A FRIEND'S ADVISE

Copyright@shravancharitymission


By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Durga was a rich farmer, but a very lazy one. Who, neither looked after his fields; nor his granary. Nor did he ever bother to keep a regular count of his cattle. That apart, he did not even bother to look after his household belongings. Anything and everything, he just left it on his servants to accomplish. But his laziness soon led to mismanagement. When, the situation at home became adverse. Where, he started losing money, both in his farms and even in his dairy.

    One day, Harish, a friend of Durga, came visiting him. He noticed the situation in his house to be extremely deplorable. But knowing well, Durga won’t accede to his valuable sermons.  He decided to play a noble trick. To help him tide over the situation, he said—‘Friend! I’m disheartened to see you in such a deplorable condition. But I have a sure shot and an easy way to pull you out of your miseries.’

    Durga was now eager to know what his friend wanted to say. He politely requested—‘kindly tell me know what you have in mind. I’ll surely follow.’

    Harish said—‘my dear friend, before all the birds wake up in the morning. A white swan that lives Mansarovar lake comes to earth and returns by noon. One can’t exactly say when he comes. But it is generally believed. That anyone who is able to have his darshan is considered very lucky. For you’ll have no problems in life thereafter, and also, you’ll roll in riches.’

    Durga replied—‘Is it. Then, come what may, I’ll ensure I have his darshan.

    After the conversation, Harish left for his home. Next day, Durga got up early in the morning. He came out of his house, in pursuit of the white swan, and walked towards the granary. There he saw one person pilfering grain out of his heap. When, he saw Durga coming. He started apologising.

    From the granary Durga returned home. Then he went to his cow ranch. There he saw his milker, milking his cow. But to his surprise, he was only filling his wife’s pot with the milk. Durga scolded him. Thereafter, he had something to eat. And then he left his home again. In search of the white swan, when he went to his fields. There, he noticed, his labourers had not reached the fields. He patiently waited for them. When they finally arrived he reprimanded them for coming late. And in this manner, wherever he went, he curtailed his losses.

    Thereafter, in search of the white swan, Durga started getting up early in the morning every day, and started roaming around. With the change in his habit, his servants started working properly. All the pilferage stopped in his granary and even in his cow-ranch. Earlier, he used to be a sickly person, but now he had become healthy one because of his long walks. The fields from where he was getting poor yields had suddenly started giving high returns. And his cow-ranch too started giving milk aplenty. That gave him rich dividends.

          One day after a long time, Durga’s friend Harish came to his house again. When, Durga said—‘friend! I couldn’t find that white swan you spoke about last time; but in his pursuit I started making profits.’

    Harish started laughing, when he replied—‘friend! To toil relentlessly, is the white swan, I was talking about. The wings of labour are always white. People, who don’t work and leave everything to their servants, always suffer losses. But, people who toil themselves, and look after their servants, earn fortunes and respect.

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