Prempal Rawat's most famous enlightening stories The Indian Background Index

Indian Tales & Stories

Maharaji often uses Indian stories to illustrate some important point in his discourses. Here is a choice of some of his favorite ones he's been using numerous times.

Index The Dream of King Janaka: After hearing this story, S. Freud finally decided to receive Knowledge. The Story of Bhilini: Be a beggar and have more power than Maharaji and his saints. The Two Toads - The Two Ants: Wisdom goes by two. The Diamond : Become rich with this Knowledge! The Merchant and the Thief : Don't be so stupid, search under your pillow. The Qeen's Necklace has Disappeared : Maharaji won't jump in the sewage, you do. Maharaji Can Change your Life :..... to a real nightmare. The Swan and the Little Owls : Trust your feelings, Maharaji is a hoax. The Premie who decided to get Married : From incredible satisfaction to misery. The Philosopher's Stone : You are misers. Alexander the Great : You won't achieve anything anyway. The Astrologer : Maharaji will change your destiny. The Four Blind People : The world is really blind. The Mango : Tasting it is enough. More tales will be online shortly ...... be patient! The Dream of King Janaka How King Janaka became a Karma Yogi and surrendered all his actions to God. In the Silver Yuga there lived a great king called Janaka to whom the Gita has referred as the model example of a Karamyogi. In spite of being a great king, he was called Janaka Videhi, or one who has transcended body consciousness. He performed all his kingly duties in selfless manner. What is important for us to know is how King Janaka was able to achieve God consciousness. What method did he adopt to acquire the state of mind, where he became free from all opposites. Being a householder and a king he had to perform al1 types of worldly activities, but how did it happen that his actions become desireless. The story goes that once Janaka felt restless and because of his worried mind could not sleep. He tossed and turned until he finally dozed. He dreamed that his enemies had conquered his whole kingdom and he ran to the jungle to save his life. He felt terribly hungry, and in a certain village he begged from a Brahmin for some food. The Brahmin woman said that there was no cooked food in the house but offered him rice and dal to cook for himself. The king accepted these foods and attempted, with great difficulty, to cook it.. Being a king he was not accustomed to this type of work and was experiencing great discomfort. After some time, he succeeded in cooking the food but before he could eat it, two fighting bulls dashed his meal on the ground. The king was badly shocked at the misfortune and began weeping bitterly. With this the king woke up with a start. He realised that he had been merely dreaming, and he began to think, what is all this? A few moments before he had been a beggar, crying for a mere mouthful of food. Now he realised that he was back to being the great king of Vidarbha who enjoyed all the luxuries of life. He remembered vividly his state of being a beggar. And now he was living the life of a king. Which of these two states of mind was true ? Was he a king or beggar? While being a king is he dreaming, or is his state of being a beggar an illusion ? The questions made the king so pensive that he wanted nothing but to know the truth of the matter for himself. Therefore, the next day he made a proclamation to his people that whosoever could satisfy the king in his question would receive his entire kingdom.'' Therefore, a huge building was constructed for the purpose of receiving those who were willing to answer the king's question. A gate keeper guarded the door allowing entry only to those who wished to attempt to answer the question. Inside there was a high throne for the one to sit who could satisfy King Janaka with the answer to his question. That seat of honour was reserved for him who the king took to be his preceptor. Either sides of the throne were lined by seats for the contestants. Whoever approached to answer the question was warned that if the proper answer was not given a punishment of imprisonment would follow. The great learned men of the time congregated in the hope of answering the king's question. The king's question was, "Is this true, or is that true ?" Everyone tried in his own way to give a satisfactory answer to the question by such answers, "the world is untrue, only Brahm is true". But these superficial answers did not shatter the doubt of King Janaka, and so one contestant after another were taken away to the prison. In the city, there lived a small deformed boy by the name of Ashtabakra, whose father also had unsuccessfully answered the king's question and had been imprisoned. One day his playmates teased him by saying that he was the son of a prisoner. This touched his heart and he returned home to find out the truth of the matter. His mother told him the whole story and said that his father would only be released if the proper answer to the king's question could be given. Young Ashtabakra said that he would release his father, and so determined, set off for the King's court. He entered the court boldly, full of confidence that he could satisfy the king's doubt. At the sight of so young a child, appearing