There lived a king. He had a minister. The king enquired of the minister if he knew any man of perfect renunciation (sanyasi) . The minister replied casually, " There is one in every street corner, your Majesty".
The king was anxious to meet one. He requested his deputy many times to introduce one such sanyasi to him. The minister still did not take take the request seriously. One day the king stood firm and gave an ultimatum "if you do not find me one such man within a week you will cease to be my minister."
The minister now realised the seriousness of situation. He searched everywhere for a true sanyasi but found none.
On the seventh day he was forced to devise a plan. He chose a young man to put an act of a sanyasi when the king and his retinue would approach him. For pretending to be a sanyasi for a while the minister promised to give the young man a bag of gold.
The man put on ochre robes and all other accessories of a sanyasi. He sat under a wayside tree. The next day, the king called for the minister to fulfill his desire. Thus, the king and his retinue were brought by the minister to the 'sanyasi' sitting in meditation by the roadside.
The king , the queen and the prince prostrated to show their respect and take the holy man's blessings. The minister has to also follow the king and prostrate before the sanyasi.The king offered the sanyasi trays of money, clothing, food and all. To each offering the sanyasi bade the king to take it away. He refused to accept anything.
The king was wonderstruck at his spirit of renunciation. Throughly satisfied, the king and his retinue took leave of him and returned to the palace.
The minister rushed back to the so called sanyasi with the bag of gold. He commended the young man for his outstanding performance. The sanyasi bade the minister to take the bag of gold away.
The minister was confused . " The play is over, my friend , you may accept what was promised to you", he appealed.
The sanyasi motioned the old man to sit down and spoke these words of wisdom, "Did you not see, hear the beauty of life just now ? Did you not learn a great lesson today?I feigned an act of renunciation for a while; for which the king, the queen, the prince and you fell at my feet. I put just an act of renunciation and so much wealth and reverence were showered on me. What would I achieve if I genuinly give up the desire for everything ? "
"Take your bag of gold old man I do not need it. "
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Banish all your attachments and anxieties. Drop the idea of "I am the doer" or ' I am the enjoyer'.
Gandhiji realised it..king Janaka realised this...
Kill your ego. The way to gain anything is to lose it. In physics the colour which an object reflects and does not absorb is the colour of that object. The red rose appears red because all the others colours are absorbed except the red. The red is given/reflected away and thus the rose appears red.
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