There was a millionaire who was suffering with severe eye pain. He consulted many physicians, consumed various medicines, but the pain remained.

At last a monk, who was expert in treating such patients, was called for by the millionaire. The monk understood the problem and instructed that for sometime the millionaire should concentrate only on green colour; and avoid seeing any other colour. The millionaire immediately employed a group of painters, purchased barrels of green paint and directed that every object his eye was likely to fall upon be painted green just as the monk had directed.

When the monk came to visit him after a few days, the millionaire’s servants ran with buckets of green paint and emptied it on the sage.

Seeing this, the monk smiled and said, “If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few rupees, you could have saved these walls, furniture, jewels and other articles; and also saved a large fortune. It is childish to think that you can paint the whole world green.”

Let us change our vision. It is foolish to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first.”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s instruction is that you can improve the welfare of others when your own life is a success:

bharata-bhumite haila manushya-janma yara
janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara
[Cc. Adi 9.41]

First make your life perfect. Then try to teach others. Lord Chaitanya has given the greatest boon: in this age one simply has to chant the holy name of God to attain perfection in spiritual life.

Following in the footsteps of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Krishna consciousness movement is recommending this process all over the world. We are saying, “Chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, be freed from all the complexities of life, and realize Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Engage in His devotional service and perfect your life so that you can return home, back to Godhead.”

There was once a village that was plagued with constant theft. The villagers were unable to detect the thief in spite of all efforts. Whenever the people were alerted, the thief would run away. A hue and cry would be raised by the people, and the villagers gathered only to be disappointed.

Finally, the headman in the village called for all the victims of the theft individually and questioned them in confidence. Upon a through inquiry, he discovered that one particular person was found to be present and anxious to find out the thief every time there had been a crime.

The village headman became suspicious at this coincidence. Therefore he devised a plan and advised the village guard to keep an eye on the suspected person at his house from midnight and report his movements. The headman himself was also carefully watching the guard and regularly supervised his duties.

One night the guard saw the suspect coming out of his house at about 2 o’clock, hiding a burglar’s tool for house-breaking under his shawl.

As the guard followed him, making sure that he was hidden from view, he observed the suspected man breaking through the wall of a villager’s house with the help of a burglar’s tool. After a while, the house owner started screaming, “Thief, thief!!”, and the guard watched as the suspected man came out of the house with the stolen goods and hurriedly entered into the nearby jungle.

When the villagers gathered as usual after the house owner started screaming for help, the suspected man came out of the opposite side of the jungle and innocently joined the crowd of villagers inquiring about the incident. He was just pretending to look for the thief and running up and down in all directions. Thus coming across the village guard patrolling nearby, he caught hold of him and started shouting, “Here is the burglar, here is the burglar!”

Attracted by his screaming, the people gathered around them and started jeering at the guard, taking him to be the burglar. Some of them were preparing to beat him.

Luckily, the village headman appeared on the spot and appeasing them, he took the guard to the side and asked him to give a complete report on the incident. He advised some other villagers to observe the reactions of the man who was the real culprit.

Thereafter, he proceeded towards the jungle as directed by the guard, along with other people, while the thief repeatedly asked them, “Why on earth are you going into the jungle for the burglar? On this dark night, that snake-infested jungle is most dangerous. No burglar can hide himself in there, for sure!”

When everyone was walking into the jungle, disregarding his constant grumbling, the man started gradually backing away with the idea of running off. It appeared from his face that he was greatly frightened.

Eventually, the jewellery box which the thief had taken from the villager’s house was found in the jungle along with the burglar’s tool. It was then crystal-clear to everyone present that the man complaining was the burglar himself, and so the crowd ran out of the jungle and started chasing him. As he was running away, they all shouted out, “There goes the thief. There goes the thief!”

The cunning thief also started shouting while running, “There goes the thief, there goes the thief,” and pointing to all the innocent passers-by, he got away by creating an utter confusion.

