The
Rich Gentleman
There was a rich gentleman who was very prosperous in
his life. He had amassed a large quantity of wealth, houses and lands and had
many servants and dependents.
When Baba’s fame reached his ears he said to a friend of
his that he was not inwant of anything, and so he would go to Shirdi and ask
Baba to give him Brahma Gyan, which if he got, would certainly make him more
happy. His friend dissuaded him, saying, ‘ It is not easy to know Brahman and
especially for a avarice like you, who is always engrossed in wealth , wife and
children. Who will in your quest of Brahma- Gyan will satisfy you, who does not
give away even a paisa in charity”
Not minding His friend’s advice, the fellow came to
Shirdi, and after seeing Sai Baba fell at His lotus feet and said, “ Baba ,
hearing that , You show the Brahma to all who come to you, I too have come all
the way from a distant place. I am much fatigued by the journey and if I get the
Brahma- Gyan from you, my troubles will be paid and rewarded.
Baba then replied,’’ Oh my dear friend do not be
anxious, I shall show you the Brahma. Many people come to Me and ask for
wealth, health, power, honor, position, cure of diseases and other temporal
matters. Rare is the person who comes to me and asks for the Brahma Gyan. There
is no dearth of persons asking for worldly things but persons interested in
spiritual matters are very rare.I think it is a fortunate and an auspicious
moment when persons like you come and ask me for Brahma Gyan. So forthwith I
show to you the Brahma with all its accompaniments and complexities.”
Then Baba called a boy and told him to go to one Nandu
Marawadi and get from him a loan of Rs.five.
The boy left and returned immediately saying that Nandu
was absent and his house was locked. Then Baba asked him to go to the Bala
grocer and get from him the said loan. This time also the boy was unsuccessful.
This experiment was repeated again and again with the same result.
Sai baba as we all know
is the living and moving Brahma incarnate. Then someone may ask, “ Why
did He want the paltry sum of five rupees and why did He try hard to get it?
Really He did not want the sum at all. He must have fully known that Nandu and
Bala were absent, and He seemed to have adopted this procedure as a test for
the seeker of Brahma Gyan. The gentleman had a roll or bundle of currency notes
in his pocket and if he was really earnest he would not have sat quiet and be
an onlooker when Baba was frantically trying to get a paltry sum of Rs. five.
He knew that Baba would keep His word and repay the debt and the sum wanted was
insignificant. Still he could not make up his mind to advance the sum. Such a
man wanted from Baba the greatest thing in the world , the Brahma Gyan!
When the gentleman asked Baba to show Brahma gyan soon
Baba replied,” Oh my dear friend did you not understand all the procedures that
I went through, sitting in this place to enable you to see Brahma..” Baba told
him that the first important thing to do to know the Brahma Gyan is to have the
quality of Surrender. Baba further gave a long discourse to make the rich
gentleman understand the qualification of a mumukshu or the seeker of Brahma
Gyan.
Moral -Unless one gets detached to his mortal
possessions and thoroughly surrenders, one is not qualified to receive
BrahmaGyan, The Knowledge of the Supreme. One should understand importance of
humility, sacrifice and infinite love and cultivate these qualities by
meditation to get the vision of the supreme.