The Passage to Heaven
At the approach of a village called Manipur, Govind was intrigued to see that the crop in the fields outside the village looked dry for lack of irrigation; but a lake near them was full to the brim! Even a more strange sight was in store for him. He saw some villagers watering rows of mango and tamarind trees which were quite grown up. "Are these people crazy?" he wondered. He went closer to them and asked, "A little water could save the crop. Instead of doing anything in that regard, you are wasting your time and labor on trees that do not need any water! What's the idea behind it, Please?" "Well, sir, the lake belongs to the landlord. These trees too belong to him. All we are doing is to put his water at the roots of his trees. The order is his and he alone can tell you what the idea behind it is!" answered the villagers. Govind felt disgusted. "I don't understand his strange conduct. Why should he not water the cornfields?" he asked. "But the cornfields are ours. Why should he waste his water on our fields?" "His water, is it? As if his grandfather had imported the water!" commented Govind. "Please, sir, don't bring his grandfather. His grandfather, Jai was a truly great man. He would first ask the villagers to make use of the water from his lake. Only then he would water his own fields. His son, Raj was neither good nor bad. He would water his own fields first but would let the others use the remaining water. The present landlord, Hari, does not like anyone to benefit from his water."
Govind understood how selfish the landlord was. "I must try to change his practice," he decided. He spent the whole day amidst the villagers. By and by he learned that while the landlord was mean and miserly, the villagers were a peace-loving people. He learned further that the landlord often worried about life after death, and kept on asking mendicants and astrologers what might happen to his soul after his death. Govind resolved to take advantage of this trait of the landlord's character. The landlord was in the habit of taking a stroll around his lake early in the morning. The sight of his own crop looking lush beside the pale crop of the others seemed to please him. The next day, out on his usual stroll, the landlord saw a holy man standing knee-deep in his lake. The holy man was filling his jug with water and emptying it again. The landlord observed him doing so time and again. Then he went close to the lake and asked, "O holy man, what is the rite you are performing?" The holy man started. "I never thought that someone would spy upon me so early in the morning!" he murmured. "But I am curious to know what you were doing!" said the landlord politely. He had great awe for holy men. "I cannot utter a lie. But don't tell others what I tell you. I was searching for a jugful of freshwater but in vain. The soul of the late landlord, Raj, is in much trouble, suspended midway between heaven and hell. Only if I could offer to the gods a jugful of freshwater on his behalf, he could pass on to heaven!" said the holy man.
The landlord looked agape. "Please explain the situation further, O holy man!" he said imploringly. "I understand that this lake had been dug by Jai, a benevolent man. His son, Raj, though not a pious man himself, was on the way to heaven after his death, thanks to the merit of his father. But his soul is pulled downward by the sins of his son! I saw his plight from a Himalayan peak. He asked me to offer to the gods a jugful of freshwater from his lake. But where is the freshwater? His stupid son has not let the last year's water be exhausted. How can freshwater ooze of the earth?" "But what is the sin of Raj's son?" asked the landlord. "You too seem to be as stupid as Raj's son. The fellow has so much water in his lake, but he does not allow the poor people of his village to use it for their fields! What is a sin if not this? The fellow, when dead, is sure to become a permanent resident in hell. The pity is, he would also make his father's soul fall in hell because he has not allowed a jugful of freshwater to be possible in his lake!" said the holy man in a harsh voice. The holy man had come up to the bank. The landlord fell at his feet and said, "O great soul, please do something to save my soul and my father's. I am that stupid son of the late Raj" "I see! Get up, sonny, get up Since you have begun regretting your folly, you stand a fair chance of saving yourself from the torments of hell," said the holy man. "What is your advice to me?" asked the landlord.
"Ask the villagers to use the water of your lake for saving their crop. That will eliminate your sin. Then, once the old water is drawn, the earth would send forth fresh water. I'd then come down from the Himalayas again, sometime at midnight, and collect a jugful of freshwater and offer it for your father's soul. That should send him to heaven. He would then naturally bless you and that would be helpful to your soul!" said the holy man. The landlord called the villagers the same morning and chided them for not using the water of his lake in their fields! Govind resumed his travel. He took off his guise of a holy man when he had left the village a couple of miles behind him.
For More Bedtime Stories Click Here
Comments
Post a Comment