PURPORT

There is no dearth of such mischievous atheists among the people. They constantly malign the real protectors of the society who are like watchmen, and harass those great souls who are truly and selflessly benevolent to common people, only to tarnish their reputation by a vile attempt to prove those saintly persons as thieves and the like.

In all Vedic literature, Gita, Bhagavata, Upanisads etc., it has been specifically advocated that this material world belongs to the Supreme Lord, He is the proprietor of everything, and one who does not offer everything to the Supreme Lord for His satisfaction through preaching His glories and the holy name, simply devours His property for one’s own sense gratification, and as such, he is a thief.

Such a thief is always endeavouring to indicate that any person who is preaching the holy name of the Supreme Godhead, and going from door to door in order to wake everyone up from their illusory state of living, is only worthless, idle and a thief of social wealth. This is just like the motivated tendency of a thief who points to a sadhu as if he is running away from a burglary.

There was once a prince, a minister’s son, and a treasurer’s son who were all close friends.


Once upon a time, all three of them set out on a long journey to different distant lands. On the way they happened to arrive at a royal palace where the king of that land was absent, but his daughter, the princess, was staying there along with her two closest friends - one the minister’s daughter and the other the treasurer’s daughter of that land. Those three ladies were also similarly close friends like the prince, the minister’s son and the treasurer’s son mentioned above.

The prince and his two friends exchanged their acquaintances with the princess and her two consorts. And it wasn’t long before the three young men proposed to marry those three damsels. But they hesitated as it was custom to get permission from their respective parents for the marriage. However, they decided to marry without further delay, according to the old saying “anything auspicious should be hastened.”

So their happy marriages were solemnised. Thereafter the king of the land, with his minister and treasurer, came back from their travels and entered the royal palace only to see in great astonishment, that the princess and her two friends were chatting with three strangers. Upon hearing that those three men had trespassed into the royal palace, only to flirt with the young women and talk them into an illegal marriage, the king ordered their arrest.

The princess then begged her father to release her husband. The treasurer’s daughter and the minister’s daughter, also respectively fell on their knees in front of their fathers and begged them for their husbands’ release. However, the king did not release the young husbands, but ordered that proper respect should be shown to the young prince by tying him up with golden shackles, whereas the young son of the minister should be given silver shackles, and the treasurer’s son should be bound with iron shackles, all according to their respective status.

PURPORT

The Supreme Lord binds up all living entities similarly in three types of shackles, namely the material modes, according to the reactions of their respective fruitive activities. The bondage of goodness may very well be compared to golden shackles, that of passion to silver shackles, and the entanglement in ignorance is tantamount to iron shackles.

Whatever might be the elements or metals with which the shackles are made, they are simply meant for imprisonment. Unless and until one goes beyond these three material modes or entanglements, one can never be considered free and liberated. Only one who completely surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord unconditionally may thus be delivered from such bondage.

When Akbar was the Emperor of Delhi there lived a hermit in a hut in the forest. Many people visited the holy man. At one time he felt a great desire to entertain his visitors. But how could he do so without money? So he decided to go to the Emperor for help, for the gate of Akbar’s palace was always open to holy men.

The hermit entered the palace while the Emperor was at his daily devotions and took a seat in a corner of the room. He heard the Emperor conclude his worship with the prayer, “O God, give me money; give me riches”, and so on and so forth. When the hermit heard this, he was about to leave the prayer hall, but the Emperor signed to him to wait.

When the prayer was over the Emperor said to him, “You came to see me: how is it that you were about to leave without saying anything to me?”

“Your Majesty need not trouble yourself about it.”, answered the hermit. “I must leave now.” When the Emperor insisted, the hermit said: “Many people visit my hut, and so I came here to ask you for some money.”

“Then”, said Akbar, “Why were you going away without speaking to me?”

The hermit replied: “I found that you too were a beggar; you too prayed to God for money and riches. There upon I said to myself: ‘Why should I beg of a beggar? If I must beg, let me beg of God.”

