Man is under the illusion that the relationship he has maintained is permanent! Father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt and several others, seemingly your’s, are different and do not belong to you! It is by accident that they have come together! None will come to your rescue when you are badly in need! On an occasion there was conversation between a brahmin and a sanyasin on religious and worldly topics. The sanyasin told the brahmin to not depend on anyone for none belong to him! The brahmin was perplexed. He would not agree with that statement of the Sanyasin. His mother was so doting on him and greatly worried at his slightest headache that it was impossible to believe in the words of the Sanyasin. His mother was ready to give up her life if only he is cured of his headache! How can he distrust the love and affection of his mother? The sannyasin affirmed that not only his mother but his wife and children will not sacrifice their lives for his sake. That is the real truth.The sanyasin wanted the brahmin to verify the truth and asked him to feign excruciating pain in the stomach! He would come and demonstrate the truth of his statement.
The brahmin did as he was bid! He feigned excruciating pain in stomach! His mother was upset. His wife and children began crying. Doctors threw up their hands and didn't know how to cure the brahmin. The Sanyasin entered the scene at that moment. He said that the disease is of a very serious nature and can be cured if someone is prepared to give up his or her life! It was a bolt from the blue for those present there.The Sanyasin told the mother that she could sacrifice her life as she is already old and she need not see her own son die before her own eyes. Who else would sacrifice life if not the mother! She wept bitterly and said that she would gladly do so but for the children who require her services! The brahmin’s wife wept bitterly and said she is not prepared to sacrifice her life! She is the only daughter of her parents. If it is her fate to be a widow she has to accept it and live. She does not want to cause grief to her parents by sacrificing her life for the sake of her husband! In this manner everyone present excused themselves under some pretext or other! All the while, the brahmin, had to feign intense agony and was watching with dismay the arguments of his mother and his darling wife!
The brahmin was terribly disappointed! All the dreams he built over the filial affection of his mother and the love of his dear wife went into thin air! He knew how brittle human bonds and affection are! The Sannyasin told him how truthful his words are! None among his close kith and kin are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the ailing brahmin! Life is the sweetest thing for everyone in the world! It is very difficult and rare for a person to sacrifice his life for the sake of another even if it is that of his near and the dear. He learnt the hard truth that he should not depend on anyone in this world even if they are his closest kith and kin!!!
“ Makuru dhanajana yauna garvam harati nimeshat kalam sarvam” says Adi Sankara in his Bhajagovindastotra! Don't be proud or arrogant about your money, people, and youth! Time swallows them up in a minute. Man comes alone and has to return alone according to his past karma! All relationships are only accidental and temporary. It is absolutely foolish to think that others would come to your rescue! The Upanishad acclaims the importance of sacrifice in beautiful terms.” Nakarmana na prajaya na dhanena tyage naikena amrutatwa manasuhu” It is not by your karma or deeds nor by your people or by wealth but by sacrifice alone that you attain immortality!
Rudely shaken into his reality, the brahmin came out of his feigning the incurable disease! He was now cured of his mistaken notion that his mother and dear wife are sincere in their affection and love. He was fed up with the hypocrisy of human relationship. He saw for himself the universal truth in the statement of the Sanyasin. He decided to give up his family life and all its vicissitudes! He got up, and becoming the disciple of the Sanyasin, followed him for his spiritual upliftment!!
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