to answer the king's question, all the sages who had gathered on the occasion began to laugh. Ashtabakra went up the throne and seated himself there. Because of his disfigured appearance and his youth, the whole court laughed at him. But he laughed back and said, "O King, why have you called this meeting of people who like a cobbler see only the outer form of my skin and are ignorant of inner spirit. How can they, who laugh at my appearance, whose vision is only skin-deep, answer your question ? The King and the court were shocked to hear such a description from the young child, regarding the gathering comprised of learned scholars. But Ashtabaka went on to say that these so-called religious teachers had but bookish knowledge of God and the soul. They were not able to perceive truth beyond the external body. None of those present was a seer of the Truth, because an enlightened soul is one who visualises the same soul in a cow, elephant, dog as well as in a Brahmin. It is only the body, which is fair or dark, thin or fat, but, not the soul. Just as sugar cane is knotted outside but inside the juicy fibres run smooth and straight, so the outer appearance of human beings may vary, but the inner soul remains the same. Janaka was satisfied by this explanation, and so, according to that procedure, the Kings minister stood to read out the King's question. But before the question could be read, Ashtabakra interjected with his objection that if this were the King's question, then it must be the king himself who should read it to him. The King came forward in a most humble manner to ask it "Is this true or is that true ? " Ashtavakra replied, "Neither this is true nor that is true." Now the king was astonished, and begged to know, what was the reality. Ashtavakra replied that is only the Holy Name and the Divine Light which is true and permanent and all permeating. To realise the ultimate truth some read books, some perform penances, but none of those methods lead to the realisation of the truth within oneself. If you are very eager to know the truth you must make obeisance for it. Janaka was ready to surrender everything in order to attain the knowledge of Truth. He offered Ashtvakra the entire kingdom but Ashtavakra told him it was only his vanity which believed the kingdom to be his own personal property. He said, "Even your father and grandfather claimed to be the owner of this kingdom. But neither the kingdom nor the members of your family can be truly called yours". The king then surrendered himself as the price to be paid for this truth. Ashtavakra accepted this offering and imparted to him the mysterious knowledge of the Holy Name, asking the king to meditate upon it, fix his mind upon it at all times and to perform his duties as king. Thus did Janaka receive knowledge which made him able to perform actions desirelessly by fixing his mind on the Shabd Brahm within. By the practice of the Shabd Brahm he was able to gradually disconnect himself from the body and attain Supreme Consciousness. It is only by knowing the Holy Name of God (Shabd Brahm) and constantly practising it that man can get detached to worldly objects and render himself fit for the performance of the desireless action. The central theme of the Gita is performing one's duties by fixing the mind on the inner self-effulgent Light and unmanifest Word.   The Story of Bhilini Once, during Rama's exile from his kingdom there lived a "Shudra" woman by the name of Bhilini in the midst of a forest. She served her Guru by sweeping, collecting firewood and doing other domestic duties. So devoted was she, that her Guru upon his death bed called Bhilini to him and said, "O Bhilini, have patience and be devoted to Lord Rama and you will be graced with His Darshan in your very home." Consequently Bhilini lived in constant expectation of Lord Rama's arrival. She would get up in the morning to collect fruits for him, tasting each one to see whether it was sweet enough. She daily swept the very route that Lord Rama would have to take in order to arrive at her humble hut. Now, in that forest lived many "Rishis" who having renounced the world had built Ashrams for themselves, and lived a life of meditation and asceticism. Bhilini lived apart from their abodes, for even amidst the forest all shunned her. They considered her of a low caste and did not wish to have any contact with her. The day at last arrived when Lord Rama, passing through the forest, bypassed all the Ashrams and went to the hut of Bhilini. She was overjoyed, all her dreams and expectations had at last been realised, and eagerly she put before Lord Rama the bowl of fruits which she had been so long and laboriously collecting. Lord Rama was pleased with her offerings and ate all the fruit. He gave a few to his brother Lakshman who was amazed that Lord Rama could eat the fruits of a Shudra woman, and surreptitiously threw them away. In the forest was a single polluted pond which deprived the inhabitants of a supply of good drinking water. The "Rishis" approached Lord Rama and begged him to walk into the water, believing that the pond would become purified upon contact with his feet. Rama replied that they, who were great Rishis, purified by years of asceticism in the forest should be able to purify the water