February 8

Spiritual Stories

by Sri Chinmoy

The thief

"Master, you always need money. Today I have come up with an excellent idea."

"What is it, my son?"

"Master, I shall be able to make you really rich."

"How, my son?"

"Master, among your disciples it seems I am the one with the most money. Please do me a favour. Whenever I give you money, please let me know what you used it for. If you let me know how you used my money, I shall give you double the amount."

Then the Master said, "That is an excellent idea, son. But since you are so nice to me, instead, I shall tell you what I am going to use your money for in advance. Not only that, but I shall actually show you how I am using your money."

"Oh Master, I have all faith in you. It is not necessary to tell me in advance or to actually show me how you are using my money."

"Oh Sukhen, I am all love for you. Therefore I want to make you feel that I am a real stranger to deception."

"Master, deception is not meant for you; it is only meant for a mortal like me. Anyway, please take this hundred-dollar bill from me. I am placing it at your feet."

The Master said, "Thank you, my dear Sukhen. Now this is how I am going to use your money. Tomorrow morning I will give this hundred dollars to the first person I see when I open my door."

Sukhen said, "It is an excellent idea, Master. And as soon as I know that you have given the money away, I shall give you two hundred dollars." The Master gave Sukhen a broad smile.

Early the next morning when the Master opened his door, lo and behold, there he saw his dear disciple, Sukhen, meditating with folded hands. The Master gave the hundred-dollar bill to Sukhen and blessed him as well. Sukhen was deeply moved and gave the Master an offering of two hundred dollars. Then the Master said, "Sukhen, I will tell you how I am going to utilise this money. Tomorrow morning I am going to give the money to whoever calls me first on the phone."

"Master, I am not an early riser. With greatest difficulty I got up today. So someone else will get the two hundred dollars tomorrow. But when you tell me that you have given the money to that person, then I will give you four hundred dollars."

The following day, early in the morning, the Master got his first call from a little girl. And this girl was none other than Sukhen's little daughter, Kaga. "Master," she said, "I have a severe headache. Please tell me whether I should go to school."

"You don't have to go to school," replied the Master. "Come here instead. I am your inner school and inner teacher. I shall give you a very good lesson."

Kaga ran over to the Master's house very happily in spite of her headache. He gave her a toy, a box of candy and a glass of milk. Then he gave her an envelope and said, "Don't open it here. Take it home and open it in front of your parents. There is magic inside it."

Sukhen's daughter was so thrilled to hear the word magic that she literally grabbed the envelope and ran home. On reaching home she cried aloud, "Mommy, Daddy, the Master has given me magic! Come and see it!"

The mother and father came to her immediately, and with boundless joy, enthusiasm and curiosity the little girl opened the envelope. Lo and behold, inside it were two one-hundred-dollar bills. She held them up in front of her parents and said, "Two hundred dollars! It is all for me! It is all for me!"

"Kaga," the mother said, "indeed this is all your money. But since you told us that you had a severe headache this morning, please lie down and go to sleep. When you get up, I will give you your money back."

When little Kaga went to sleep, the mother went to a toy store and bought a package of play money. She put the play money inside the envelope the Master had given Kaga, and removed the real two hundred dollars. In the meantime, Sukhen went to the Master's house and gave him four hundred-dollar bills.

The Master gave him a broad smile and said, "Now I will tell you how I am going to use this money. Tonight, I shall ask all my disciples to come to my house for a special meditation from one o'clock to six o'clock in the morning. Whoever keeps his eyes wide open during the meditation and does not once close his eyes will get the four hundred dollars as a prize from me."

All forty of the Master's disciples came to meditate. For about two hours all the disciples meditated well, with their eyes open. But alas, at the end of two hours everybody felt tired and exhausted and one by one they began closing their eyes — everyone, that is, except Sukhen's wife, Nihar.

At six o'clock the Master chanted Aum and all the disciples woke up. "I am so glad that all of you have come back to this world," said the Master. "We need you badly in this world to manifest the Supreme, and I was so afraid you might never return."

