and angrily outside his kutiya. He then forcefully and with a loud noise banged upon the door. He straight away went to the saint and without hesitation, without being polite started asking him "what is Atma? I have heard a lot about atma, paramatma. What is it all about, tell me. I have come in search of Atma Paramatma, the Truth, the Peace. I have come from very far. You please give me the answer."

Mahatma said clearly but politely "please beg sorry from the shoes, beg sorry from the door which you banged so loudly. You have hurt them." The boy proudly said "I have never begged sorry from my parents, not even from my brothers and sisters, how can you expect me to ask sorry from my shoes and the door. Who are they. They are dead beings. I don't believe in sorry."

Mahatma sternly said "you have not yet learnt to behave with the shoes and the door and you are asking that you have come to know and gain knowledge about most higher and respectable Atma Paramatma. You have come in search of God, the Truth, the Peace. You don't feel ashamed. Go straight away apologise and beg sorry for your rude behaviour from the shoes and the door otherwise you may go. Your mind is filled up to the brim with Ego, Anger and rudeness, where is the place in your mind for God, Peace, Truth, Atma and Parmatma. You obey and do as I tell you or else quit and leave my house, my peaceful kutiya. It cannot accommodate you and I will not talk to you."

The boy then begged sorry from shoes and the door. The saint said "not with words or in haste but you have to totally bend in front of them (do saashtang pranaam). The boy realised his mistake and did saashtang pranam to the shoes and the door. The saint then made him sit and asked "now tell what you want to know, what are your queries?"

The boy felt very ashamed. All his anger, ego and negative energies got melted. He gained positive thoughts and told Mahatma "I have nothing to ask now. The knot of Ego and Anger has open, I was entangled and tied up in the knot of Ego which has now opened and untied by your blessings. You have opened up my eyes. I am thankful to you."

Equal treatment with friends and foes

Once a king came to Gautam Budha. He was holding a small child in his arms. He asked Gautam Budha "Do you talk bitter at times? Do you hurt somebody by talking rude?"

The king thought in his mind that if Budha says 'No' then he can point out the occasions where he had spoken rough and If Gautam Budha says "Yes' then he can argue that being a saint why he has to use rough language.

But Gutam budha being a gyani could read that king's mind. He knew that the king has come to humiliate him, put him down. So he asked the king "dear friend, this child whom you carrying in your arms by mistake swallows small ball of glass while playing, what would you do? If the child is unable to breathe due to the piece of glass stuck in his throat, would you keep quiet?"

The king answered "No, I will immediately try to remove the glass ball from his throat with my finger and then due to that if he cries, feels pain or anything I will not bother about it. I will be more concerned to save his life and I will try my best to save him by removing that glass forcefully from his mouth."

Gautam Budha smiled and said "Yes, here you are. I also speak rough and rude with some of my disciples to prevent them from going towards wrong path. Now you understood that to save my disciple from entering into wrong path I speak rough language. Though they may feel the pain that moment but later on they will not repeat such mistakes. I speak sometimes rude words with people for their good and betterment. I treat equally to all my disciples and followers. There is no discrimination.