Persian Wheel

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Persian Wheel

Source: A discourse of Swami Ramtirtha in San Francisco, on February

15, 1903

http://narotamsharma.tripod.com/mypersonalsite/id121.html

 

There was a man on horse-back going to a distant place. He happened

to pass by a Persian wheel in India. You know that in India water is

drawn out of a well by a kind of arrangement which we call a Persian

wheel. When water is pumped out of a well by a Persian wheel, there

is a noise. Now this man brought to his mare or horse to drink the

water that was coming out of the well by the Persian wheel. The

horse not being accustomed to hear that kind of noise, was startled

to a little and did not drink that water. The horseman asked the

peasants who were working that Persian wheel to stop that noise. The

peasants stopped that noise by stopping the Persian wheel; the noise

was stopped, but with the stopping of the noise stopped also the

coming of the water. Now the horse had no water to drink; the horse

advanced towards the cistern, where the water was to be found, but

there was no water at all. Now this horseman turned to the farmers

and complained to them, " O queer farmers! I asked you to stop the

noise; I did not ask you to stop the water, strange fellows you are;

you will not show kindness to a stranger to allow his horse a drink

of water. " The farmers said, " Sir, we wish from the bottom of our

heart to serve you, to treat you and to serve your horse with water,

but your request is beyond our power to comply with. We cannot

comply with your request. If you want to have water, if you want

your horse to drink water, you ought to coax him to drink when the

noise is going on; because when we stop the noise, no water will be

supplied; water comes always alongside of this noise. " Similarly

Rama says, " If you want to realize Vedanta, realize it even in the

midst of all sorts of noise, even in the heart of all sorts of

troubles. In this world you can never, never get yourself in a state

where there will be no noise, no botherations from without. Live on

the heights of the Himalayas, there also you will have troubles

around.

 

Go wherever you please, botherations and troubles will never leave

you; they are always with you. If you want to realize Vedanta,

realize it when the noise of the Persian wheel is going on all

around you. All the great men have been produced despite

discouraging environments and circumstances; in fact the harder

these circumstances, and more and more trying the environments, the

stronger are the men who come out of those circumstances. So welcome

all these outside troubles and anxieties.

 

GOMU <gokulmuthu