Then the Master said, "Nihar, you alone have stayed awake. Here is my gift." And he gave her the four hundred-dollar bills. Everybody was very surprised to see so much money for that kind of meditation. Some of the disciples were very poor, and inwardly they cursed themselves, thinking that if they had known what the Master's gift was to be, then they, too, could easily have kept their eyes open for five hours. But outwardly they all congratulated Nihar. The Master blessed Nihar from the depth of his heart and then blessed all the returning travellers from the other world. They all felt a little bit sad, not because they had not gotten the prize, but because they had made friends with the sleep-world when they were supposed to be doing good meditation.

After everybody left, Sukhen gave the Master eight hundred-dollar bills. The Master then said, "Tomorrow I shall invite all the disciples to come and meditate with me early in the morning, and at that time I will show you how I am going to use these eight hundred dollars."

Sukhen said, "That is fine, Master. But up until now you have told me in advance how you were going to use the money. Why is it that you are not telling me this time?"

"Why such curiosity, Sukhen? Was it not you who told me that I did not have to tell you ahead of time how I was going to use the money? Now it is your curiosity which wants to know. Have you descended, Sukhen? Has your consciousness fallen?"

"No, Master, I have not yet descended. Tomorrow morning I will come and see how you use the money."

The following day all of the Master's disciples came to his house to meditate. They meditated for about an hour, and everybody had a good meditation. Then the Master said, "In the spiritual life, the most important thing is obedience. I need and expect obedience from each of you. Now I want to see who can fulfil my request first."

Everybody immediately cried out, "I can! I can!" Sukhen's voice was the loudest.The Master continued, "I shall be eternally pleased with and give a most coveted gift to the disciple who will come up to me now and give me a smart slap."

Everybody was embarrassed and shocked. "Master, what kind of request is that?" they asked. "We don't need your gift. For God's sake, please keep your gift. We do not want it."

But Sukhen stood up and said, "Master, I do not know what your gift will be. It is not because of the gift that I am going to give you a slap, but because I want to be your most obedient disciple. That is why I am obeying your command." With that, Sukhen went up to the Master and gave him a smart slap.

The poor Master began to cry like a child. Immediately the other disciples rushed over to Sukhen and thrashed him mercilessly. In spite of his pain the Master pleaded with his disciples not to thrash Sukhen: "After all, Sukhen has fulfilled my request." But despite the Master's pleas, the disciples beat Sukhen to within an inch of his life. Then, at the Master's request, they took him to a hospital.

In two days Sukhen was well enough to return home. The Master went to visit him immediately. He said, "My Sukhen, punishment from you I deserve because it was for executing my wish that you got this severe beating. I pleaded with your brother and sister disciples not to strike you, but they did not listen to me."

Sukhen quietly accepted the Master's apology, but his heart was burning for revenge. He said to the Master, "It seems to me, Master, that you really need thousands of dollars to run your spiritual community. Since I have lots of money and a large heart, I will lend you a large sum without any interest. And someday, when you get a lot of other money from the rest of your disciples, you can return the money to me. But, Master, there is only one thing. Since it is a very large sum, I wish to give it to you privately."

The Master was a little surprised at Sukhen's new offer, but he accepted it, saying, "This evening, before I start my meditation, you can come and give me what you want to give."

That evening Sukhen went and placed before the Master one million dollars in cash. Then he said, "Master, may I remain here while you meditate?"

"Certainly," said the Master.

"But Master, sometimes you go into a trance and stay there for two or three hours. During that time I may lose all patience. Will I be excused, then, if I leave the money here in front of you and go? Will it be safe?"

The Master said, "Certainly, my son. Nobody is here, only you and me."

The Master started meditating, and in a few minutes, went into a very deep trance. Sukhen observed the Master's trance for about twenty minutes. Then he quietly opened the bundle of money and took out two hundred-dollar bills, which he placed at the Master's feet. The rest of the money he put back inside his shirt and, after prostrating himself before the Master, slowly and quietly he left the Master's house and went home.

