AW: Fw: Question

[Guest guest]

I can share with you a story which my teacher H.H.Swamini Saradapriyananda

has told me:

 

Once upon a time there lived a businessman called Mahavishnu. He became

wealthy by loaning his money to poor people on double interest rates. Many

poor people who took money from him could not pay it back, by the time they

pay their interest the original amount used to become double, in a way

making them virtually slaves to Mahavishnu for their life long! So

Mahavishnu had become notoriously famous for his loan system.

 

One day, a youngman named "Madhava" approached Mahavishnu and begged him for

a job. Mahavishnu thought about it for some time and then decided to give a

job to Madhava as a debtcollector. He hired Madhava and told him his job

responsibilities. As per the job guidelines - Madhava is supposed to visit

people who are not paying back Mahavishnu the money and tell them to

payback. He is supposed to visit all those miserable people and collect the

money. Just collecting the money is the Job. So Madhava has happiliy

accepted the job and then onwards started working for Mahavishnu.

 

Each day Madhava visits so many households in the nearby villages, the

households of people who took loan from Mahavishnu. Since Mahavishnu is

considered to be a bad man for his cruelty --- and the harsh way he dealts

with people who are indebt to him --- most of those people who are indebt

openly talk ill about Mahavishnu.... that too right in front of Madhava when

he goes there to collect the money.

 

What should be Madhava's response when he hears bad words about his

employer..?

Shall he fight with the people who are talking ill? Or shall he ignore?

What shall he do?

 

(was the question from my teacher :-))

 

I told her: Madhava shouldn't take it personally because all the abuses are

addressed to somebody else. The best thing he could do is not to lose his

patience. Also he should constantly remember "what these people are saying

rightfully belong to my employer, not to me... I am *just* a worker".

 

 

She advised me to apply the same logic to Karmayoga. Imagine you are a

servant of Lord. Everything you do belong to him! Then when you passon

faithfully everything to him, you will automatically become detached....

while doing your duty you become unbound to the duty!

 

 

Or you apply it to time and become a Udasina! Imagine that you have am

employer called "Kala" (time) - kAlOsmi lOka kshaya kRUt pravRUddaH (Gita

Ch.11). Everything that happens owes its outcome to the TIME. All things

happen in time. Everybody loans time, they beg for more time. One day,

they die in time :-) So if people talk ill about Time, why you bother! Let

those words passby in time....

 

 

Hari Om...

 

Yours,

Madhava

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> --- Vivekananda Centre <vivekananda

> wrote:

> > Following interesting question came to us:

> > ""Renunciation: The central theme of the Gita is

> > renunciation. "Work away; but offer the fruits of

> > your actions to God. Do not run after the objects of

> > the senses. Lead a detached life.""

> > when it says offer fruits of your actions to God.

> > Can you explain how one can actually implement this?