themselves. An attempt was made, and the "Rishis" entered the water, still the pond remained polluted. Now Lord Rama walked into the water, hut he too failed to clean it. At this point Lord Rama called Bhilini, assuring the "Rishis" that if she were to enter the ponds the water would become purified. Bhilini entered, and sure enough the pond became crystal clear and drinking water was restored to the forest. The Two Toads There are two toads. I think you understand the meaning of toad, they go, "Trr, trr, trr," in the night, you know? And these two toads met. One toad belonged to the sea and one toad belonged to the well. And the sea toad said, "I am very far away from my ocean, so you had better give me shelter." He said, "O.K., come into my well," and he took him into his well. When they were there they both started talking. The toad who lived in the well said, "how big is the ocean ?" And the other one said, "Huge, big, big, big, huge." So the toad who lived in the well made a circle and said, "this big ?" And the other said, "No, huge, much bigger." So he drew a bigger circle. He said, "Bigger than this?" "Yes, bigger than this." Ultimately, he reached the boundary of the well. He said, "Bigger than this ?" The sea toad said, "Yes, bigger than this." He said, "It is impossible. Nothing can be bigger than my well. This the biggest thing." The other said, "Brother, be patient, wait a little!' In the morning they both rose and the sea toad took the other one to the sea and all he could see was water, water, water and not an end to it. Maybe you think these are just bare words which you listen to with your ears. But there is something beyond them, there is something beyond that which you think is limited, it's like the toad. The Two Ants There were two ants, and one ant loved salt and the other loved sugar. When they met, the salt ant said, "My salt is the sweetest thing, the most beautiful thing." And the other said, "No, my sugar is sweeter. " They said, "O.K, we are both tired today, we will rest and in the morning we will meet." And the salt ant said, "I will come and taste your sugar in the morning. " Morning came, they both rose up, and the salt ant said, "Probably there won't be any salt near that sweet thing, so I had better take some along." So she took some salt in her mouth and went to where the other ant lived. "Yes, I have come," she said, "is the sugar? " Here it is, taste as much as you like." The salt ant tasted some and then she said, "Well, this is just like my salt, your sugar is just like my salt. " She took another bite, "Yes, it's just like my salt." Because she had a piece of salt in her mouth, she could not taste the sugar.   The Diamond  There was a farmer in the desert and he saw this piece of glass shining so he picked it up. He said, "Oh this is not precious," and he threw it away and went on his way. And after some time a jeweller came an he took it, and he said, "Oh it is a diamond, how lucky I am." So he put it in his pocket. So they both came, they both picked up that diamond, but one was clever enough to know its value and the other was ignorant and left it.    The Merchant and the Thief In India people used to go out from their homes to earn money. So there was a man who went outside to foreign countries and he earned quite a lot, he had five hundred pounds. And he was going back to his home and a thief saw him, and saw that he had five hundred pounds. So he came up to him and said, "Sir, may I accompany you, where are you going ?" And the man said: "Well, I am going back to my home," and he told the name of the place. The thief said, "Well sir, I am also going there. Would you mind if I accompany you ?" And he said, "No, come along," and both these travellers started walking. They went to an inn and the man who possessed the money went down to take his dinner and this thief started searching. He started searching for the money. He searched in his pockets, he searched on his bed, under his pillow, but he couldn't get a single penny. He thought, this man is making a fool of me. He hasn't got a single penny, he just says he has got five hundred pounds. They were walking again and he said, "Sir, how many pounds have you got ? " And he said, "Well I've got five hundred pounds." And again they went to an inn, and this man again went to take his dinner and this thief again searched. He searched under his pillow, under his sheet, under his clothes, but he couldn't find a single penny. Again he thought, no, no, he is making a fool of me. Finally they came to their home and the man who possessed the money took out his purse, took out five pounds, and said, "Well, these are for you. You may have them." And the thief said, "No thank you, sir, I don't want a single pound. But can you answer my one question ?" The man said, "Yes." "Sir, I am a thief," he said. "Now you are quite secure in your home and I am not going to steal from you any more. I am a thief and I was after your five hundred pounds and now I know that you have got five hundred pounds because you have shown me, but can you tell me where did you keep this five hundred pounds when you used to go to dinner ?" The man said, "I used to keep this five hundred pounds under your pillow !" Before he used to go for his dinner he used to take this amount of money and put it under the thief's pillow. But the thief kept searching under the other's pillow. And he couldn't get a single pound. So, that's the same condition with the world outside today. The world is searching for God outside.     