Since he was very rich, Sukhen had three phones in his house. When he got home he told his wife that he had just come from the Master's house, and that he had never before seen the Master in such a high trance. Even though the Master had not invited anyone to come and meditate with him, Sukhen asked his wife to inform their brother and sister disciples that they should go and secretly watch. He himself informed some disciples to go and see the Master's unprecedented trance. He even had little Kaga tell some disciples.

The Master was still deep in trance when everyone arrived to see him. They were all observing soulfully and devotedly, with folded hands, when Sukhen and his family came. They were the last to arrive. After a few seconds, Sukhen gave a loud, piercing cry. Everyone was shocked, and insulted him in angry whispers. "How dare you interrupt Master's trance!" they hissed. "Just wait! When the Master enters into his normal consciousness again, we shall thrash you as we did the other day!"

But Sukhen said, "We shall see who thrashes whom. Right now I am going to call the police. You are a bunch of thieves. When I saw the Master, I placed at his feet one million dollars. The Master is my witness. He will bear me out and support me in my accusations. Now I see only two hundred dollars there. When Master comes out of his trance, the police will give you a nice lesson."

Fifteen minutes later the Master came out of his trance and was surprised to find that so many angry-looking disciples were gathered around him. Sukhen was positively emitting fire through his eyes. "What is wrong with you, Sukhen?" asked the Master "Why are you all so upset?"

"Master, I tell you that all your disciples are thieves and rogues. They have stolen all your money. Look, Master, only two hundred dollars remain. Master, you always taught us to be generous. Out of my love for them, I wanted to share with them my highest delight when I saw you in your transcendental consciousness, so when I went home, my wife, my daughter and I informed them about your unprecedented trance, which I had never seen before. Now you see, Master, what they have done. Out of your one million dollars, only two hundred dollars are left."

The Master quietly asked which disciple had come first. Immediately Vinu stood up and said, "Master, I came first but I did not see any money. I only looked at your face and drank in the nectar of your eyes."

"Who came second?" the Master asked. Shibu stood up and said, "Master, I came in second but I did not see any money. When I came in, I saw Vinu praying to you very devotedly and soulfully. So I started praying to be granted the same kind of devotion that Vinu had, so that I could receive abundant Peace, Light and Bliss from you."

"Who came in third?" the Master enquired. Tartu stood up. "I came third, but to be very frank with you, Master, when I came in I saw only two hundred-dollar bills."

The Master then said to Vinu and Shibu, "What am I going to do with you two? Tell me, have you really stolen my money?"

They immediately shed bitter tears. "Master, you have realised God. You are our all. You can easily read our hearts. If you feel that we have stolen the money, Master, then do anything you want with our lives."

The Master went deep within and after a few seconds said to Sukhen, "What am I going to do, my son?"

"You don't have to do anything, Master. I am going to do everything for you. I am going to call the police. Forgive me, Master, it is not my money now; it is all your money. But I tell you, Master, in a few minutes the police will be able to get all the money back from these thief-disciples of yours."

The Master went deep within once more and then gave Sukhen a meaningful smile. "I am helpless," he said. "What can I do?"

Sukhen phoned the police, and told them his story. A few minutes later three police detectives came in. They said to the Master, "You have a good reputation, sir. How is it that you have kept such thieves and rogues in your ashram?"

The Master replied, "Who is a thief and who is a rogue? Who is a gentleman and who is an honest man? How am I going to know unless and until I observe their conduct? It is a disgrace that you should have to come here to catch a thief, but God has promised to me that the thief will be caught by you. With your broad experience, you will easily be able to detect the real thief." Sukhen jumped with joy.

The detectives asked the two suspects, "Have you left here at all since you first arrived to see the Master's trance?"

"No, sir, we have gone nowhere. We have been here the whole time," Shibu replied.

"Who was the third person to arrive this evening?" asked the policeman.

"I was," said Tartu. "I was the third person to come to see the Master's trance, and I saw them both here when I arrived."

"Have you any idea how long before your arrival these two suspects were in the presence of the Master?" they asked.

