Tulsidas

Once there was a minister in the court of Akbar by name Atmaram. He had a son by name Tulasi, who was very intelligent, handsome and very learned. Tulasi made his parents very happy and they felt blessed to have such a son. When Tulasi came of age he was married to a pretty, educated girl by name Matha Devi. Matha Devi and Tulasi had a very good mutual understanding. She was very devoted to her husband. Tulasi inspite of being very intellingent was spending most of his time in the pleasures of life. Matha Devi who was observing this, thought that it was not appropriate for him to spend his time in such pleasures, so she advised him to keep himself under control . But her advise just lasted only for a few days and later it used to fade off and again he used to be his usual self.

One day Akbar wanted to go for hunting and asked Tulasi to accompany him. Tulasi who though didn't like to go, couldn't refuse the emperor so he went for hunting. After tulasi had departed, Matha Devi got a message that her mother was seriously ill. Tulasi's mother consoled Matha Devi and asked her to leave immediately, and that she would take of Tulasi in her absence. Hence Matha Devi left to see her mother. When Tulasi returned back, he didn't find his wife and started searching her all over and was quiet shocked when his mother told him about her departure to her mother's place. He was very dejected and sad and was unable to have his meal in the absence of his wife. He was not bothered about his mother-in-law.

He was unable to go to sleep so after sometime he got up and went off to his mother-in-law place. He went through a dense forest which was full of wild animals. In his desire to see his wife he walked very fast and fearlessly and reached the place in the early morning. The whole village was very quiet and the doors of the house were closed, so he didn't want to disturb anyone. He went around the house. He observed a rope hanging from the top of the building and assumed his wife must have kept it . With the help of the rope he climbed and went up and went to his wife room. Matha Devi was shocked and surprised to find her husband suddenly in her room. She enquired about how she came inside the house when all the doors and windows were closed. Tulasi replied that he had come here with the help of a rope. She was surprised and both went to see the rope, instead they found a deadly Cobra. Matha Devi was shocked .

Later they spent some time chatting with each other. Then she persuaded her husband to give up all the pleasures, telling that material and physical pleasures are only temporary. Human birth is very rare and it should be used for concentrating on God and realising him. She also said that all the love, attention, etc which he was showering on her, instead if he had put even a little effort on realising God , then, by now, he would have succeeded in realising God. These wordings of his wife, had a deep impact on Tulasidas, that he went off in search of God. Twelve years he wandered and lived on fruits and water. One day a brahma raksasha appeared before him and thanked him for helping him by giving water when he was in utmost need and offered him a boon. Tulasi who was not interested in anything asked him to bring Lord Shri Rama, on which the raksasha expressed his inability to do so, but pointed to an old person at a distance and said that he was Lord Hanuman, who alone is capable of giving the darshan of Lord Rama.

Tulasi went to that old person and requested him to help him in getting the darshn of the Lord.
Lord Hanuman asked him to go home and said that he will definitely get the darshan. Tulasi went to his house and was engrossed in singing the bhajans, when he saw a muslim king going by with his huge troop. Later Lord Maruthi asked him if he had seen the Lord and Tulasi shook his head. LordMaruthi explained that the muslim king was none other than Lord Rama and the troop were his the monkeys "vanaras". Tulasi felt sad that he was unable to recognise the Lord. But Lord Hanuman blessed him with the darshan of Lord Rama along with Lakshmana and Sita and then he disappeared.

Tulasi became very famous for his bhajans and talks on the Lord, that one day Akbar ordered him to give him the darshan of Lord Rama, but Tulasi replied that it was not possible for him. Akbar got angry and imprisoned him. Soon thousands of monkeys attacked his kingdom and no one were able to control them. Akbar was advised by some people that the release of Tulasi will bring down the attack of the monkeys. Akbar realised his fault and immediately released Tulasi. Tulasi later went to mathura,brindavan etc and settled down 0n the banks of the river yamuna. Tulasi love for the lord made many a people also become ardent devotees of the lord and finally he left the world.

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Constant touch with the service of the Lord is a must for everyone in this world, if one has to come out from the clutches of the material world or if one is not to skid down from the journey of self realisation.

