A lesson for us from monkeys

How Bhagavan saved a Muslim Contractor

This happened in 1908 when Bhagavan was staying in the Pachaiamman Temple. There were many tamarind trees surrounding the temple. The Municipality gave to the highest bidder the monopoly to collect tamarinds from these trees every year.

That year a Muslim got the monopoly. As these trees gave an unusually rich yield, the contractor himself was guarding the trees from the monkeys, whom he drove away by pelting stones at them with a sling. As he wanted only to scare them away, he took care to see that they were not injured. But unfortunately, a stone from his sling hit a monkey on its head so hard that it died on the spot. Immediately a large number of monkeys surrounded the dead monkey and began to wail and lament the death of their dear one. Then, by way of complaint, they took the dead monkey to the Swami in the Pachaiamman temple.

These monkeys considered Bhagavan their friend and well wisher not only because he often satisfactorily settled their internal disputes but also because he made happy compromises between their rival groups and thus re-established peace and harmony among them. So, in this hour of grief, they resorted to him for consolation and redress, with the corpse as an irrefutable testimony.

As soon as they came near Bhagavan, they burst into bitter cries and tears. The Swami, whose heart melted with pity for all creatures, could not bear their soulful wailing. Tears trickled down his cheeks. Gradually his tender sympathy soothed the monkeys. Then consoling them Bhagavan said, "For everyone who is born death is inevitable. He at whose hands this monkey died will certainly also meet with death one day. So, you need not grieve."

The monkeys were fully pacified at these words and they went away carrying the corpse with them. It so happened that, within two or three days, the Muslim contractor was bedridden with a serious malady. The story of the consolation given by Brahmana Swami to the aggrieved monkeys spread from mouth to mouth, till it reached the home of the Muslim contractor. The members of his family were convinced that his sudden illness was due to the curse of the sage. They therefore went to Pachaiamman Temple and began to plead for the Swami's pardon for the ailing contractor. They prayed to the Swami as follows: "It is certain that your curse that your curse has hit him. We beseech you to be gracious enough to save him from death. Please deign to give us some vibhuti so that you can apply to his body. He will then surely recover."

With a benign smile the Swami replied, "You are mistaken. I never curse or bless anyone. I sent away the monkeys who came here, by telling them the simple truth that death inevitable comes to all who are born. Moreover, I never give vibhuti to anyone. So please go home and nurse the patient whom you have left alone."

But the Muslims were determined and they declared their resolve not to move without getting the vibhuti. So, just to free himself from them, the Swami gave them a pinch of from the burning fire. On receiving it, their faces beamed with joy. They returned home after expressing their deep gratitude to the sage. And it came to pass that after the vibhuti was applied to the contractor, he began to recover and in a few days he rose from his bed!