Tartu replied, "It was a matter of only a few moments. I was not many steps behind Shibu."

Then the detectives enquired how the others had come in. They said that they had all come in within a few seconds of each other.

The Master said to the police, "I leave everything up to you. My disciples are supposed to be sincere. Since the real culprit will not tell me who he is, it is beneath my dignity to stay here. You may do anything you want with the suspects. I am going to retire upstairs."

The police searched the two suspects thoroughly, and then they searched all the other disciples, including Sukhen. Finally they said to Sukhen, "This is very strange, but we must try to do something for you. Do you think we could come to your house to ask you a few questions about these two friends of yours, privately? If we can come to your house and ask a few questions about them, I am sure we will be able to recover your Master's money."

Sukhen, his wife, his daughter and the police detectives all went to Sukhen's house. Lo and behold, to the wide astonishment of the police, there was a big, heavy wallet on the kitchen table. Immediately one of the detectives grabbed it and began counting the money inside. The other two policemen joined him. They counted it once and then they counted it twice and each time found that the sum was just two hundred dollars less than a million dollars. Without any further words, the policemen took the money and went to the Master's house.

Sukhen shouted and screamed, "Police, police! You are thieves! You are taking away all my money!" But the police just laughed and laughed.

All the disciples were still wondering and suffering over the loss of the money when the policemen arrived with the good news. On hearing the happy noise of the disciples' voices, the Master came downstairs. When they told him who the actual thief was, he said simply, "I knew it, I knew it."

The arrival of three more policemen, called by Sukhen to recover his money from the first three, added a touch of pure chaos to the scene of happy confusion.

Everyone laughed and laughed when the whole story was explained. Then the Master said, "I don't blame anybody. I take the full blame upon myself because it was I who was first tempted to accept money from Sukhen. Temptation ends in frustration, frustration ends in destruction. But destruction is finally illumined by God's Compassion."

Peace

Peace is fulfilled Delight. 

Where peace is, the light of Delight has replaced the right of ignorance night.

Money-power and concern-power

There was once a spiritual Master who had about sixty disciples. Even though most of the disciples were poor, every Monday they used to give a love-offering of money to their Master. Now it happened that on a certain Monday it was raining very heavily, and only three disciples came to the meeting in the Master's house.

The three disciples, who were all women, inwardly felt happy that they alone had been brave enough to come out in the heavy downpour. But outwardly they expressed sadness that there was not a good turnout. The Master, as usual, gave a most significant discourse. At the end, he told the three disciples, "I am glad that you have come. But even if nobody had come, still I would have given my discourse. The four walls, the door, the windows and the ceiling would have been my silent and grateful audience. Sometimes I feel that my disciples do not pay any attention to my talks anyway. They whisper and squirm during my speech and cough and clear their throats just to make noise. But my silent audience — the walls, door, windows and ceiling — has always shown me love and veneration."

"But Master, your silent audience cannot manifest your divinity," said one of the women. "It is we who can and will manifest your divinity."

"I am not so sure," said the Master. "No doubt you can manifest my divinity, but I am not so sure that you will."

Then the Master asked the three disciples to come up to him one by one for blessings. After he blessed the first disciple, Rekha, she said to him, "You do so much for me, for my inner life, for my soul. I have been giving you only one dollar a week as my love-offering. In spite of my best intentions, I cannot give you more. I am sorry that I am so poor." The Master gave her a soulful smile.

Then it was Shikha's turn. After being blessed by the Master, she gave him a twenty-dollar bill and said, "Master, I am so happy that today I am able to give you twenty dollars. Usually I am only able to give ten dollars."

The Master asked, "Are you only happy, or are you proud as well?"

Shikha said, "Master, I am a bit proud, too." The Master gave her a sad smile. Finally the Master blessed the third disciple, whose name was Lekha. After being blessed, Lekha gave the Master two hundred-dollar bills and said, "Master, I am so sorry, but even though I give you two hundred dollars every week, this money is not unconditionally given. Something within me wants to know, out of curiosity, what you do with my money, and I feel really miserable for that. Master, forgive me." The Master gave Lekha a compassionate smile.

