There was a man with a wicked nature. He used to stand in the forest with an axe. Whoever passed by, he would first snatch money and their belongings from them and then kill them. One day, a saint passed by that place. When that robber picked up the axe, the saint said, why, brother, why would you kill me? The robber said that killing is my nature; I snatch the belongings of travellers and kill them. The saint said that this would lead to great misery. That saint was full of penance.
Sins are destroyed just by seeing saints. Just by seeing and talking to the saint, the robber’s heart trembled, and fear arose in his heart. He fell at the saint’s feet and said, I have committed many sins; tell me a solution. I will give up all wrong deeds if you make me your disciple. The saint said I will not make you my disciple like this. First, you visit all the pilgrimage places of India, and when you become pure, I will make you my disciple. The robber said, how will I know I have become pure and sinless? So he gave him a dry stick and said that when it becomes green, return from there, know that you have become sinless. Inspired by that great man, the robber took the dry stick and left for the pilgrimages. This is the effect of the company of saints.
The Robber Killed The Thieves Before The Pilgrimage.
After walking a little distance, the robber thought he would rest at night and go on a pilgrimage the next day. There was a very big banyan tree in a forest. He decided to spend the night under that tree. Four miscreants were sitting on top of that tree, and they were planning to set fire to the nearby village from all sides. Whoever comes out of the fire, they were planning to kill and loot them.
That robber thought that I have committed so many sins, now I am going on a pilgrimage, I will kill these four more because if these four die, the whole village will be saved. He called out to the thieves and told them their plan was wrong. The robber told them that I am your Guru in robbing people. I know you will get caught; come down. The thieves thought about whether they would get caught and came down one by one. The robber was already used to killing people; he killed all four of them with his own hands, without any weapons.
After killing them, he thought staying there would not be right anymore. As soon as he picked up the stick the saint gave, it turned green. He thought Guruji had said that if the wood turned green, come back. He was thinking that till now, he had not bathed in any holy river and had not gone on a pilgrimage, and yet the wood turned green. Guruji had said that if it turned green, then come back. Thinking this, he went back.
The Guru Explained The Importance Of The Purpose Of Action
As soon as he reached Guruji, the saint said that I had sent you for a pilgrimage, how did you come back. The robber said that you had said that wherever the wood turns green, you will become pure. Guruji, the wood turned green. The saint asked in which holy place you bathed. The robber said that he did not bathe and killed four more people. Gurudev said that if you killed four people, then it should have been a sin; how did this wood turn green?
Then he told him he had killed four thieves to protect the village. On this, the guru said, till now, you used to kill people for your own selfishness. When your purpose was your own selfishness, then it became a sin. But it became a great virtue when you killed four thieves to protect the living beings, animals, women, men and children of the whole city. The action is the same, but its purpose has changed, so its result also changed.
A Simple Way To Attain God While Living In A Household
Whatever actions you do while living in a household, just start doing them to please God, and things will work out. Lord says in Bhagwad Gita that you don’t worry, I will make you sinless, just take shelter of my feet. The fulfilment of every religion is by attaining God, and taking shelter at the feet of the Lord is the ultimate religion.
The religion or karma that hinders the attainment of God should be abandoned like a million enemies. Like Prahlad abandoned his father Hiranyakashyap, Vibhishan abandoned his brother Ravana, and King Bali abandoned his Guru. So many great men have been seen attaining God while doing their family business because they did all the work for the pleasure of the Lord. Whatever we do now, we do it for our own happiness, but a devotee does all the work for the pleasure of the Lord. The action is the same, but if the purpose changes, its result will change.
Guidance By: Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj
