The following is a transliteration by Sri Ramen Basu of a story narrated by Sri Sri Babathakur (appearing in Swajnaugrahasudha Vol. 2, pages 10 - 14).
Faith, and the extreme urge for liberation are resources for the devotee. The devotee does not care much about reasoning and discrimination. It is the Jnanins and the Yogis who prefer reasoning and spiritual discrimination. Blind faith is of no relevance to them. It is however only the devotee who understands how through steadfast faith, can one unite with the Ishwara.
The faith of the devotee is Absolute. Adverse circumstances cannot diminish his faith. For such a faithful devotee, what impediments remain to deter him from realizing God and from attaining Direct Experience? Certainly such faith can be attained as a result of virtuous deeds, through Sadhana performed in many previous lives, and by the mercy/grace of the Lord. On the topic of the Lord and His devotees, Sri Sri Babathakur narrated another beautiful and thought-provoking story to the audience concerning the cultivation of devotion and faith.
The faithful devotee is usually someone of a very plain and simple nature. There is a beautiful story about a faithful devotee. A traveling sage while wandering around, took shelter under a tree on the outskirts of a town a little further down from the junction of four roads. He sat under that tree for quite a few days. Not very far from his seat lay the habitation of a village, with its shops, open-air markets, and working people going about busily with their daily chores. The sage’s seat was a little concealed from the view of the villagers. From his seat, the sage would daily observe customers buying sweets at a nearby sweet-shop. That sweet shop, though not usually crowded, had some regular customers who frequently bought sweets. Besides this, the sage used to observe a farmer who would visit the sweet-shop each morning with a milk jar. The farmer would pour some milk into a big vessel without ever measuring the milk. The middle–aged owner/confectioner of the sweet-shop in turn would stick his hand inside his money-sack, and without ever counting the cash he held in his fist, hand it over to the farmer in lieu of the milk. Every day, the sage would watch this exchange between the confectioner and the farmer and wonder why do these two individuals who do business with each other, not follow the basic rules of transaction? That is, neither does the confectioner measure the quantity of milk he receives, nor does the farmer measure the quantity of milk he delivers. Also neither does the confectioner count the amount of money he pays for the milk, nor does the farmer count the money he receives for the milk. Observing this phenomenon taking place daily, a curiosity and desire arose in the sage’s mind to unravel the secret behind nature of these transactions. The worldly people are generally materialistic. They pursue a livelihood compelled by the need to feed themselves, and labor to earn a living so that they can make ends meet. Observing the confectioner and the farmer however not adhering to the norms of business transactions, confounded the sage.
Wandering one day, the sage stopped by the sweet shop to meet the confectioner. The confectioner on seeing the sage received him kindly, asked him to take a seat, and offering him a couple of sweets, said humbly – ‘You are a sage, and we are poor householders. How can we possibly serve you? Hence, please accept these couple of sweets and give us your blessings that we cultivate devotion for the Lord.’
Pleased with the behavior of the confectioner, the sage asked him in Hindi - ‘How many sweets do you sell daily at your shop, and how much is your profit? How do you meet your family’s needs with the amount of money you earn? Do you have any other means of earning?’
Listening to the sage’s queries, the confectioner humbly replied – ‘Oh revered sage, we are a family of eight: my old parents, one widowed sister, a blind brother, my wife, me and our two children. By the grace of the Lord, we are able to sustain ourselves hand-to-mouth from the earnings of this shop. I have neither any land nor any savings. The earning from this shop is my only resource.’
Having observed the nature of the daily transaction which took place at the sweet shop between the confectioner and the farmer, the sage was surprised by confectioner’s answers. He next asked the confectioner - ‘Look! I have noticed each morning while sitting under that tree, a farmer giving you some milk without measuring the amount of milk he gives, and you accepting that milk without ever measuring its quantity. How do you guess the quantity of the milk you receive from the farmer? Again, you pay the farmer for the milk without counting how much money you’re giving him, and the farmer too accepts that money without counting it. Neither of you ever keeps account of the quantity of milk delivered, the price paid for it, and whether or not you’re profiting or losing from your daily transactions. How can you possibly conduct business in this manner?’
Hearing the words of the sage, the confectioner was surprised and said – ‘Oh revered sage! I do not understand the reason behind your query. The business we conduct between ourselves is plain and simple one, based on mutual faith. It is not a business based on detailed reckoning. I have faith that the farmer won’t cheat me on the measure of milk, and the farmer also believes that I won’t cheat him over the payment for the milk. Since long, we have conducted our business with each other based on the strength of this faith.’
Listening to the confectioner’s words, the sage could not believe that the confectioner and the farmer didn’t deceive each other in their transactions. He told the confectioner – ‘Neither is it possible for the farmer to supply you with the same quantity of milk each day, nor is it possible for you to pay the same amount of money to the farmer each day. Most likely, both the amount of milk delivered and the money exchanged vary from day to day’.
