Bodhisattva was sitting near a pond enjoying the pristine calmness, when his attention turned to a beautiful lotus blossomed in the middle. He could not resist himself. He entered the pond, waded through the waters to reach the flower and began to breathe in its heavenly fragrance.

Suddenly a voice called out to him, "You are a thief. You are trying to steal the fragrance of lotus, without paying back anything in return." Bodhisattva was shocked to hear this.

The next instant another person ventured into the pond and began to cruelly pluck the lotuses and uproot the plants. He kept doing this for a long while, but no voice protested or tried to stop him. After the man was gone, Bodhhisattva called out, "I had only smelled the lotus, but did not pluck it or destroy the plants, yet I was called a thief. But look at that man, who spoilt the beauty of the whole lake but you did not say a word. Why?"

The voice spoke again gravely, "Worldly men who are steeped in greed and self-gratification cannot distinguish between right and wrong. Hence they are not entrusted the load of following dharma. But one who is intelligent and sensitive, knows what is right and what is wrong, has taken a vow to establish righteousness and is constantly endeavouring to cleanse himself and attain greatness, for him it is essential to be very careful. A small slip of his from the righteous path becomes a very great sin."

Fulfillment of Worldly Duties is the True Sadhana

Dev Sharma was brought up by his poor, widowed mother with a lot of difficulty. She had to work extremely hard to arrange for his higher education. Prudence would have been that Dev lived with his mother and took care of her in her old age. But to the poor mother's ill fate, Dev got enamored by the prospect of attaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death, and one day quit his house to take sannyasa, leaving behind his wailing old mother and young sister. Dev settled down near the banks of a river at a far away place and with his penance acquired several supernatural abilities.

One morning he went to the river for bath and put down his robe on the bank. After his bath as he looked back he saw a crow and a crane flying away with his robe held in their beaks. This filled Dev with anger. As his blazing eyes locked on to the birds, a strong flame erupted and the birds were charred to ash. Dev was overjoyed to learn of this newly found power. His conceit now knew no bounds; he began to believe that he is the most powerful person in the whole world.

He now rose to return to his hermitage. A village was on the way. He decided to collect alms there. He knocked at the door of a noble householder, called for alms and waited.

He could hear voices coming from within but none came out to give him alms. He began to get angry as he called out twice, thrice, four times, but only a lady's voice came out, "Please wait, holy one. I am doing sadhana, once I am finished I shall come out. Till then please remain standing at the door." Dev Sharma's anger grew out of control, "O wicked lady, are you doing sadhana or making fun of me? Do you know what harm this disobedience can cause to you?"

A more serious and controlled voice came out this time, "Holy one, I know you would want to curse me. But know this, I am not a lowly crow or crane that you can reduce to ash. You think you are a great person, actually you are not. You are a coward who has run away from your responsibilities, leaving behind your ailing mother who took on so much pains all her life trying to bring you up."

Dev Sharma was stunned to hear this, all his self-conceit disappeared in one instant. The lady came out after a while and gave him alms. He asked, "O noble lady, what kind of sadhana you do that you came to know all about me without even looking at me?"

The lady replied, "My sadhana is 'fulfillment of duty'. I unfailingly attend to all my duties towards my husband, my children, elders of the family, the society and the nation. This supernatural ability of mine is only due to this."

Dev Sharma's head hung down with shame and remorse. He quietly turned back towards his hermitage without collecting alms. By the time he reached, he had resolved to leave this life of a sannyasi and return to his mother to finish his incomplete sadhana of personal duty.