Srila Prabhupada explains: Ashaya means “determination.” Generally a conditioned soul has the determination for material profit, but when these desires for material profit are satisfied through performance of yajna, one gradually achieves the spiritual platform. Then his life becomes perfect. Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.3.10) therefore recommends:

akamah sarva-kamo va
moksa-kama udara-dhih
tivrena bhakti-yogena
yajeta purusam param

If a person wants to return home, back to Godhead, or wants to become a pure devotee (akama), or wants some material prosperity (sakama or sarva-kama), or wants to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman effulgence (moksa-kama), he is recommended to take to the path of devotional service and hear and chant of Lord Vishnu or of His devotee. This is the sum and substance of all Vedic literatures.

A hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him.

“Master, I wish to become your disciple,” said the man. “Why?” replied the hermit. The young man thought for a moment. “Because I want to find God.”

The master jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the master finally pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to get his breath. When he eventually quieted down, the master spoke.

“Tell me, what did you want most of all when you were under water.”

“Air!” answered the man.

“Very well,” said the master. “Go home and come back to me when you want God as much as you just wanted air.”

Srila Prabhupada explains, “Eagerness is the price for achieving success in Krishna consciousness. Everything has some value, and one has to pay the value before obtaining or possessing it. It is stated in the Vedic literature that to purchase the most valuable thing, Krishna consciousness, one has to develop intense eagerness for achieving success. If one wants to achieve success at the end of his life, the process of remembering Krishna is essential. Therefore one should constantly, incessantly chant the maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

A dull headed boy was once happily flying a kite from an unwalled rooftop. He became so engrossed in playing that he lost his awareness. His playmates were also encouraging him very much. The boy got so carried away that he failed to notice that one of his legs was hanging over the edge of the roof. None of the other boys alerted him to this peril; rather they simply continued to encourage him to fly the kite.

At that critical moment, a wise man happened to pass by. He saw that the boy was in imminent danger of falling from the roof. He immediately rushed up to save the boy although the others saw no danger. He pulled the boy away from the edge, tore off the thread of the kite and took away the spool of thread.

But the foolish boy and his friends, rather than feeling thankful, began to curse the well-meaning gentleman. They called him a thief, rascal, trespasser, gunda, hooligan, ruffian and other such names. They even threatened to take the gentleman to court after complaining to their over-indulgent parents. Some even tried to physically assault him. Bearing all this, the kind-hearted gentleman saved the boy from imminent death.

Materialistic persons embrace their certain death by accepting whatever is apparently palatable to them. By no means are they prepared to accept anything which is apparently bitter but ultimately pleasant. Many of our so-called friends in this material world also encourage us in sense gratificatory activities that lead us to certain death and destruction.

By chance if one comes across a benevolent saintly person, he preaches to us out of his sheer mercy some real truths although in an unpleasantly stern exposition (like a dose of strong medicine) in spite of our unwillingness to accept it. Therefore we should accept all good sermons from saintly persons delivered in the cause of our eternal welfare, even if those words appear utterly bitter and heart rending.

“Why do people attend satsanga? Are they of any real benefit?”

Once a saint approached a lady for bhiksha, and this was the question that she posed to him. He in turn asked her to prepare buckets full of kheer for him the next day, when he would answer her query. The next day he came back with a bowl filled up to the brim with cow dung and asked her to pour the kheer in it. Dumbfounded, the lady poured buckets and buckets of kheer. Initially the kheer spilled on the earth but gradually, the cow dung spilled down with the sheer force of the kheer and the bowl became clean and filled up with the sweet kheer.

The saint explained, “I have demonstrated the effect satsanga has on a stained soul. Constantly pour satsanga on the hearts and minds filled up to the brim with lust, hatred, attachment, desire, selfishness and viciousness till complete clarity and total cleansing is achieved. Only then will you be able to purify your existence and understand things as they are.”

Srila Prabhupada explains: “By association with undesirable companions we have learned so many bad habits and similarly by association with pure persons or devotees we can become purified of our acquired bad habits.”

