There lived a childless Brahmin couple in the village Somapuriya on the banks of river Ganga. Both were devotees of Lord Hari and had faithin in satsung. Whenever they would come by sadhus and sannyasins, they would come by sadhus and sannyasins, they would pay obeisance to them and listen to their teachings. Neither the husband nor wife had any desire to have a son.
One day the husband was infected by cholera. The wife consulted doctors and physicians and did all she could do but the husband’s condition had become very critical. The wise Brahim lady thought, ‘Something should be done before he dies.’ She was brooding anxiously when a Dandi sannyasin who was traveling along the bank of the Ganga passed that way. The Brahmin lady prayed to the sannyasin to initiate her husband into the sannyasa order.
The Dandi sannyasi said,”……..but he is lying ill.”
The Brahmin lady insisted: “Maharaj! His death is impending. Therefore, please initiate him into the sannyasa order. He will at least be relieved of the sin of one Brahmahatya (killing of a Brahmin) and attain higher life after death through diksha. He will attain some elevation if not Self-realization. Is there any system of intiating one into the sannyasa order for his liberation at the time of death?”
Seeing that the Brahmin’s condition was very critical, the sannyasin initiated him into the sannyasa order even as he was unconscious on his death-bed. The sannyasin took leave of the couple and the Brahmin lady started serving her husband with great reverence. As a result of good luck, the husband began to recover and he was completed cured. His wife served him round the clock but now she would do before. She rendered all her services without touching him. The Brahmin asked, “Dear! Now why is it that you are serving me without touching?”
She said, “Swamiji!” (till now she would call him, “Patidev!”) When you were critically ill, I had prayed to a Dandi sannyasin and made him initiate you into the sannyasa order so that you may attain higher life.” The husband was no less a virtuous soul. He had imibibed satsang and had earned some merits. His discrimination was awakened.
“Well………..! So you got me initated into the sannyasa order by a Dandi sannyasi! You did the right thing. A sannyasin is not allowed to stay at home. He should not touch even a wooden statue of a lady. So I should protect myself from your touch. I thank you mother, for protecting me!”
The husband mentally touched the wife’s feet before taking leave. He traveled along the bank of the Ganga, and whenever he felt hungry, he would beg for food and wash it with the water of Ganga before eating. He would do japa of ‘om’. After eleven days of bathing in the Ganga, he reached ‘Haridwar’, the above of Hari. In those days the place was not much crowded. He proceeded further, met a Self-realized sannyasin, and donned the ochre robe after getting initiated into the sannyasa order in the prescribed manner. He then started reading the Vedas and books on Vedanta. He possessed some discrimination by virtue of having lived a pious life at home. He reflected on the teachings of the Vedas and Vedanta and became a good saint, sannyasin and acharya. The other sannyasins would come to listen to his discourse. In the month of Shravana, he would contemplate the teachings of and speak on the Brahmasutra. During Chaturmasa he would take recourse to Vicharsagar, Panchikaran and other scriptures on Vedanta.
The Kumbh Mela was held in Haridwar. The Brahmin lady visited the Kumbh Mela along with her neighbors. She heard praises of the sannyasi. The people told her that the great acharya and saint was none other than her husband. She replied, “He is not my husband but a sannyasi now.” The former wife followed the other ladies who were going for the sannyasi’s darshan. The satsang was going on. No sooner did the group of ladies enter in than the Swami’s eyes fell on his wife. He exclaimed, “ Hey how did you come here?” The lady said, “Swamiji! So you haven’t forgotten me yet?”
The Swami lowered his head never to raise it or see anybody again. His hands remained tied as they were. Somebody or the other would bathe him or feed him when he felt hungry. Thirty years passed by in this way. Once when he had gone out, some Muslims injured him by thrusting a stick into his body. When the authorities came to know about this atrocity committed on a pious saint, they ordered the people to burn down the village of the diabolic elements. It was then that his two hands rose up to forbid the people from doing anything like that. These are such men of firm conviction found in this world.
Tulsidasji was so infatuated with his wife that he crossed a river with the support of a corpse mistaking it for a log of wood. He climbed the window of his wife’s room holding on to a python which was hanging on the wall. The wife was taken aback. She said.” You! At this hour?”
“Dear! I have come for you. Why you too have kept a rope hanging for me.”
“Why would I do so?”
A lamp was lit.
“Oh! It is a python. Blinded by lust, you climbed this to get in! So infatuated you are with my body, which is nothing but a cage of flesh and bones that you couldn’t perceive even death which was hovering above you. Would you have had so much love for God, you would have attained liberation and been the saviour of others as well.”
Tulsidas set out never to turn back and became Sant Tulsidas. The moment we learn to respect our discrimination, once the lamp of discrimination is lit, we should protect it from getting extinguished. We do possess discrimination but do not respect it when it shows us that something is wrong. We know by virtue of discrimination that the path to God and self-control is good but we slip because we don’t respect our discrimination. We are lured by wealth, power, flattery, and fall into the ditch of greed, infatuation, lust, anger, ‘mine’ and ‘yours’. We should use our discrimination to realize what we gain in the end after attaining, eating or doing, something, or after visiting other places for sightseeing.
Satsang does light the lamp of discrimination in us, but because we fail to protect it, it gets extinguished and we are enveloped by darkness. By the time we get to learn through suffering while living in darkness, it is too late. We do get some consolation when somebody helps and saves us but we again extinguish the lamp of discrimination and waste our life. It is God’s compassion. His grace even when you face suffering. God wants to make your past actions. It is His grace and mercy that He leads you to the door of a saint.