Sri Jayadeva

In a place called Tindubilva, a brahmin couple lived near the temple of jaganath, since they were childless they used to pray for a child. By the grace of the Lord they got a son whom they named him as Jayadeva. They were very happy to have a child and were enjoying all the pranks and movement of the child. During his eighth year they performed "Upanayanam" for their son. Their love for their son was so intense that they didn't send to school because they thought that it would tire him. So Jayadeva used to play freely and spend his time with the friends. But Jayadeva happened to be a sharp and intelligent boy, so though he didnt go to any school, he was able to to learn and study just by listening to his friends studying. He was able to grasp everything just by listening. Hence by the time he attained sixteen years he became a great scholar
Even pundits who happened to have formal education and training were of no match to Jayadeva. The great pundits and scholars were completely dumb struck by the thoughts of Jayadeva, that they thought he was an incarnation of Sage Vyasa. Jayadeva gave importance to service to God or Lord, so he used to sing bhajans and used to compose a lot of songs on the Lord. Because all his composition came front the heart, people liked it instantly. His most popular composition was "Gita govinda". He married a pious lady by name Padmavathi, she was also a devotee of the Lord. He also sang the twenty four astapadis , these astapadis and Gita govinda are still sung by many devotees of Lord Krishna and enjoyed by everyone. Jayadeva along with his wife reached the feet of the Lord in the end.
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If one is really keen to learn something then there is no need for any one to teach, one can do so by just listening and seeing things around with all ones attention

Worth of a diamond

Once there was a blind man, who used to make a living by begging near a market. He had no one for himself, but for a wood cutter who used to come every evening and sit beside him and chat for half an hour. The wood cutter used to give him some food to eat while chatting with him. Once a rich merchant who was passing by the market saw this blind man and pitied him. Now this merchant had a habit of helping out the poor, whenever he saw some poor people and had a desire to give them anything he would put his hand inside his coat and whatever his hand got, he would just give it to the people and go away, without seeing what the amount is or the thing he had given.
When he saw this blindman also he put his hand in his pocket and his hands took out a diamond. Looking at it the merchant was so happy for the beggar because the diamond was worth more than a million rupees. He went to the beggar and said " Dear one, i am giving this diamond which is worth more than a million rupees. Accept this and go and sell it at a good price and get yourself a beautiful house, sevants, cook , vehicle etc. and live comfortably. " On hearing this the beggars face which was full of tension and anxiety, now turned, full of joy and peace. The merchant left that place after handing over the diamond to the beggar.
In the evening the woodcutter came as usual to the blind man and saw an unusual joy and peace in the face of the blind man and started enquiring the reason behind it. The blind man happily narrated the whole thing that had happened. The wood cutter who couldn't believe it started shouting at the foolishness of the blind man. He said, "Dear friend, someone must have played a joke with you, by giving a piece of crystal in your hand and telling that it a diamond. Would anyone give such valuable diamond to a beggar, who is in no way related to him." On hearing the words of the woodcutter the blindman started becoming suspicious. The woodcutter urged him to throw the so called diamond into a well so that the game is not repeated with any other person. On listening to the words of the wood cutter the blindman was made to believe him and ultimately he threw the diamond into the well and as usual started begging.
After a few days the same merchant happened to pass through the market and he saw the beggar still begging. He went to him and enquired why he was still begging when he ought to been in a comfortable place. One hearing his voice the beggar spoke angrily and harsly as how the merchant was playing a joke on him and asked him never to come before him. The merchant saw that the beggar didn't know the worth of the diamond and asked him what he had done with it. The beggar said that he had thrown it into the well.
Next day the merchant brought some people and got all the water out of the well and got back his diamond from it and put it back into his pocket leaving the people of the village quiet puzzled.


Human life is also like the precious diamond. It is very rare to get a birth of human being. But like the blind man we are not aware of the precious human life that we have got. God had given this human birth, for us to realize ourselves and be in a state of deep bliss but instead we tend to go away from satsang etc and waste our life, by various distraction, just as the beggar had done by throwing the diamond because of the advise of his friend - the woodcutter.
Human life is precious, make the best use of it - in realizing ouselves.

Discrimination

Once there was a middleaged man who brought a teenage girl has his bride. There was a big gap in their age. Still they were happy with each other. One day they decided to go on a small trip to a different place and took their only horse along with them during their trip.
The middleaged man was sitting on the horse and his bride was walking along with the horse. They were travelling happily, enjoying the journey and has they were crossing a village, the villagers watched them. Some of the villagers started commenting telling, "Look, the man riding the horse seems to be very hard hearted, he is making the young girl walk with her tender feet and he is himself sitting on the horse and riding comfortably". On hearing this the horse rider became sad for sometime and then decided to make his wife ride the horse.
Now the middleaged man thought perhaps this was the best way to travel - his wife riding the horse and himself walking along with the horse. They continued with the journey and were again enjoying their trip. After sometime they happened to pass through another village. The villagers started watching these strangers. Some of the villagers started commenting, "Look, that lady who is riding the horse doesn't seem to be having any consideration for the elders. That middleaged man is walking along the horse and this lady has made herself comfortable. How can she be so very unconsiderate." On hearing this the couple decided that even this way of travelling was not the right way, so they thought that the best way would be to sit on the horse together.
Again they resumed the journey, by both of them sitting on the horse. Both of them chatted and enjoyed the scenes that were around, both of them were very happy. As they continued with the journey, they happened to pass through another village. The villagers started watching at these two strangers, as usual. Some of the villagers started questioning them, "Hey, don't you feel sorry for the horse, both of you are riding the horse together and what is to happen to the poor horse? How much can the horse carry so much weight?" On hearing this both of them felt very sorry and got down from the horse.
Now they decided that both of them will walk along side the horse, in this way the horse will not be burdened. They started walking together, hand in hand and with the horse trotting along with them . As they continued with their journey they had to pass through another village and again the villagers started watching them with curiosity. One of them commented " these two seem to be the greatest fools, they have a horse with them and instead of riding on it they are walking along with it" On hearing this, the middleaged man said to his wife, "No matter how we go these people seem to be passing some comment or the other. Henceforth I have decided that i am not going to listen and do in accordance to their comments, but in accordance to how i feel is the right one". His wife also agrees and both of them relax and continue with their journey happily irrespecive of what people say.

