Each is great in his own Place

[Guest guest]

Each is Great in His Own Place

 

A certain king used to inquire of all the Sannyasins that came to his

country, `Which is the greater man he who gives up the world and

becomes a Sannyasin, or he who lives in the world and performs his

duties as a householder?' Many wise men sought to solve the problem.

Some asserted that the Sannyasin was the greater, upon which the king

demanded that they should prove their assertion. When they could not, he

ordered them to marry and become householders. Then others came and

said, `The householder who performs his duties is the greater man.' Of

them, too the king demanded proofs. When they could not give them, he

made them also settle down as householders.

 

At last there came a young Sannyasin, and the king similarly inquired of

him also. He answered, `Each, O king, is equally great in his place.'

`Prove this to me,' asked the king. `I will prove it to you,' said the

Sannyasin, `but you must first come and live as I do for a few days,

that I may be able to prove to you what I say.' The king consented and

followed him out of his own territory and passed through many other

countries until they came to a great kingdom. In the capital of that

kingdom a great ceremony was going on. The king and the Sannyasin heard

the noise of drums and music, and heard also the criers; the people were

assembled in the streets in gala dress, and a great proclamation was

being made. The king and the Sannyasin stood there to see what was going

on. The crier was proclaiming loudly that the princess, daughter of the

king of that country, was about to choose a husband from among those

assembled before her. . .

 

The princess of the country to which our king and the Sannyasin had come

was having one of these interesting ceremonies. She was the most

beautiful princess in the world, and the husband of the princess would

be ruler of the kingdom after her father's death. The idea of this

princess was to marry the handsomest man. . . The princess came in on a

throne, and the bearers carried her from place to place. She did not

seem to care for any one, and every one became disappointed that this

meeting also was going to be a failure. Just then came a young man, a

Sannyasin, handsome as if the sun had come down to the earth, and stood

in one corner of the assembly, watching what was going on. The throne

with the princess came near him, and as soon as she saw the beautiful

Sannyasin, she stopped and threw the garland over him. The young

Sannyasin seized the garland and threw it off, exclaiming, `What

nonsense is this? I am a Sannyasin. What is marriage to me?' The king of

that country thought that perhaps this man was poor and so dared not

marry the princess, and said to him, `With my daughter goes half my

kingdom now, and the whole kingdom after my death!' and put the garland

again on the Sannyasin. The young man threw it off once more, saying,

`Nonsense! I do not want to marry,' and walked quickly away from the

assembly.

 

Now the princess had fallen so much in love with this young man that she

said, `I must marry this man or I shall die'; and she went after him to

bring him back. Then our other Sannyasin, who had brought the king

there, said to him, `King, let us follow this pair'; so they walked

after them, but at a good distance behind. The young Sannyasin who had

refused to marry the princess walked out into the country for several

miles. When he came to a forest and entered into it, the princess

followed him, and the other two followed them. Now this young Sannyasin

was well acquainted with that forest and knew all the intricate paths in

it. He suddenly passed into one of these and disappeared, and the

princess could not discover him. After trying for a long time to find

him she sat down under a tree and began to weep, for she did not know

the way out. Then our king and the other Sannyasin came up to her and

said, `Do not weep; we will show you the way out of this forest, but it

is too dark for us to find it now. Here is a big tree; let us rest under

it, and in the morning we will go early and show you the road.'

 

Now a little bird and his wife and their three little ones lived on that

tree, in a nest. This little bird looked down and saw the three people

under the tree and said to his wife, `My dear, what shall we do? Here

are some guests in the house, and it is winter, and we have no fire.' So

he flew away and got a bit of burning firewood in his beak and dropped

it before the guests, to which they added fuel and made a blazing fire.

But the little bird was not satisfied. He said again to his wife, `My

dear, what shall we do? There is nothing to give these people to eat,

and they are hungry. We are householders; it is our duty to feed any one

who comes to the house. I must do what I can, I will give them my body.'

So he plunged into the midst of the fire and perished. The guests saw

him falling and tried to save him, but he was too quick for them. The

little bird's wife saw what her husband did, and she said, `Here are

three persons and only one little bird for them to eat. it is my duty as

a wife not to let my husband's effort go in vain; let them have my body

also.' Then she fell into the fire and was burned to death.

 

Then the three baby_birds, when they saw what was done and that there

was still not enough food for the three guests, said, `Our parents have

done what they could and still it is not enough. It is our duty to carry

on the work of our parents; let our bodies go too.' And they all dashed

down into the fire also.

 

Amazed at what they saw, the three people could not of course eat these

birds. They passed the night without food, and in the morning the king

and the Sannyasin showed the princess the way, and she went back to her

father. Then the Sannyasin said to the king, `King, you have seen that

each is great in his own place. If you want to live in the world, live

like those birds, ready at any moment to sacrifice yourself for others,

If you want to renounce the world, be like that young man to whom the

most beautiful woman and a kingdom were as nothing. If you want to be a

householder, hold your life a sacrifice for the welfare of others; and

if you choose the life of renunciation, do not even look at beauty and

money and power. Each is great in his own place, but the duty of the one

is not the duty of the other.

 

Sourse:sriramakrishamath.org

 

With warm regards

 

Prasanna Kumar

 

aum namah shivaya

[Guest guest]

Dear Prasanna jee,

I am impressed with your story; tears came into my eyes when I was

reading the story have learnt a lot. Hats off to you and Sri K.S.RAO

JEE AND ARJUN JEE.If some can add more to this story will be

appreciated.