The Queen's Necklace   Once there was a queen. She went to take a bath, took off her necklace and hung it a hook. A crow came and flew off with it. When he saw that it was not edible, that it was only a necklace, he let it drop down. The necklace fell from the sky and dropped onto a tree. Under that tree the river was flowing in which all the dirt of the city was floating. Very dirty. When the queen came out of her bath she saw the necklace was missing. She cried, "A thief has taken my necklace." Was that crow a real thief ? She never knew, but still she said, "A thief has taken necklace and until I get it back I won't take food." So nobody could find the necklace and the king offered that whoever would find that necklace and bring it to him, he would give half his kingdom. Some travellers were going by, and they stopped under that tree to take some shelter and looked into that dirty river. "Oh there is the necklace," they cried, "Now let us jump in the water and take out the necklace." So they all jumped in the river and swam deep, but they could get nothing. They came out and again saw necklace was there. So they again jumped in but again they got nothing. Again they came out and again they jumped in. When they came out they still saw it. When they jumped in the necklace disappeared and when they came out the necklace was there. And so they thought, "That thief is very clever. Whenever we come out he shows us the necklace but when we jump in he takes it and hides it. He is very clever." After some time a huge crowd gathered, and the king was passing and said, "What is the matter, why are so many people there by that river ? " The people said, "There is the necklace, king." The king said, "Yes, that is the necklace, I should go and jump and take it. " But his Prime Minister said, "O.K., king. I am going to jump in and get this necklace for you." Then the king thought, "If the Prime Minister gets the necklace for me, then half the kingdom will be his, so why should I lose my kingdom? These clothes are very fine, but they are not as expensive as half the kingdom." See, the king was very cunning. "I will jump in the water," he said. So he jumped into the river with all his clothes on, into that dirty river. He searched all around but he couldn't get that necklace. He came out and said, "Well, the necklace is there and as soon as I jump in it disappears. Why should this be?" Just then a guru, a man who knew this Knowledge, was passing by, and he said, "This is neither a fasting day nor a holy day. What is the matter. Why are so many people gathered around here ?" And they said, "Sir, this is the matter. The necklace is there and we want to take it out." He said, "Can't you find it in the water?" They said, "No." He said, "O.K. Wait." Then he climbed the tree, took the necklace down and gave it to the king. Because in that river there was not the real necklace. The necklace was up there all the time but they could only see the reflection.     Maharaji can change your life. Once there was a king. And this king came to Guru Maharaj Ji's court, and everybody was sitting there. Guru Maharaj Ji was giving satsang. So he just came in, sat down. And Guru Maharaj Ji was saying that the power, the Grace of Guru Maharaj Ji, can make anything happen. It's incredible. It's so powerful, that even Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, the darshan of Guru Maharaj Ji, can take the sins of his past life and clean it all up. The king was sitting there. He had his doubts. "How is that possible?" So that night, when the king went to sleep, he had this incredible dream. And in the dream he saw that here he was in a village. And this village pretty much was his. Because in it were his nieces and the nephews and all his family. .And there were hundreds of them. There were his kids, and kid's kids, and kid's kid's kids, and kid's uncle's nephew's sons, daughters, brothers, everything. And every time he would walk anywhere everybody would come, "Oh Great-grandfather! Oh Grandfather! Oh 'This-father,' where are you going? Get me this! Get me that!" And it was always so weird for him. It was always hell for him. It was all dirty and everybody's noses were running all the time. There was dirt everywhere. It was cold at night-time. It had inadequate facilities. It was this. it was that. It was everything. And one day, in this dream, that guy who had all this happening to him died. So everybody was crying. And this was happening and that was happening. Well, anyway, he woke up. He woke up and there was a messenger standing. It was in the morning. There was a messenger standing there and he said that, "Guru Maharaj Ji has sent the word that he'd like to go hunting if you'd like to come along." And he said, "Okay." Guru Maharaj Ji took his horse and a few devotees here and there and they went hunting. And Guru Maharaj Ji said, "Look. There's going to be a rule about this hunting. First one to go after a certain animal then has to stay with it. Nobody else is going to chase it anymore. It's yours. You go get