We could scale great heights if we respect our discrimination. That is why wise sadhaks, at times, go to cremation grounds physically or even mentally to keep their discrimination awake. Discrimination brings dispassion which in turn brings shatsampatti (calmness, temperance, spirit of renunciation, fortitude, power of concentration of mind, and faith) and kindles the desire for liberation.
One day the husband was infected by cholera. The wife consulted doctors and physicians and did all she could do but the husband’s condition had become very critical. The wise Brahim lady thought, ‘Something should be done before he dies.’ She was brooding anxiously when a Dandi sannyasin who was traveling along the bank of the Ganga passed that way. The Brahmin lady prayed to the sannyasin to initiate her husband into the sannyasa order.
The Dandi sannyasi said,”……..but he is lying ill.”
The Brahmin lady insisted: “Maharaj! His death is impending. Therefore, please initiate him into the sannyasa order. He will at least be relieved of the sin of one Brahmahatya (killing of a Brahmin) and attain higher life after death through diksha. He will attain some elevation if not Self-realization. Is there any system of intiating one into the sannyasa order for his liberation at the time of death?”
Seeing that the Brahmin’s condition was very critical, the sannyasin initiated him into the sannyasa order even as he was unconscious on his death-bed. The sannyasin took leave of the couple and the Brahmin lady started serving her husband with great reverence. As a result of good luck, the husband began to recover and he was completed cured. His wife served him round the clock but now she would do before. She rendered all her services without touching him. The Brahmin asked, “Dear! Now why is it that you are serving me without touching?”
She said, “Swamiji!” (till now she would call him, “Patidev!”) When you were critically ill, I had prayed to a Dandi sannyasin and made him initiate you into the sannyasa order so that you may attain higher life.” The husband was no less a virtuous soul. He had imibibed satsang and had earned some merits. His discrimination was awakened.
“Well………..! So you got me initated into the sannyasa order by a Dandi sannyasi! You did the right thing. A sannyasin is not allowed to stay at home. He should not touch even a wooden statue of a lady. So I should protect myself from your touch. I thank you mother, for protecting me!”
The husband mentally touched the wife’s feet before taking leave. He traveled along the bank of the Ganga, and whenever he felt hungry, he would beg for food and wash it with the water of Ganga before eating. He would do japa of ‘om’. After eleven days of bathing in the Ganga, he reached ‘Haridwar’, the above of Hari. In those days the place was not much crowded. He proceeded further, met a Self-realized sannyasin, and donned the ochre robe after getting initiated into the sannyasa order in the prescribed manner. He then started reading the Vedas and books on Vedanta. He possessed some discrimination by virtue of having lived a pious life at home. He reflected on the teachings of the Vedas and Vedanta and became a good saint, sannyasin and acharya. The other sannyasins would come to listen to his discourse. In the month of Shravana, he would contemplate the teachings of and speak on the Brahmasutra. During Chaturmasa he would take recourse to Vicharsagar, Panchikaran and other scriptures on Vedanta.
The Kumbh Mela was held in Haridwar. The Brahmin lady visited the Kumbh Mela along with her neighbors. She heard praises of the sannyasi. The people told her that the great acharya and saint was none other than her husband. She replied, “He is not my husband but a sannyasi now.” The former wife followed the other ladies who were going for the sannyasi’s darshan. The satsang was going on. No sooner did the group of ladies enter in than the Swami’s eyes fell on his wife. He exclaimed, “ Hey how did you come here?” The lady said, “Swamiji! So you haven’t forgotten me yet?”
The Swami lowered his head never to raise it or see anybody again. His hands remained tied as they were. Somebody or the other would bathe him or feed him when he felt hungry. Thirty years passed by in this way. Once when he had gone out, some Muslims injured him by thrusting a stick into his body. When the authorities came to know about this atrocity committed on a pious saint, they ordered the people to burn down the village of the diabolic elements. It was then that his two hands rose up to forbid the people from doing anything like that. These are such men of firm conviction found in this world.
Tulsidasji was so infatuated with his wife that he crossed a river with the support of a corpse mistaking it for a log of wood. He climbed the window of his wife’s room holding on to a python which was hanging on the wall. The wife was taken aback. She said.” You! At this hour?”
“Dear! I have come for you. Why you too have kept a rope hanging for me.”
“Why would I do so?”
A lamp was lit.
“Oh! It is a python. Blinded by lust, you climbed this to get in! So infatuated you are with my body, which is nothing but a cage of flesh and bones that you couldn’t perceive even death which was hovering above you. Would you have had so much love for God, you would have attained liberation and been the saviour of others as well.”
Tulsidas set out never to turn back and became Sant Tulsidas. The moment we learn to respect our discrimination, once the lamp of discrimination is lit, we should protect it from getting extinguished. We do possess discrimination but do not respect it when it shows us that something is wrong. We know by virtue of discrimination that the path to God and self-control is good but we slip because we don’t respect our discrimination. We are lured by wealth, power, flattery, and fall into the ditch of greed, infatuation, lust, anger, ‘mine’ and ‘yours’. We should use our discrimination to realize what we gain in the end after attaining, eating or doing, something, or after visiting other places for sightseeing.
Satsang does light the lamp of discrimination in us, but because we fail to protect it, it gets extinguished and we are enveloped by darkness. By the time we get to learn through suffering while living in darkness, it is too late. We do get some consolation when somebody helps and saves us but we again extinguish the lamp of discrimination and waste our life. It is God’s compassion. His grace even when you face suffering. God wants to make your past actions. It is His grace and mercy that He leads you to the door of a saint.
We could scale great heights if we respect our discrimination. That is why wise sadhaks, at times, go to cremation grounds physically or even mentally to keep their discrimination awake. Discrimination brings dispassion which in turn brings shatsampatti (calmness, temperance, spirit of renunciation, fortitude, power of concentration of mind, and faith) and kindles the desire for liberation.
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