65. THE HORSE AND THE LION
Long ago, there was a farmer who had an old horse with him. As the horse had become old, the farmer told the horse to leave his house and live in some forest. The horse became very sad. He said to his master, “Master, I’m your old servant. I have served you all my life. I have always been faithful to you and there has been no slackness on my part in carrying out my duties. So long as I was physically strong, you had all your affections for me but as soon as you realised that I have become physically infirm; I, no longer, have that vigour and vitality in me, you asked me to leave your house and go and live in some forest. Is this a reward to the services rendered by me with all my honesty and faithfulness?”
64. THE HOLY MAN AND A SWINDLER
Once upon a time, in a lonely temple there lived a holy man called Dev Sharma. Many people used to visit him and present him with money and finely woven garments, which he sold and got very rich on the proceeds. And by nature, he trusted nobody. Night and day he kept the treasure purse under his armpit and would not part with it even for a second.
A swindler, who robbed other men of their money, noticed that the holy man always kept the treasure purse under his armpit. He said to himself, ‘How could I rob this holy man of his money! It’s difficult to make a hole through the walls of the temple or to get in over the high gates, so what I’ll do is, charm him with honeyed words so that he accepts me as his disciple. And when he has put confidence in me, some day he’ll fall into my clutches.’
When he had resolutely made up his mind, to carry out this plan, the swindler approached the holy man, stood before him with reverence and said, ‘Om Namaha Shivaya!’ With these words he threw himself humbly on the ground before the holy man and said, ‘Oh Guruji! I am fed up of this life. Please do guide me so that I follow the right path in this life and find happiness.’
When the holy man heard this, he said kindly, ‘My son, you are indeed blessed that you have come to me at this young age, surely I will guide you.’ When the swindler heard this, he fell on the ground before the holy man, touched his feet, and said, ‘Oh, Guruji, please do accept me as your disciple.’
‘My child! answered the holy man ‘I will, but on one condition, that you will never enter the temple at night, because a holy man is recommended to stay alone at night without company and meditate . We will keep to it, you and I.’
‘And so’, continued the holy man, ‘after taking the vow of initiation, you will have to sleep in a thatched hut at the gate of the temple.’
‘I shall willingly carry out your wishes’, said the swindler.
At bedtime, the holy man initiated the swindler according to the rituals and made him his disciple. The swindler massaged his hands and feet, waited upon him and made him happy but nonetheless the holy man did not part with his money bag even for a second. After some time, the swindler began to think, ‘He does not trust me at all! Shall I knife him in broad daylight, poison him or kill him like a wild animal?’
While he was thinking this over, the son of one of the holy man’s disciples, from a nearby village, came to give him a personal invitation and said, ‘Guruji,! Today the ceremony of the sacred thread takes place in our house. Please come and sanctify it with your presence.’ The holy man accepted the invitation willingly and started off accompanied by the swindler. On the way, they came to a river.
When the holy man saw the river, he folded his money bag in his robe and said, ‘ Oh my child! Look after this robe with the vigilance of a Yogi until I return.’
And he went into the bushes. The minute the holy man’s back was turned, the swindler vanished with the money bag. After the holy man had answered the call of nature, he slowly returned, thinking about his money. When he got back, he failed to find the swindler but saw only his robe, lying on the ground. He peered anxiously inside but could not find his purse. He began to cry out, ‘Alas! I have been robbed’.
And he fell on the ground in a swoon. After sometime he returned to his senses. He got up and began to shout ‘ Oh! Where are you, you rascal! Answer me!’
After he had shouted like this in a loud voice, he slowly trailed the swindler’s footsteps until, just before evening, he came to a village. He stayed there for the night and in the morning, returned to his temple.
❖ Do not be taken in by the sweet words of a swindler.
❖ Wealth may sometimes prove a source of all troubles.
63. THE HERON AND THE CRAB
Long time ago there lived a heron by the side of a pond. It was a lazy creature and once devised a plan to get supply of fish without doing much work. He went to the side of the pond and put on a gloomy face without attempting to catch any fish. The pond was also inhabited by a crab, which was wise and often helped the fish in the pond. On seeing the gloomy heron, the crab asked her what the matter was.
The heron said, “Alas! I am worried that the pond is going to be soon devoid of any fish, which are in turn my source of food. I overheard a group of fishermen talking about catching all the fish in this pond. But I know of a pond somewhat far away, where all the fish will be safe. If the fishes are interested, i can carry a few each day to the other pond where they will be safe.”
62. THE HERMIT AND THE JUMPING RAT
On the outskirts of a small village, there was a temple, in which, there lived a pundit. He used to perform pooja in the nearby villages. In the evening, after he had finished his meals, he would keep the remaining food, if any, into a bowl. He would hang the bowl upon a hook, which was attached to the ceiling by means of a string.
There, in the same temple, lived a fat rat. He was so fat that he didn’t fear even the cats. He would come out of his hole during the night time and jump over to the hanging bowl and eat whatever food available in it. The next morning, when pundit would open the bowl, he would find it empty. This went on daily. The pundit became very sad. He didn‘t know how to drive the rat away from the temple.