With blessing

Shiva Shankar

 

 

 

> Each is Great in His Own Place

>

> A certain king used to inquire of all the Sannyasins that came to

his

> country, `Which is the greater man he who gives up the world and

> becomes a Sannyasin, or he who lives in the world and performs his

> duties as a householder?' Many wise men sought to solve the

problem.

> Some asserted that the Sannyasin was the greater, upon which the

king

> demanded that they should prove their assertion. When they could

not, he

> ordered them to marry and become householders. Then others came and

> said, `The householder who performs his duties is the greater

man.' Of

> them, too the king demanded proofs. When they could not give them,

he

> made them also settle down as householders.

>

> At last there came a young Sannyasin, and the king similarly

inquired of

> him also. He answered, `Each, O king, is equally great in his

place.'

> `Prove this to me,' asked the king. `I will prove it to you,' said

the

> Sannyasin, `but you must first come and live as I do for a few

days,

> that I may be able to prove to you what I say.' The king consented

and

> followed him out of his own territory and passed through many other

> countries until they came to a great kingdom. In the capital of

that

> kingdom a great ceremony was going on. The king and the Sannyasin

heard

> the noise of drums and music, and heard also the criers; the

people were

> assembled in the streets in gala dress, and a great proclamation

was

> being made. The king and the Sannyasin stood there to see what was

going

> on. The crier was proclaiming loudly that the princess, daughter

of the

> king of that country, was about to choose a husband from among

those

> assembled before her. . .

>

> The princess of the country to which our king and the Sannyasin

had come

> was having one of these interesting ceremonies. She was the most

> beautiful princess in the world, and the husband of the princess

would

> be ruler of the kingdom after her father's death. The idea of this

> princess was to marry the handsomest man. . . The princess came in

on a

> throne, and the bearers carried her from place to place. She did

not

> seem to care for any one, and every one became disappointed that

this

> meeting also was going to be a failure. Just then came a young

man, a

> Sannyasin, handsome as if the sun had come down to the earth, and

stood

> in one corner of the assembly, watching what was going on. The

throne

> with the princess came near him, and as soon as she saw the

beautiful

> Sannyasin, she stopped and threw the garland over him. The young

> Sannyasin seized the garland and threw it off, exclaiming, `What

> nonsense is this? I am a Sannyasin. What is marriage to me?' The

king of

> that country thought that perhaps this man was poor and so dared

not

> marry the princess, and said to him, `With my daughter goes half my

> kingdom now, and the whole kingdom after my death!' and put the

garland

> again on the Sannyasin. The young man threw it off once more,

saying,

> `Nonsense! I do not want to marry,' and walked quickly away from

the

> assembly.

>

> Now the princess had fallen so much in love with this young man

that she

> said, `I must marry this man or I shall die'; and she went after

him to

> bring him back. Then our other Sannyasin, who had brought the king

> there, said to him, `King, let us follow this pair'; so they walked

> after them, but at a good distance behind. The young Sannyasin who

had

> refused to marry the princess walked out into the country for

several

> miles. When he came to a forest and entered into it, the princess

> followed him, and the other two followed them. Now this young

Sannyasin

> was well acquainted with that forest and knew all the intricate

paths in

> it. He suddenly passed into one of these and disappeared, and the

> princess could not discover him. After trying for a long time to

find

> him she sat down under a tree and began to weep, for she did not

know

> the way out. Then our king and the other Sannyasin came up to her

and

> said, `Do not weep; we will show you the way out of this forest,

but it

> is too dark for us to find it now. Here is a big tree; let us rest

under

> it, and in the morning we will go early and show you the road.'

>

> Now a little bird and his wife and their three little ones lived

on that

> tree, in a nest. This little bird looked down and saw the three

people

> under the tree and said to his wife, `My dear, what shall we do?

Here

> are some guests in the house, and it is winter, and we have no

fire.' So

> he flew away and got a bit of burning firewood in his beak and

dropped

> it before the guests, to which they added fuel and made a blazing

fire.

> But the little bird was not satisfied. He said again to his wife,

`My

> dear, what shall we do? There is nothing to give these people to

eat,

> and they are hungry. We are householders; it is our duty to feed

any one

> who comes to the house. I must do what I can, I will give them my

body.'

> So he plunged into the midst of the fire and perished. The guests

saw

> him falling and tried to save him, but he was too quick for them.

The

> little bird's wife saw what her husband did, and she said, `Here

are

> three persons and only one little bird for them to eat. it is my

duty as

> a wife not to let my husband's effort go in vain; let them have my

body

> also.' Then she fell into the fire and was burned to death.

>

> Then the three baby_birds, when they saw what was done and that

there

> was still not enough food for the three guests, said, `Our parents

have

> done what they could and still it is not enough. It is our duty to

carry

> on the work of our parents; let our bodies go too.' And they all

dashed

> down into the fire also.

>

> Amazed at what they saw, the three people could not of course eat

these

> birds. They passed the night without food, and in the morning the

king

> and the Sannyasin showed the princess the way, and she went back

to her

> father. Then the Sannyasin said to the king, `King, you have seen

that

> each is great in his own place. If you want to live in the world,

live

> like those birds, ready at any moment to sacrifice yourself for

others,

> If you want to renounce the world, be like that young man to whom

the

> most beautiful woman and a kingdom were as nothing. If you want to

be a

> householder, hold your life a sacrifice for the welfare of others;

and

> if you choose the life of renunciation, do not even look at beauty

and

> money and power. Each is great in his own place, but the duty of

the one

> is not the duty of the other.

>

> Sourse:sriramakrishamath.org

>

> With warm regards

>

> Prasanna Kumar

>

> aum namah shivaya

>