Copyright@shravancharitymission
By Kamlesh Tripathi
By Kamlesh Tripathi
Mahatapsvi (Great hermit) Brahmin Jajli till
late in his life practiced the vanprastha
(retiring into a forest) with great discipline and reverence. Pushing his vanprastha to the next level, he was now
surviving only on atmospheric air and had stood still for a long period of time,
and was deep into his intense tapasya
(meditation). Even the birds mistook him to be a tree and made nests in his
long jatas (long, dense hair) and delivered their eggs in it. But the kind maharishi quietly stood there. Soon the
eggs of these birds hatched and broods came out of that. These broods grew up to
beautiful birds and soon started flying. And when the birds gained proficiency
in flying, and once when they didn’t return for a month, Maharishi Jajli decided
to let loose a bit. And, he was surprised at the intensity and perfection of his
own tapasya, and started considering
himself as having obtained moksha. And
just then there was an akashwani (celestial
announcement from the sky)—‘Jajli! Don’t pride about yourself so much, because you
are not as virtuous, righteous and religious, as trader Tuladhar, of Kashi.
Upon hearing the akashwani Maharishi Jajli was quite surprised. He immediately left for Kashi
to meet Tuladhar. After reaching Kashi he found Tuladhar is just an ordinary
shopkeeper, who was sitting in his shop. He was continuously weighing and
selling daily use products to his customers. But Jajli was surprised when
Tuladhar without asking got up and said ‘pranam’ to him and even described his tapasiya and the akashvani in great detail. Jajli asked, ‘you are an ordinary
baniya, but then how do know so much about me?’
Tuladhar respectfully said—‘Respected Brahmin!
I very carefully follow the religion of my caste in which I’m born. I don’t sell
wine, nor do I sell any stuff which is cursed and forbidden. I never cheat my
customers on the weighing scale. I sell all my products at the correct price no
matter who the customer is, whether a child or grown up, and whether he knows
the price or doesn’t. I don’t mix any product with anything harmful. I don’t exploit
my customers in an unfair manner after taking their feedbacks. It is my duty to serve my customers and I
always keep this in my mind. I build my relationship on the premise of benefits,
for my customers, and that is my fundamental religion and reason for existence.’
Tuladhar further
said—‘I am not greedy and I keep myself away from anger and disparity. I donate
as much as I can and always serve my guests with love and respect. And I prefer
non-violence. I don’t promote greed and excessive desire and I consider
everyone as equal in my eyes, and pray for everyone’s well being.’
On Jajli’s request
Tuladhar then explained the pillars of dharma
to him. He explained any violent yagya
(Hindu religious ritual) will always have devastating consequences. And even
otherwise in such yagyas there are
great possibilities of blunders that give negative results. And people who give
pain to others never reach heaven and never meet up with goodness in life. And non-violence
alone is the best religion.’
The birds that were
born in the jatas of Jajli returned
to him when he called them. They also heard the sermons on dharma from Tuladhar.
And with Tuladhar’s sermon Jajli’s pride was vanquished.
***
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