Sai Baba Gita - When one Bad Quality goes the Rest cannot long remain

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When one Bad Quality goes the Rest cannot long remain

There once was a great teacher who helped many people develop in spirituality.

Whenever anyone came to him to be initiated by him, he used to inquire into

their behavior and their character to determine the type of qualities they had.

Appropriate to their qualities and stage of evolution, he would then give them a

sacred incantation, a mantra. A thief, after recognizing this teacher as a great

man, went to him and asked him for a mantra. The guru said to him, "Well, child,

what are your qualities? What are your defects?" The thief said, "My bad

qualities are going from house to house in the middle of the night, breaking in

and stealing things. Since I spend the night in stealing articles, during the

day I drink myself to sleep. Drinking is my second bad habit. If the police

were to catch me, then to save my skin I would make up lies and tell them a lot

of false information to put them off. That is my third bad quality."

The spiritual teacher asked him, "Well child, you say that you steal, you drink

and you tell falsehoods. Can you give up one of these three bad qualities?" The

thief thought for a while to himself, 'If I don't steal, how can I take care of

my family, my children and my wife? No, I cannot give this up. Only when the

body is healthy and strong will I be able to escape when I'm caught. So I have

to get lots of sleep, and drink helps me get to sleep in the daytime. But it is

unlikely that the police will catch me very often. So, I shall give up telling

lies.' Then the great man asked him, "Do you promise that you will always tell

the truth from tomorrow onward?" The thief replied, "Most certainly. Even from

today I will only tell the truth." This is what the thief firmly resolved to

do. And indeed, from that day onward he made it a habit to tell the truth

wherever he went.

One hot summer night the thief was out prowling in a nearby town looking for a

good place to break into. The mayor of this town, a very wealthy man, was

taking rest on the terrace of his house. In those days, there were no air

conditioners or even fans. Because of the heat and the still, sultry night air,

he was not able to sleep. The thief managed to climb up to this terrace. As soon

as the thief scrambled onto the terrace, the rich man spotted him, realizing

that he was a thief. The rich man accosted him, saying, "Hey there, who are

you?" Because the thief told only the truth, he replied, "I am a thief." In

order to find out what this man's plans were, the rich man said, "Is it so?

Well, I'm also a thief."

They decided to work together and planned to steal certain valuable things that

were kept in that house. The rich man told the thief, "There will be quite a

few valuables locked up in the safe inside the house of this rich man, but it

will be very difficult for us to get into the safe unless we get hold of the

keys. Let me break into the house and see if I can manage to steal the keys."

The rich man continued, "I have been waiting for someone who can keep a watch

for me. Now that I have been able to get a friend like you, I will go inside."

He left the thief and pretending that he was breaking into the house, he went

inside; busying himself here and there, he delayed coming back for some

minutes. Then he took the keys and stealthily came out. Now he told the thief,

"I have the keys, but I looked everywhere for the safe. I couldn't find it. Let

me keep watch and you go inside. See if you can locate the safe and get the

valuables that will be kept in it by the rich man." As it turned out, this rich

man had three big diamonds inside the safe. This thief went inside and soon

found the safe. He opened it and took out the three valuable diamonds.

Immediately a problem arose in his mind. How to distribute the three diamonds

between the two of them? As this thief followed the path of truth, a certain

amount of righteousness had also automatically entered into him. He brought all

three diamonds out but he told the rich man, "Brother, one diamond you can keep.

The other diamond I will keep. The third diamond cannot be broken into pieces. I

will put it back in the safe for the owner of this house. Let him keep it for

himself." Deciding on this, the thief went back into the house to put one of

the three diamonds back in the safe. Then he returned to the terrace.

After settling this transaction, the thief was about to leave when the rich man

said to him, "Well, brother, perhaps we can have this kind of partnership now

and again in the future. Please give me your address where I can contact you."

As he was bound to tell the truth, the thief gave his correct address. The next

morning, this rich man who was also the highest public official in that area,

took the address and sent orders that a police complaint be lodged regarding

the loss of some diamonds out of his safe. He told the police to go to the

village mentioned in the address and arrest the thief who was living there.

In that particular village the thief was well-known. The police went there and

had no trouble finding him. They caught hold of him and brought him to the

mayor. The thief did not recognize the robed official in front of him as his

partner of the night before. The mayor then questioned the thief, "Well, how

did you enter the house? How did you get hold of this diamond?"

The thief narrated meticulously all the details of his adventure. He told how he

had climbed onto the roof, had gotten into partnership with another person,

entered the house, opened the safe, took out three diamonds, gave one to his

partner, kept one for himself and again went into the house, again opened up

the safe and put back one diamond. The mayor called in his head official and

said, "Go and find out if there is a diamond remaining in the safe." The

officer took the keys to the safe. To himself he thought, 'Can there be any

thief who will put one diamond back?' Thinking this way, he opened the safe,

saw the diamond that had been returned there by the thief, pocketed it, and

went back to the mayor, reporting that there was no diamond in the safe. But

then, the mayor searched the pockets of the officer and recovered the diamond.

Immediately, he dismissed the officer from his service.

The mayor now addressed the thief. He said, "I know that in everything you have

related, you have told the truth to me. Therefore, from today onward, I appoint

you as my head administrative officer. Only a person who is truthful should be a

public official. Unfortunately, you have become a thief; but your nature is not

like that." This person now gave up thieving and became a high official; he

continued to practice telling the truth and automatically, in the natural

course of events, he gave up drinking as well as his thieving and became an

honest and upright human being.

In the beginning, by adhering to truth, you may be put to a lot of trouble. In

spite of the trouble you encounter, if you pursue the path of only telling the

truth, eventually this truthful nature will fill you with joy and happiness and

give you success in all your endeavors. Therefore, it was to promote the

happiness and welfare of mankind that in the Gita, Krishna taught that one

should always be truthful. He proclaimed that truth was life's royal road and

that the path of truth was the only way to foster right conduct in society.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita257.html

Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html

 

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