Long ago there was a great sage named Eknath in India. He was so good and so wise that many people came to meet him and take his advice on life. A very jealous money-lender with the name of Duryodhana was the only man who could not tolerate sage Eknath. He was asking people what they get visiting Eknath? Oneday he could bear it no further and decided to show the people that he is no less and possibly more intelligent than the down to the earth man, people adore! He went to the sage and asked point blank why he made fool of the people and attracted them with his soothing words? The benevolent sage understood his irritation and kept quite while the unscrupulous money lender waved his hands to force his point. Suddenly the saint smiled.
The antagonist was taken aback when he saw Eknath’s smile but asked courageously, what made him smile? The saint wanted to see Duryodhana’s right palm to which the man complied. The saint said, “PACK UP.” When Duryodhana wanted an explanation the sage said, “while you were waving your arms in anger I saw in a flash your lifeline which I wanted to confirm by seeing your palm. You have five days of time”. The antagonist started trembling and almost became senseless on hearing this. However he left the place in a hurry. He knew the sage always spoke the truth. He went to his wife and explained her. They both started weeping. The money lender Duryodhana started losing health day by day. On the fifth day early in the morning he asked his wife to confirm if it was the fifth day. Then he said, “Death would come to me anytime. Now that I am going to die I have pardoned many poor burrowers who could not pay the heavy interest I imposed on them. I have also withdrawn cases against many people which was pending in court”.
At this time the sage entered his house calling his name. The vanity, the ego and the anger had left the money lender and he looked serene although sad. The saint said, “Duryodhana how are you”? To this the man replied that he is waiting for his death which may come calling any moment. “So I have withdrawn all court cases and pardoned all defaulters,” said he. The sage smiled benevolently at him saying,”you are not going to die my dear son, I wanted to answer your question and you learned my answer. When you learned that you have five days to live, your life is has changed.” whereas I always see my death infront of me every moment, so I remember death every moment and cannot stay away from the righteous path. I had to shed greed, attachment and ego from my life and am always worried about them. That is why people are attracted towards me. You can cleanse your mind keeping in mind that death inevitable and that it could come at any time, so that your attitude towards life will change and you can’t do anything wrong for which people will start loving you. Duryodhana learned a lesson of life, so all of us can learn this lesson too!
Friends, death is a great teacher. We make mistakes because we think our life is eternal! If we are sure, our death is around the corner we would use our time very judiciously making a wise living.