There was a good-natured
millionaire in the town. Three beggars thought of approaching him for help. The first
man went to the millionaire and said: "O Lord! I want five
rupees. Please give me." The millionaire was taken aback at this man's
impudence. "What! You demand five rupees from me as though I owe you
the money! How dare you? How can I afford to give five rupees to a
single beggar? Here, take these two rupees and get away," he
said.
The man went away with the two rupees.
The next beggar went to the millionaire and
said: "Oh Lord! I have not taken a square meal for the past ten days.
Please help me." "How much do you want?" asked the millionaire.
"Whatever you give me, Maharaj,"
replied the beggar.
"Here, take this ten rupee note. You can
have nice food for at least three days." The beggar walked away with
the ten rupee note.
The third beggar came. "Oh Lord, I have
heard about your noble qualities. Therefore, I have come to see you.
Men of such charitable disposition are verily the manifestations of God
on earth," he said.
"Please sit down," said the
millionaire. "You appear to be tired. Please take this food," he said, and
offered food to the beggar. "Now please tell me what I can do for you."
"Oh Lord," replied the beggar; "I
merely came to meet such a noble personage that you are. You have given me this
rich food already. What more need I get from you? You have already shown
extraordinary kindness towards me. May God bless you!"
But the millionaire, struck by the beggar's
spirit, begged of the beggar to remain with him, built a decent house
for him in his own compound, and looked after him for the rest of
his life.
God is like this good millionaire. Three classes
of people approach Him, with three different desires and prayers.
There is the greedy man full of vanity, full of
arrogance, full of desires. He demands the objects of worldly
enjoyment from God. Since this man, whatever be his vile desires, has had
the good sense to approach God, He grants him some part of the
desired objects (even these very soon pass away, just as the two
rupees the first beggar got are spent before nightfall).
The other type of devotee prays to the Lord for
relief from the sufferings of the world, but is better than the
first one, in as much as he is ready to abide by His Will. To him the
Lord grants full relief from suffering, and bestows on him much
wealth and property.
The third type he merely prays to the Lord:
"O Lord, Thou art Existence-Absolute, Knowledge-Absolute, Bliss-Absolute,
etc., etc." What does he want? Nothing. But the Lord is
highly pleased with his spirit of renunciation, of desirelessness and of
self-surrender. Therefore, He makes him eat His own food, I.e.,
He grants this man Supreme Devotion to Himself. Over and above
this, He makes the devotee to live in His own House For ever afterwards
this devotee dwells in the Lord's Abode as a Liberated Sage.
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