THE EVIL YOU DO....

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THE EVIL YOU DO….

Baba said, "What (whether good or bad) is ours, is with us, and what is

another's is with him." In Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. XLV.

A woman baked chappatis for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry

passer-by. She kept the extra chappati on the window-sill, for whosoever would

take it away. Everyday, a hunchback came and took away the chappati. Instead of

expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way:

 

“The evil you do, remains with you:

The good you do, comes back to you!”

 

This went on, day after day. Everyday, the hunchback came, picked up the

chappati and uttered the words:

 

“The evil you do, remains with you:

The good you do, comes back to you!”

 

The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude, “she said to herself.

“Everyday this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?”

 

One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this

hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the chappati she

prepared for him! As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands

trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the

chappati into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window-sill.

 

As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chappati and muttered the words:

 

“The evil you do, remains with you:

The good you do, comes back to you!”

 

The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman.

 

Everyday, as the woman placed the chappati on the window sill, she offered a

prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For

many months, she had no news of him. She prayed for his safe return.

 

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised

to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His

garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his

mother, “he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’, here. While I was but a mile away, I

was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old

hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind

enough to give me a whole chappati. As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what

I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than

mine!”

 

As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the

door for support. She remembered the poisoned chappati she had made that

morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own

son, and he would have lost his life! It was then that she realized the

significance of the words:

 

“The evil you do, remains with you:

The good you do, comes back to you!”

 

TAMASO MA JYOTIRGAMAYA…

 

The more I meditate on Thee, O Silent One, the deeper do I descend into the silence within!

 

And I realize the utter impotence of speech.

 

Words are weak: words are vain. How can they Thy glory sing, O Thou who art beyond all praise?

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