The confectioner laughingly replied – ‘Yes it is true that on some days the amounts transacted are more, and on other days they are less. But on the average, they remains the same, not much more or much less. That’s because the bond of our mutual faith is very firm. Neither one of us is motivated by self-interest. Deceiving or to try to cheat the other, does not arise in either of our minds. Hence on some days the farmer gets paid more for delivering a lesser quantity of milk, and on some other days he receives less money for delivering a greater quantity of the milk. On average, neither of us registers a loss. By the grace of the Lord, we have been able to maintain peace and good will toward each other; and with the mercy/ grace of sages and saints such as yourself, we are keeping well’. Listening to these words of the confectioner, the sage left silently. A few days later, the sage while heading out somewhere, ran into the farmer who used to supply milk to the confectioner. He posed the same questions to that farmer that he had previously asked the confectioner.
Responding in the same way as the confectioner, the farmer told the sage – ‘Our relationship is a very close one, just like that of kith and kin. We conduct business with each other based on mutual faith. We do not deceive each other. On the average, we do not incur any loss. By the grace of the Lord, we get by with whatever we have. Neither are we very greedy, nor do we harbor any excessive cravings. We are satisfied with whatever the Lord blesses us with. We sustain ourselves by the fruits of our labor. We don’t blame, criticize, or hurt others. We never create any cause of suffering for others. Getting along harmoniously with one another, we view and accept all as our own. We believe that the Lord shall not be displeased with us. It is His kindness that ensures our survival. It is His grace that has bestowed life unto us, and the strength to work hard for our living. The Lord has graced our minds with plain and simple faith. It is His blessings that has provided us with the intellect to recognize and accept others as our own selves. What more could poor men like us possibly ask for or receive from Him? It’s His grace that enables us to be content with whatever we have. The kindness of the Lord pervades this world. Everyone in this world owes his sustenance to the Lord’s grace. We are village-folks. All of us more or less sustain ourselves by virtue of our toil. We live in harmony with each other. Within the limits of our capabilities and resources, we try to serve each other through good and bad times. This is what is our natural practice and our simple duty.’
Much surprised on hearing these words of the farmer, the sage took leave of the farmer without saying anything. A few days later, he went back to the confectioner and asked him a few questions. The confectioner’s responses to the sage’s queries were nearly identical to those of the farmer’s. Listening to these responses, a strange realization dawned upon the sage, which was – in any situation of life, if human beings live righteously according to the simple, plain laws of nature, they can attain the grace of the Lord. The sage experienced that the realization of the farmer and the confectioner was in no way inferior to his own realization of the Lord achieved through the renunciation of domestic life a long time ago, and the performance of arduous penance ever since. Arriving at this new state of awareness, absorbing this new light of realization, and thanking the Lord, the sage after expressing his gratitude to all the villagers, left the village singing the glory of the Lord.
In the ensuing period, the sage would in response to the queries of his devotees, recount this novel experience, and narrate how he derived the right lessons from it.
By observing the daily behavior of the confectioner and the farmer, the sage had come to realize the implied meaning of the dictum ‘Faith helps one unite with Hari, while debate/argument distances one from Him’. Absolute Faith is one of the means of attaining peace in life. Even if one gets cheated owing to a betrayal of trust, one should not abandon his faith in others. Faith shall eventually and inevitably triumph. Disbelief is the work of nescience and ignorance; it is the wealth of the mammon. But faith is knowledge and the work of devotion; it is divine wealth.
There is neither peace nor happiness for the disbelievers. The question of liberation does not arise for them. But for the believer, even if he is temporarily deceived or sustains loss, the end-result is right or auspicious. His peace and happiness gradually grow, and he finally becomes entitled to liberation. This is one of the signs and characteristics of the mercy/grace bestowed by the Lord.
Pleased with the service of a devotee, the Lord blesses the the devotee by making him His own. The worthy devotee does not wish for the form of the Lord that’s full of divine riches; he instead hankers for the form of the Lord that’s full of love, beauty and bliss. That devotee humbly prays to the Lord – ‘O Master, you are merciful. Everything is possible by your will. Still please do not dazzle me with your riches; your riches are too glamorous for me. Its use is also very complicated; only you can possibly use it properly. It is not possible for humans to handle your riches. Hence I do not aspire for your riches; please out of mercy/grace, bestow upon me a little of your devotional love, and I shall be blessed. Let me be your humble and earnest devotee, please accept me as such.’
This humble prayer of the devotee is heard by the Lord. So He makes His devotee humble, earnest, and materially poor.
Transliteration submitted at the holy lotus feet of Sadguru Sri Sri Babathakur by Sri Ramen Basu.
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