Once The Master was emphasising on the importance of Selfless Sevaa to the disciples.
The Master started, "One day, Krishna & Arjuna were strolling around, when they came across a person begging. Taking pity on his condition, Arjuna gave him a bag of gold coins.
The man was overjoyed, but on his way to home, he was robbed by a thief, in the forest. He cursed his fate and the next day set off to beg again, at the same place, knowing very well Arjuna will come there.
He saw Arjuna & Krishna again. He told what had happened to him. Arjuna once again took pity and gave him a large diamond. The man happily took it home and decided to keep it safe, in an old unused pot. Then he went to sleep.
The next morning before he woke up, his wife went to fetch water from the river & on her way back, she slipped and her pot broke.
So, she came back home and took the unused pot to fetch water. As she dipped the pot in the water, the diamond slipped from the pot and fell into the river.
When she returned home, her husband was desperately searching for the unused pot. When he saw it in his wife's hands, he understood what had happened. Dejected, he once again left for the same spot, to beg.
Arjuna and Krishna saw the man waiting for them. After hearing the unfortunate incident, Arjuna told Krishna, "I do not think this man is destined to be blessed at all, I can not help him anymore".
Krishna then gave the man two pennies and the man took them and walked away.
Arjuna then asked Krishna, "O Krishna, if my gold coins and diamond could not change his condition, what good can two pennies do to him?"
Krishna smiled and replied, "Let us see".
As the man walked towards home, he was cursing his fate. He should have been a rich man by now, but here he was still poor. He looked towards The Lord, and said, "O Lord, Have mercy." Tears rolled from his eyes.
By that time, he had reached the river near his home. As he was passing, he saw a fisherman had just caught a fish and it was struggling for its life. He took pity on it and thought to himself, "These two pennies cannot fetch me food anyway, let me at least save the life of this creature." He purchased the fish and was about to leave it in the river, when he realised that the breathlessness of the fish was caused due to some large obstruction in its mouth. He removed it and dropped the fish back into the river. He took a look at the object he had taken out from the mouth of the fish.To his surprise, he found it was the very diamond, he had lost in the river.
He was overjoyed and started shouting "Look what I found! Look what I found".
At this very time, the thief who had robbed him in the forest was passing by and heard his shouts, he recognized the man and thought that the man too had recognised him.
Fearing that the man may take him to be executed, he left all the gold coins he had stolen from him behind, and ran away.
The man was now happy. He thanked The Lord and walked joyfully with all his wealth straight to Krishna. He thanked Krishna for all his help and started for home after thanking Arjuna.
Arjuna then asked Krishna, "My Lord, how is it that my gold and diamond could not help him but your two pennies did?"
Krishna answered, "The first time, when he came to beg, he was thinking about himself and his family. He was being selfish. Even you, Arjuna, were filled with Ego, while giving him the gold coins. Anything done out of pity or ego will not yield true results.
Second time again, the man was selfish as well as greedy. He wanted his loss to be compensated. You again gave from, what you considered, your possession. That is Ego. You considered yourself the savior. You both had an identity which was separate from The Lord.
Third time, he came. You said you can not help him anymore. You surrendered yourself to The Lord's mercy. You stopped being the giver.
The man too lost hope in materialistic pursuit, so when I gave him 2 pennies, he was not planning anything for himself. He knew he can not get anything out of it. So, he prayed to The Lord for mercy. He surrendered himself.
When he saw the fish struggling for its life, his natural instinct to save a life, awakened. He did a Selfless Sevaa, not minding about spending away the two pennies. He did not, even for a second, think about his needs.
Selfless Sevaa is a direct prayer to The Lord. Small prayer to The Lord is enough for The Lord to help. Here, he saved a life too, so I saved him too. I took care of his needs."
Arjuna said, "O Krishna, today I realise however powerful or rich a man is, he is not the savior. My pity for the man was of no use, because it was my mind which was trying to help him. Only The Lord is the true savior. He always answers the true prayer."
It is only by walking on The Master's path that we can Realise what is Selfless Sevaa. The Master's Naama orients us towards The Lord. We will always Live in The Remembrance of The Lord.
Once, we will start to Live in The Remembrance of The Lord, we will stop to be the doers. We will stop thinking we are the master of our world. We will surrender ourselves to The Lord.
In surrender, our each act will be filled with love, compassion and happiness for all. It will be Selfless."
Let us do Naama Bhakti, so that we too can do the Sevaa that pleases The Lord most, The Selfless Sevaa. The Master's Grace will surely one day enhance us to Live Selfless.
Authored by K. Giri