it." So the king saw a wild boar run by and he started chasing it the wild boar. And everybody just held back. And there he was. And he started running and running and the wild boar was really fast. And they were all running. All of a sudden the king sort of slowed down and he looked all around. And it was like, he had seen this mountain! He had seen the jungle! It was all very familiar to him. .And he kept going. And it even looked more familiar and more familiar till he saw these huts! And it was like, "Oh my God!" As soon as he walked there with his horse, all these kids that he had seen in his dream started coming to him. "Oh, you have come back! It's incredible. Great. Come on. Did you bring this for me? Did you bring that? Oh my Great-grandfather, how are you?" And that was happening... And it was a mess! And here was this king, almost getting ripped in pieces. And he was saying, "Look! I'm not. I don't know you! I've never seen you! Who are you? Get away!" They said, "What are you talking about?" And by that time Guru Maharaj Ji had come. And Guru Maharaj Ji said, "Look, do you really think he's your Great-grandfather or however you're related?" He said, "If you really think that that's the person, why don't you go dig the grave and find out?" They dug the grave and there was this person lying there who looked completely identical to the king! So then Guru Maharaj Ji turned to the king and he said, "Look. This was your life. This is what you would have had to go through. But because you had surrendered your life to Guru Maharaj Ji, because you had faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, look what Guru Maharaj Ji did: just made it into a mere dream. That's all. And you had it last night. And here is the proof that this is exactly what was going to happen. But you never died. And the whole thing happened in a dream." And then he realized that, yes, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace it's possible.   The Swan and the Owls Once upon a time there were these owls. And they used to live in this tree. And the owls had baby owls. The whole community of owls used to live in the area. One day a swan came to the community of the owls to rest and started talking to the baby owls, and said, "Have you ever seen the sun?" And they said, "Sun? What is sun?" (Of course this is the story. It's by all means from India, where they say owls can't do this and owls can't do that. They can see perfectly okay in the daytime. It's not that it's just that they're nocturnal. They go to sleep during the daytime and they're up all night long. But I've seen owls hunt at daytime. Perfectly okay. They just like to sleep at daytime.) Well, anyway, the story explains a point. The swan said, "You have never seen the sun? You've never seen this beautiful, warming, kind and whatever it is the sun in its own personality you've never seen that ?" "Well, no!" So the swan said, "Well, I can show it to you." But he said, "First of all you can't see it here. You have to go to a certain place to see it. And you should ask the permission of your parents if you can go to see it." So the little owls went over to their parents and said, "Can we go see the sun?" And the parents said, "What? Go see what?" The sun!" "What's a sun? Who told you about sun? Never heard of that word sun. What is it ?" And the owls just started sharing what the swan had told them, that there is a sun and it is beautiful and it is warm and it is incredible. And they said, "Well, we really don't know. We love you. And we know that you're not telling us a lie. But we really don't know who this swan really is. He might be tricking you into going there and then he might eat you or something like that." They said, "Well, we don't know." The swan said, "Come on. That's not the way it is. Come, I'll show you." And the owls said, "Well, okay. We'll have to go to the High Council, call the old Wise Ones out and have them form an opinion on it." So all these wise old owls collected together. And then the baby owls made their appeal to them. They said, "We would like to go see the sun." And the owls said, "Well, what? What's sun? What is sun ?" And they said, "Well, sun is this incredible thing that's warm, beautiful, splendid, rises and gives warmth to the whole world and gives its supply to the whole world. And without that we would be nothing!" The wise old owls looked at each other. It was like, "Have you ever heard of it?" And they were talking to each other. "Have you ever heard of sun? Have you ever heard of sun?" So by talking to everyone who was there everybody said, "No, we've never heard about the sun." They came to the conclusion, "There can't be a sun! That swan is completely a hoax! That swan is completely lying. That swan is just wrong! Because how could there be a sun when we have never seen it? And here we are, we have lived for so many years!" And finally the little owls came back to the swan and they said, "You have really broken our hearts! Here we were, really relying on you to show us this sun and this whole jive you gave. And all the time when you were telling us about this sun, your intentions were evil! You wanted to kill us!" And he said, "No!" He said, "Do one thing. You don't have to go anywhere. Just do one thing. You can go to sleep whenever you want to, but when I call for you, wake up and look up. Wake up! Open your eyes! And then see if I'm wrong or not." The owls went to sleep. And right when the sun beautifully started to manifest its glory, the swan said, "Okay, now open your eyes." And they saw! They saw the sun. And it was the most incredible experience of their whole lives. And this is what Guru Maharaj Ji does.   