Very many saffron robed Sanyasis (a Hindu ascetic) in India don their clothes with motives – unconnected with spiritual interests. Sometimes it is the gain of material objects, at other times success in an undertaking – mostly a selfish utilitarian goal. Whereas religion and spirituality command total disinterest towards worldly objects, these men are grounded in them all the time. We are not against truly pious men, disinterested in worldly gains. On the contrary the author believes that attaining such a state of simplicity and disinterestedness is the only solution to our modern problems. We want more and more of such highly evolved persons. Unfortunately the society is not moving in this direction, and instead pseudo-spiritualists are on the rampage.

“At the edge of a forest, in a small village lived a Sadhu (hermit). Among his possessions he owned a beautiful mare. In fact the mare was so much admired by people all around, that there were offers of various kinds to purchase the animal. The Sadhu personally tended the pet, fed her green grass, took the mare to the river for bathing and for quenching her thirst. In fact the hermit was not prepared to trust the mare to anybody for fear of her being stolen. A strong attachment had grown in the mind of the hermit for the mare. He remained quite engrossed and anxious about her upkeep.

In a near-by village lived a man who developed a keen desire to possess this mare. Knowing full well that the hermit would not part with her on any consideration, he approached the hermit once as a loyal student who would look after the hermit and attend to all his needs. The hermit accepted the student and accepted all his services with the exception that he would not permit the newly found disciple to attend to the mare. Even though gradually the disciple won over great affection of the hermit, the latter would not trust the mare to him. The disciple realized for the first time, the difficulty in his mission to get possession of the mare.

However, once it so happened that the hermit fell sick. Strangely the hermit lay in his bed most of the time, but when it came to tending the mare he would himself get up and attend to the animal. The hermit’s sickness took a serious turn. He was one day unable to get up from his bed. That day he called the disciple and asked him to lead the mare to the river to quench her thirst. The disciple jumped at the opportunity. He led the mare to the gate and asked permission to place on her back his belongings since he was afraid to climb her. The hermit in a delirium agreed. The disciple mounted the mare and sped away. He finally succeeded.”

by Shri Yogendraji

Source: This article was published at the monthly journal “Yoga & Total Health” issue of June 2012, published and distributed by the Yoga Institute of Santracruz.

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