There was a Brahmin who was always engrossed in devotion to the Lord. He didn’t go to administer ritualistic performances. This naturally affected his income and he became poor. A young man, son of his deceased friend, wanted to help this saintly Brahmin, who was always contented and reposed in his Real Self. One day, early in the morning, he took two thousand gold coins and placed them before the Brahmin saying, “Kindly oblige me by accepting these two thousand gold coins. Please be gracious enough not to refuse.” The Brahmin declined the offer.
The young man said, “You and my father were friends. Both used to go to satsang together and accompanied each other in even other woks. My father is now more. At the time of departing, he said to me, He is my friend. Take care of him.’ This money is well and honestly earned by me kindly accept it.”
The Brahmin said, “Your father was a good-natured man and a devotee at that. He has departed this life. May god-bless him with Self-knowledge! You please take back these gold coins. I don’t need them.”
The friend’s son made persistent entreaties but the Brahmin didn’t agree to his proposal. At last, he had to take the gold coins back.
The Brahmin’s son had been watching all this. He said, “You say you don’t need gold coins but we are at the brink of starvation. I have money for either. What was the harm in accepting the money? And his father had been a friend of yours.”
The Brahmin said, “No, he and I had association in connection with the Lord. He was a friend of mine but only because both of us were fellow travelers on the path of God-realization. And then what right do I have to take money from him? This is stigmatic to devotion.”
The son was not to give in so easily. He said, “We are going to starve.”
“Does it mean we should sell devotion for gold? Should we realize money from sadhana or devotion? If we are going to starve, why don’t you work hard and earn money? You are a Brahmin; go and administer sacrifices and rituals. Is taking money form others the way to ward off starvation and if so, why?”
The Brahmin sounded good advice to his son. ‘What belong to me is mine; let me have a share in what you have’ – this shouldn’t calls for utmost purity and sincerity. A little dishonesty mars it in much the same way as a little of sour substance spoils the milk. The more sincere we are at heart, the more easy of attainment will God be for us.
The young man said, “You and my father were friends. Both used to go to satsang together and accompanied each other in even other woks. My father is now more. At the time of departing, he said to me, He is my friend. Take care of him.’ This money is well and honestly earned by me kindly accept it.”
The Brahmin said, “Your father was a good-natured man and a devotee at that. He has departed this life. May god-bless him with Self-knowledge! You please take back these gold coins. I don’t need them.”
The friend’s son made persistent entreaties but the Brahmin didn’t agree to his proposal. At last, he had to take the gold coins back.
The Brahmin’s son had been watching all this. He said, “You say you don’t need gold coins but we are at the brink of starvation. I have money for either. What was the harm in accepting the money? And his father had been a friend of yours.”
The Brahmin said, “No, he and I had association in connection with the Lord. He was a friend of mine but only because both of us were fellow travelers on the path of God-realization. And then what right do I have to take money from him? This is stigmatic to devotion.”
The son was not to give in so easily. He said, “We are going to starve.”
“Does it mean we should sell devotion for gold? Should we realize money from sadhana or devotion? If we are going to starve, why don’t you work hard and earn money? You are a Brahmin; go and administer sacrifices and rituals. Is taking money form others the way to ward off starvation and if so, why?”
The Brahmin sounded good advice to his son. ‘What belong to me is mine; let me have a share in what you have’ – this shouldn’t calls for utmost purity and sincerity. A little dishonesty mars it in much the same way as a little of sour substance spoils the milk. The more sincere we are at heart, the more easy of attainment will God be for us.
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