Then Rekha said to the Master, "Master, will it ever be possible for me to give you more than one dollar a week? How I wish to give you ten dollars a week! I know you need money badly to run your spiritual mission. You have a few disciples who can afford to give you lots of money, but they think that you don't really need any more money. Each one thinks that since everyone else gives, he can be excused. After all, they think, the Master is not starving."

"My daughter, it is not how much you give me but how devotedly and how soulfully you give that is of paramount importance."

"I know that, Master, but if I could give you more money with the same kind of devotion, would it not be more useful for your divine manifestation?"

"That is true," said the Master, "but I wish to tell you that it is always advisable to be happy with what you have, and cheerful in giving the Master what you can afford to give devotedly and unconditionally."

Next Shikha said to the Master, "Master, you always tell us to be happy so that we can make faster progress, and I always try to be happy. I have given you twenty dollars with happiness. I am sorry I allowed a little pride to enter me, but since I gave you two divine things — money, which you can utilise for your Centre, and my happiness — can you not forgive my one undivine thing, my pride?"

The Master said, "If you give me even nine divine things and one undivine thing, I shall feel sorry and miserable. To get one undivine thing is to get a drop of poison, which can ruin the entire contents of a vessel of nectar. Because of your pride, I have given you a sad smile. I could have been totally indifferent to you, to your pride and your money-power, but my forgiveness wanted to illumine your ignorance."

The Master then said to the third disciple, Lekha, "Lekha, I am really proud of your sincerity. You want to know how you can be unconditional when you give me money. You have no pride. You are all sincerity. You have no cleverness, no tricks. Now I will tell you how you can give me money unconditionally. The moment you give me money, please feel that you have dropped your money while walking along the street. You have lost the money, and you have no idea who has found it."

"But Master, if I have that kind of feeling, then I will feel sorry for a while."

"You are right. You will be sorry for a while, but then you will forget about the loss, since you can do nothing about it. But, my dear Lekha, there is an even more effective way. Please feel that I am a multimillionaire, that I really do not need your money. Please feel that by giving this two hundred dollars every week, you are in no way helping me. Please feel that I do not need your money, but you give me the money because you get a sense of satisfaction. You get a sense of satisfaction that God has made you a chosen instrument to manifest the divinity that your Master embodies. If you feel this, you will be grateful to the Master for using your money to manifest the Divine on earth. When you consciously exercise your humility-power, you will easily be able to offer your money-power unconditionally to please me and to fulfil my divinity on earth."

Lekha said to the Master, "I have given you my money-power, and in return you have given me the power of liberation from the world of ignorance." 

Shikha said to the Master, "I have given you my pride-power, and in return you have given me forgiveness-power, which is the only power that can save and illumine my life."

Rekha said to the Master, "I have given you my incapacity-power, and in return you have given me your love-power and oneness-power. Master, your oneness-power has made my life a garland of gratitude, and this garland I place at your feet for your constant use."

The Master said to the three disciples, "My daughters, since you three have pleased me most satisfactorily according to your own standards, your own levels of consciousness, I am offering to each of you my most precious Concern-power. Take it from me according to your receptivity-capacity."

Published in One Lives, One Dies

Great Indian Stories

as told by Sri Chinmoy

Balarama forgives Bhima

Balarama, Sri Krishna’s brother, was a great fighter. He had three principal weapons. Of the three, his favourite was the ploughshare. The other two were the mace and the club.

Bhima, of the Pandavas, and Duryodhana, of the Kauravas, learned how to use the mace from him. When the Pandavas and Kauravas fought, Balarama remained neutral. Once, Bhima adopted foul means while fighting with Duryodhana. This offended Balarama’s sense of fair play terribly. So he immediately seized his club to punish Bhima.