The above story tells us how the thinking differs with different people on different situation. Ultimately we have to listen to all the opinions but use our intelligence to discriminate and take the right action, which we feel is right for us in a given circumstance.

A Masterpiece

There was once a great sculptor, who used to make beautiful sculptures and each piece which he made turned out to be a masterpiece. One day he brought many stones out of which he wanted to make beautiful sculptures. These stones which had come to the campus observed the beautiful sculptures and gasped at the beauty of the sculptures. One of the stones enquired with the sculptures "how did you become so very beautiful?". The sculpture replied, "my dear friend, just be patient, you will know in a short time". After a day or so the sculptor came and started with his job. He started hitting and chisseling and that made the stones groan in pain. Some of the stones which couldn't bear with the pain and didn't have the patience, started retaliating. In the process the stones broke to pieces and the sculptor had to throw them away.

But the stone which waited patiently and allowed itself to undergo the pain, slowly started to gain some shape. The stone allowed the sculptor to do his job, which led the stone to become a beautiful master piece . On seeing, one of their friend, become a master piece, the stones which had retaliated and were thrown off, felt sorry for not having the patience to withstand the pain they had to undergo and resulted in being thrown off.

Like the story above we are like the stones and life is like the sculptor. The hitting by the sculptor is the problems or situation or circumstances that we are put into in life. If we accept and learn from what life teaches us than we are deemed to become a masterpiece, otherwise we are inviting suffering. If we allow the Lord to bring out the potential that is deep within us than we become a masterpiece.
Are we going to allow the Lord to work on us or not is our choice

Priceless Gift from the Lord

Once there was a beggar, who used to make a living by begging in front of a temple. He used to pester the devotees till they gave him something. One day a devotee who was going to the temple observed this beggar and saw that he a young person with no defect and decided to teach him a lesson. As usual when this devotee came out of the temple the beggar started pestering him to help the poor beggar. This devotee stopped and told him, "I will offer you one crore rupees but in return you must give me whatever i ask you to give".

The beggar was really shocked because no one had given him such a big offer and wondered what he had to give the devotee in exchange. Hence he said to the devotee, " Sir, I am a poor beggar, what can i offer you in exchange. I am myself making a living by begging". The devotee said "Don't worry, i will ask you something which you have with you". The beggar was happy and agreed. As soon as the beggar said this ,the devotee asked him to accompany him to a hospital. The beggar asked " Why should i come with you to a hospital, are you a doctor by profession". The devotee replied "no". As per the agreement, i will give you one crore rupees and in return i want your two beautiful eyes which has to be operated to be taken out. Hence i want you to accompany me to a hospital.

The beggar was shocked and started arguing that if he gives his eyes in exchange for that huge amount then he will not be able to enjoy the world inspite of having so much money with him.
Now the devotee gives him another option , upon which the beggar happily accepts it with a lot of relief, and eagerly looks up. The devotee asks for his two hands, at which the beggar is again disappointed, and again argues with the devotee, telling him that he will not be able to do anything if his hands are taken off. Again the devotee gives him another option, like asking for his feet, ears, tongue, kidney etc and everytime the beggar rejects the offer. The devotee now points out to the beggar that he has got something worth more than crores of rupees and the beggar was considering himself to be a poor person with absolutely nothing to give in exchange.

The beggar understands the devotee's point and on realising the priceless gift that the Lord has showered on him, he stops begging and starts making a living through righful earning.

The above story tells us about the infinite blessings that the Lord keeps showering on us but we are like the beggar ignorant about the blessings and consider ourselves a poor person, who needs to keep begging. We realise our potential or our true strength only when we meet some person who points out the treasure we have within us.

Priceless Gift from the Lord