Copyright@shravancharitymission
By Kamlesh Tripathi
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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