Story of the week - The Pundit and the Milk-Maid

July 3, 2004

Story of the weekSaturday, July 3, 2004

The Pundit and the Milk-Maid

There was a pundit who led a disciplined life, sticking to a prearranged time

table. He woke up from sleep in the early hours of the morning, recited pranava

and later, after ablutions, drank a cup of milk at 7 a.m. exactly.

Sometimes the milk-maid arrived late, for she lived on the other side of a river

that flowed between the area in which she lived and the area in which the pundit

lived. She had to catch a ferry to cross over the river with the milk. The ferry

boat either started a little earlier or a little later. So, sometimes by the

time she reached the Pundit's house it used to be very late.

One day the Pundit scolded her and said "You are upsetting my disciplined life.

Don't you know that I must have my cup of milk at 7 a.m.? Why do you depend on

that boat to take you across? Just repeat the name of Rama. You will be able to

walk across the river. Rama will see that you do not get drowned."

The maid being very simple and unsophisticated had faith in the words of the

Pundit. Next day, the maid repeated the name of Rama and she just walked across

the river. The Pundit questioned her: "How could you come on time?" The

milk-maid replied: "Sir, I repeated the name of Rama as you instructed

yesterday, and I could just walk across." The Pundit was flabbergasted. He did

not believe. He just drank the milk and said: "Let's now go to the bank of the

river. Let me see you walk across the river." The maid stepped into the river

repeating the name of Rama; she could just walk across. The maid requested the

Pundit to follow her. But the Pundit knew that he would not be able to walk

across the river, because he did not have faith in what he himself had said -

the power of the Name.

— Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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