Marmik Katha (Story that touches our hearts):

                                               Devotion to Hard Earned Income

Sant Raidas is one of the most revered saints of India. By profession he was a cobbler and used to make shoes but within his heart glowed the eternal flame of spirituality. This is an interesting story about this great saint.

Once Raidas was so engrossed in mending shoes that he did not notice when someone came and stood before him. After waiting a while the visitor drew the attention of Raidas by coughing. Raidas raised his eyes and saw a gentleman waiting. He hurriedly stood up and said politely, "Excuse me. I was concentrating on my work. How can I serve you?"

Hearing these words the stranger smiled and said, "I have come for my own work, so do not be apologetic.  I am going out for some urgent business and I have a paras (a stone that turned iron into gold). I wish to keep it with you lest it should get lost in the way. When I return in the evening I shall take it back. And yes, if you like you can get your ropee (tool for cutting leather) turned into gold by touching it with paras. I won’t object to it.’

"Leave the paras here and take it back when you return", said Raidas. "I can do this much of your work, but I am not ready to accept your second statement. I am a shoemaker. I clean skin of dead animals and then by cutting them make shoes. In this work tools of hard metal are required. Gold is soft. If ropee is made of gold it will be twisted in one jerk and I shall be deprived of the day’s earning."

"By selling gold you can buy all you want. Afterwards you will have no need of sitting on the roadside for this profession. You can start any other honourable business." Thus repeated the stranger his appeal.

This stranger was not an ordinary person but Devraj Indra himself. For a long time he had heard a lot about Raidas’ ideal devotion and greedless nature. Today he had come in person to see such a devotee and to test him.

Returning the paras Raidas made it clear, "Sir! I believe in honest and hard-earned income. The remuneration earned by doing hard work from morning to evening is sufficient. I don’t accept anything received as gift." Lord Indra had nothing to say now. He took back the paras and returned admiring silently Raidas' greedless nature.

Though devotion and theism make one dependent on the Supreme Self, but they never deprive him of devotion to industry and manliness; instead strengthen it. Generally, it is seen that lazy and worthless people under the guise of God-worship expect from Him to provide food and other needs of living. Such people are nothing but fatalists. The ideal of Raidas is expressed in his selfless devotion that teaches us that a true devotee of God always feels satisfied with whatever he earns righteously. He neither needs nor expects any benefit or windfall without hard work.

Upakhyan (Anecdote):

Buddha once passed through a town in the Aswan state that was the hub of his antagonists. When they came to know that Buddha is in town they hatched a conspiracy. They tied lots of clothes on the belly of a woman with loose morals and sent her to where Buddha was.

She reached there and began to cry aloud, “Look, this is a misdeed of none else but this great one. Here he is, roaming around deceiving people and is not willing to accept me and my baby.” This created a furor in the town.

Anand, his disciple got extremely worried and asked, “O great one, what would happen now?” Buddha smile and said, “Don’t worry, deception and trickery do not last long. Only truth has the capability to survive and propagate eternally.”

Meanwhile the woman’s belt that had held up the clothes came loose and all the clothes fell off in front of all. Her trick was laid bare and the woman felt ashamed for what she had done. People ran to bash up the woman, but Buddha intervened and let her go saying, “One whose soul is dead, is worse than physically dead. What use is it to give her physical punishment?”

SADVICHAR (Thought of the week):

Don’t indulge in Self Praise. Your good deeds will speak for themselves.

SAMPARK (Contacts):
Yug Shakti Gayatri Kendra

16/2, 1st Floor, 3rd cross, 3rd Main Road,
Prakash Nagar, Bangalore 560021
Phone: 91-80-23526694
Mobile: 9844503818 / 9880679755

GATIVIDHIYAN (Activities)

Gayatri Pariwar is celebrating 8th April 2007, Sunday as Blood Donation day. Blood donation camps are being organized all over the country this day. In Bangalore also a camp is being organized at Lalitha Mahal Convention Hall, 3rd Main, Prakash Nagar (opp Ayappa Temple), Bangalore-21 in association with Rotary TTK blood bank. Please participate in this noble cause.

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Please visit the All World Gayatri Pariwar site at http://www.awgp.org