“Simply by associating with exalted devotees, anyone can attain perfection of knowledge and with the sword of knowledge can cut to pieces the illusory associations within this material world. Through the association of devotees, one can engage in the service of the Lord by hearing and chanting [shravanam kirtanam]. Thus one can revive his dormant Krishna consciousness and, sticking to the cultivation of Krishna consciousness, return home, back to Godhead, even in this life.”

A frog, living in a pond, by chance picked up a half-rupee coin. Upon getting the half-rupee coin the frog became puffed-up and thought, “Is there anyone else as rich as I am now? If the king’s elephant comes this time to drink water here, I will chain him up. I won’t let him drink water here again!” Meditating thus, the frog sat tightly on the half-rupee coin on the bank of the pond.

Shortly after, the keeper of the king’s elephant arrived at the pond along with the elephant for taking a bath. The frog immediately jumped off and threw himself near the feet of the elephant, leaving the half-rupee coin behind. It wasn’t long before he lost his life under the elephant’s feet.

Those who are simply puffed-up with their great sphere of mundane activities in this material world, prove themselves to be insignificant like ‘the Half-rupee coin of the frog’ whenever they are confronted with a situation of real assessment.

The great valour of an untiring worker in this material world may be crushed underfoot at any moment under the pressure of the mundane spell, as it is nothing but a gift from the material nature.

Thus the Bhagavad-gita says :

prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Bhagavad-gita 3.27)

The activities performed under the influence of different modes of nature, are considered by the living entity to have been done by himself under the illusion of “I am the Lord.”

Such a puffed-up person under illusion thinks himself to be the lord of enjoyment in this world and thus wants to lord it over the world. They fail to realize, however, that mother nature can at any moment crush down their tall edifice of boasting as a great worker. There is no use of independence and its related conceit in this material world. Today’s king may be tomorrow’s beggar on the street. Today’s pauper may become puffed-up with unlimited wealth and opulence. So the great saint sings:

“The King’s kingdom is like the dancer’s dance, in an instant it can be finished. In the same way, Maya, the supreme controller, acts. O mind, be always fearful of her!”

IN the Bhagavad-gita, The Blessed Lord Krishna instructs His dear friend Arjuna, “O son of Kunti, the non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.”

Here is a nice story which explains this point.

There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest… perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize?

The King chose the second picture. Do you know why?

Because, as explained by the King: “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.”

nd still be calm in your heart.”

A devotee of Krishna and his companion lost their way in a forest. The companion despaired, but the devotee said maybe some good will come of this. They came upon a stranger who needed the devotee’s help. The stranger turned out to be a prince who gave the devotee a beautiful horse.

His neighbors praised his good luck and said, “How blessed you are to have such a magnificent animal.”

The devotee said, “Who’s to say whether this is a blessing or a curse?”

The next day the horse ran away, and the neighbors said, “How horrible that you were cursed with the loss of your horse.”

The devotee replied, “Who’s to say whether this is a curse or a blessing? Perhaps some good will come of it.”

The next day the horse returned, leading five wild horses. “You were right!” his neighbors exclaimed. “The curse was a blessing in disguise. Now you’re blessed with six horses.” The devotee replied, “Perhaps, but who’s to say whether this is a blessing or a curse?”

The next day his only son tried to ride one of the wild horses. He was thrown to the ground and broke his leg. The neighbors said, “How wise you were. Your blessing was really a curse.”

The devotee replied, “There may be good yet. Who’s to say whether this is a curse or a blessing?” The next day soldiers came through the village and took every able-bodied boy to fight in a war where it was almost certain all would be killed. Because the devotee’s son was injured, he was the only one not taken. “How blessed are you to have your son!” the neighbors said. The devotee replied, “Who’s to say?”

The Blessed Lord Sri Krishna instructs in the Bhagavad-gita:

duhkhesv anudvigna-manah
sukhesu vigata-sprhah
vita-raga-bhaya-krodhah
sthita-dhir munir ucyate

One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind. (Bhagavad-gita 2.56)