But Sri Krishna restrained him. Sri Krishna said, “True, this time Bhima was wrong, but Brother, many, many times Bhima was innocent when Duryodhana showed tremendous hostility towards him and his brothers. You know, Brother, right from his boyhood, Duryodhana treated Bhima badly. So please forgive Bhima for this misdeed. It is only once he has done this, whereas he has been treated mercilessly so many times by Duryodhana.”

So Balarama forgave Bhima.

The aftermath of Kurukshetra

When the battle of Kurukshetra was over, countless people were killed. Sri Krishna’s family, relatives and dear ones were all killed in the great, unthinkable turmoil and confusion. Even Sri Krishna himself left the body.

When it was Balarama’s time, he sat down under a tree and went to sleep. Soon his soul, in the form of the cosmic serpent, Shesha, whose incarnation he was, came out from his mouth and laughed at Balarama’s lifeless body. He was found on a rock, under a tree.

Poor Arjuna, his dear Balarama and his dearer than the dearest Krishna were no more. Arjuna had to do the final obsequies for these two and also for many, many more. His heart broke, but alas, this is life. Happiness is followed by sorrow. This is an undeniable fact.

Lord Shiva is above humanity’s curse

Bhrigu was a supreme sage who was found in many Indian legends and Hindu mythology. Once a terrible quarrel arose between Shiva and Daksha, Shiva’s father-in-law. Bhrigu took Daksha’s side and officiated at Daksha’s sacrifice. Shiva became terribly angry with Bhrigu and said, “How dare you take Daksha’s side!”

Bhrigu said, “I can take whichever side I want to. It is my business, not yours.”

Shiva pulled Bhrigu’s beard off, and poor Bhrigu suffered a lot from the pain.

Bhrigu was married to one of Daksha’s daughters, Khyati. She was extremely devoted to her husband and pleased him in every way. Bhrigu was extremely proud of her.

She was extremely angry with Shiva for pulling off Bhrigu’s beard and cursed him. The curse was that Shiva would become ugly. But Lord Shiva is above humanity’s curse. If he had wanted to be cursed, he could have easily suffered from the curse. But Shiva’s beauty remained unparalleled.

The greatest of the deities

Once the sages wanted to know who among the great deities — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — was the greatest. They debated and debated. Finally they appointed Bhrigu to settle the matter. Bhrigu visited Shiva’s place, but he was not allowed to enter because Shiva and his consort were having a serious discussion. Bhrigu got mad and said, “Shiva, you are always like this. Your very nature is to be disrespectful. You do not honour anybody. You are careless and callous. I curse you. No good person will ever love you or adore you, not to speak of worship you. You are so bad.”

Then Bhrigu went to visit Brahma. Brahma was listening to the discourses of the great intellectuals. The intellectuals were appreciating and admiring Brahma’s capacities. He was so engulfed in his own importance that he paid no attention to Bhrigu’s presence. Bhrigu became furious and said, “Brahma, I never knew that you were so undivine. You don’t care for guests. A guest is nothing short of God Himself. I curse you! Now nobody desiring salvation will come to you. You are so undivine. Only bad people, intellectual people, clever people, will come to you. Sincere seekers will not come to you.”

Then Bhrigu went to Vishnu. Vishnu was fast asleep. He heard the sound of Bhrigu’s arrival, but did not pay any attention. He continued to enjoy his sleep. Bhrigu said to himself, “Here is the worst!” and he kicked Vishnu very hard. Vishnu did not become annoyed at all. In fact, he apologized at once for not being ready to receive the sage. He said, “O sage, I am sorry, I am sorry. Forgive me. I am sure you are deeply hurt because you have kicked me. I feel sorry, extremely sorry, sincerely sorry. Please forgive me. I hope that you are not injured. I am so proud that a holy man has kicked me. You are really a holy man and I deserved your kick.”

Bhrigu said, “You are truly virtuous and humble. Because of your humility, not only will all human beings worship you, but the cosmic gods will also worship you. You are great, greater, greatest. Undoubtedly, you are greater than Shiva and Brahma.”