The Premie who decided to get married Mind lulls us away into something, but everything's here, like that example, that story of this premie who came to Guru Maharaj Ji's ashram to dedicate his life. You might say he did dedicate his life. He moved into Guru Maharaj Ji's ashram and stayed there and he would do service every day. One day he decided he wanted to go off and get married. And to me it's so real; Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, saving us every moment. He went off to be married. And in the Indian marriage custom the bridegroom rides a horse to the bride's house and picks her up there. There's where the whole ceremony happens. And Guru Maharaj Ji - all these devotees wanted to go to his marriage, too. All the brothers who were in the ashram - "ashram mates", I guess - wanted to go there. I don't know. Probably another excuse. Nothing much. Guru Maharaj Ji was there. What's in a marriage being performed? Seeing another creature getting entrapped, perhaps. They went off and Guru Maharaj Ji handed them a letter and said, "Listen. Give this letter to him, but wait until just before he hops on his horse to go to the bride's house" - because that's were the final ceremony happens. "Give this letter to him." And just as he was ready to ride the horse, they came and handed him the letter. "There is a letter from Guru Maharaj Ji". And he was pleased. "Oh, how fantastic. Guru Maharaj Ji remembered me." And probably in his concepts he was thinking that Guru Maharaj Ji has probably said, "Congratulations. Have a nice marriage," or something like that - what he really wanted to hear, I guess. But he opened up the letter and it didn't say that at all. What it said is you came into this world to surrender to me, to completely focus yourself on me, to completely let go to me. And now you are wearing this whole costume of a bridegroom, and are going to get entrapped into this world. You came to get away from this world and now you're going right back into this world. You came from that place of misery to an incredible satisfaction and now you're going back to misery. And I guess it really did him in. It was "the right place at the right time," plus a lot of Grace from Guru Maharaj Ji. He really realized. He took his horse and headed right to the ashram. And he went there and then he really realized, he really could see. The Philosopher's Stone It reminds me of that one story where there was this saint who came to this one businessman and gave him this stone and said, "This stone has a power that whenever you touch it to iron, it'll turn into gold. "I have to go on my tour. I have to go on my satsang tour and I am leaving this with you. And while I am gone, you may use it. But I am going to return exactly and definitely on such-and-such day, on such-and-such hour, such-and-such minute and such-and-such second. And then I want it back. And you have to guarantee that you will absolutely give it back to me." And he said, "Of course." Very happy. He called up the stock exchange and found out that iron just went up. And he said, "Well, I'll wait. I've plenty of time." That's what we all think. "We have plenty of time." This Hans Jayanti started and I feel like today's Tuesday, not Thursday. It just started! What happened? It's just started. And it's going to go on for a week and very soon that week is here. Here we are on Thursday. In a few hours it'll be Friday. And then there is only one day left: Saturday. And we always can get into that trip, "Oh yeah, I haven't listened to satsang. I'll just wait and listen to satsang. I'll wait. I have plenty of time." We don't. So this guy called up, found out. Then he wanted to wait till the price of the iron came down. Because he was a miser. He didn't want to spend any more money than he had to even for the iron that he can potentially turn into gold And he waited and waited and waited till one day, he heard this knock. "Knock, knock." And there was the saint. "Please. Here I am. I would like my stone back." And this guy started to search for iron, for any metal. And the way the story goes, even the weights on his balance were made out of rock, and his balance was made out of leather and wood. He was so cheap; he was such a miser all his life. That's the way I feel sometimes our life is, too we are misers. We never want to give ourselves to Guru Maharaj Ji. "We don't need to give ourselves to anybody."     Alexander the Great We are not permanent in this world. Even Alexander the Great, who had dreams to conquer this world, was not permanent. And when he died, he said that "When I die, and you are raking my coffin out, take my two hands, and on those two hands take two stones. And carve on that stone that you put on my hand, and also the slab you are going to put on my graveyard, 'Alexander the Great, who came into this world bare-handed, has gone from this world barehanded.' " He came, he went into all this trip, and the thing ended up again as the same thing. The Astrologer Once there was an emperor, and one astrologer came up to him and said, "Emperor, you are going to die tomorrow." The emperor completely freaked out, completely freaked out, flipped out completely. He wasn't going to court anymore, he wasn't eating, he wasn't drinking water. He was just sitting thinking that he is going to die tomorrow. So his advisor came and said, "What's the matter, your Excellency? Why are you sitting like that? What happened to you?" And the emperor said, "Listen, mister, I'm going to die tomorrow. It's a joke for you, but I'm going to tomorrow." He said, "Who told you you are going to die tomorrow ? " "That astrologer." He said, "No, come on!" So he called that astrologer and said, "Astrologer, is his Highness going to die tomorrow ? " And the astrologer said, "Yes, he's going to die tomorrow." And he said, "How do you know?" He said, "Because I calculated, and he is going to die tomorrow." So he said, "Oh, really?" And he said, "When are you going to die?"> "Oh, I am going to die after 21 years. I calculated my lifetime, and it's after 21 years that I am going to die." "Really? " "Yep!" "Are you sure?" "Yep!" The advisor took off his sword and slaughtered that astrologer right there! So that's it. And he told the emperor, "Emperor, it was just a fake thing. He wasn't going to live 21 years. He probably miscalculated. Maybe you were going to live 21 years, and he was going to die tomorrow. The Four Blind People There were four blind people - that's the condition of the whole world today. There were four blind people, and they were sitting on the side of a road, and they expected to see an elephant. Then one man came with the elephant, and he said, "Sirs, why are you waiting here? May I help you four people?" And they said, "Yes, we want to look at an elephant. We want to have a look at an elephant." He said, "Sirs, please, come on, this is an elephant." And these four people started looking at it. They couldn't even look, so they just started feeling it. So one man took a trunk - you know trunk? Just touched it, left it. Other man went to the ear, touched the elephant's ear, left it. Then other man went, took his feet, touched it, left it. Other man went, took his tusk, touched it, felt it, left it. The man with the elephant said, "Have you seen, gentlemen?" "Yes, we are very pleased. We have seen the elephant!" When the elephant man went away, they said, "Oh, wow! Elephant is like a trunk, like a tree trunk!" "No elephant is not like a tree trunk; it is like a thick branch!" Man who had experienced his foot said, "It is like a tree trunk." And man who had experienced his trunk said, "Oh, it's not like a tree trunk, but it's like a thick branch." Man who had experienced tusk says, "No, you are both wrong. He is not like a trunk or a branch; he is like a rock." Because he had experienced this thing. And the fourth man said, "No, you are all three fool people. It's not anything like this. Elephant is like a banana leaf; big, big, huge." Can you tell me that point: Was that elephant like a tree trunk, or that thick branch, or like a stone, or like a banana leaf? What was the elephant like? And that's going on in the world. They never were able to see elephant. And that's what is going on with us. The Mango It's like that example that used to be given a long time ago about this king. And this king had a beautiful kingdom, huge kingdom. He was very powerful. And one day this merchant sailed into his kingdom. And to please the king, he took a little bit of assortments of all different kinds, fruits and jewellery and clothes and everything he had been collecting, and he went to the court. And to please the king he offered him this huge tray of all these different items. And the king was very happy, very pleased, and, "Okay, now you can keep your ship two more days in the harbour." And then I mean, it came down to the point where it was like this one thing, and it was a mango. And this king had never tasted a mango. And so he was very, curious about it. So he called all his courtiers and said, "Well, why don't you analyze what this is?" And they started talking about it, "Oh yeah, we've heard something like this. It must be a mango, and in Hindi they called it an am, and da-da-da-da-da. And they went on into their conversation, and the king wasn't satisfied. So he said, "Why don't you taste it?" He told one of his courtiers, "Why don't you taste it?" So he took a little piece and he tasted it, and he said, "Yeah, well, it tastes sort of like a little bit of sour and sweet, and it's got a really nice texture to it, and it tastes like this!" And the king just wasn't satisfied. And they just kept on going to one minister, to the other minister, to the third minister, fourth minister, fifth minister. And the king wasn't satisfied until this one minister said, "I know the perfect solution. I know perfect way that you can find out what it is!" So he took two fruits, two mangoes. He took one and he cut it up real nice for the king, and he put the next one right next to it and said, "That's what it looks like, and that's what it tastes like. Here it is. Taste it for yourself." And then the king tasted it, and he knew exactly what it was.