Bhrigu’s method of casting horoscopes

Bhrigu was better than anyone else in astrology. He was greatly versed in the mysterious workings of human destiny. He compiled astrological charts giving the horoscope of every person who was born or yet to be born. His charts were infallible. It was he who introduced the use of fire.

There was a young boy in India who was amused to hear of all the astrological capacities of Bhrigu. He almost doubted Bhrigu’s capacities. His elder brother was extremely fond of astrology and was also well versed in it.

He said, “You don’t believe Bhrigu. You think that his method of casting horoscopes is all hallucination. But you are wrong, my dear brother. Let me cast your horoscope according to Bhrigu.”

A few days later the young boy read his horoscope. There it was written that at the age of eleven he would go to a spiritual ashram to stay permanently under the guidance of a very, very great spiritual master. Then, after twenty years, he would start offering his own light to the world.

At that time, the young boy was in Bengal. When the hour came, the boy was taken by the elder members of his family to a great spiritual institute in south India, and there he stayed for twenty years. Then he became a spiritual Master and offered his own light to the world. So Bhrigu’s way of casting horoscopes was infallible.

Another incident which the young boy never forgot was Bhrigu’s explanation of why his maternal uncle had no children. According to Bhrigu’s book, his maternal uncle’s horoscope said that in his previous incarnation he was a great hunter. While hunting one day, he killed a pregnant deer. The pregnant deer cursed him saying, “I would not have cared if you had killed me alone, but I am pregnant and you have killed the child inside me. Therefore, I am cursing you. In your next incarnation you will not have one child. You will see the pain of not having a child in your next incarnation.”

Alas, the curse fell absolutely true, and the boy’s maternal uncle remained childless.

Vishma’s birth

There was a great king named Shantanu. His father’s name was Pratip and his mother’s name was Sunanda. Shantanu’s elder brother was Devapi. Devapi became a sannyasi and did not care for earthly name and fame. He did not care for anything. He left the palace and Shantanu had to ascend the throne when King Pratip, his father, died.

Shantanu had a special capacity which nobody else had. When he touched a human being, no matter how old the person was, by his mere touch he could transform that person into a strong and vigorous youth. He did it many times and was always successful.

Shantanu was very beautiful and also pious, truthful, hardworking and dynamic. He was very fond of hunting and was a great hunter. He especially loved hunting deer.

One day, he saw at the bank of the Ganges a most beautiful woman. He became enamoured of her beauty and ran to her saying, “Please tell me who you are. In fact, you don’t have to tell me who you are. Just marry me. I wish to marry you. I am the King. I will give you everything you want just for the asking.”

The beautiful girl, Gangadevi, said, “Are you sure you will be able to fulfil me in every way?”

“Yes, I can and I shall. Your beauty has captured my heart.”

“All right then, I will marry you on one condition.”

“Any condition I shall fulfil.”

“No matter what I do, you will not stand in my way. No matter what I say, you will not stand in my way.”

“Never, never! I shall not stand in your way. Just be my wife. I will be at your beck and call. Indeed, you are beauty incarnate.”

They were married and both King and Queen were happy. Alas, when they had their first child, the mother threw the child into the Ganges. They had seven children, and as soon as each child was born she threw the infant into the Ganges.

The King knew that if he scolded her or stood in her way, she would leave him because that was the condition she made. His love for her was boundless, and for fear of losing her, he remained silent.

But when the eighth child was born, he was sad, disturbed and mad. He said, “How can you do this? Are you not a human being? You are the child’s mother. How can a mother do this? The mother is supposed to be flooded with love and compassion for her children. You are so cruel, so undivine. How can I keep you as my wife?”

The wife smiled and smiled, “So! You have failed to keep your promise. I can’t stay with you anymore. I am going and I am taking my son with me. When this child grows into a youth, I shall bring him back to you — I promise you. Now, I have to take care of him, because it is the mother only who can take care of a small baby. But when he grows up, I shall bring him to you.”

She did keep her promise. The name of that eighth child was Vishma, the unparalleled hero of the Mahabharata.

Published in Great Indian Meals: Divinely Delicious and Supremely Nourishing, part 8