We are meeting you again this month through this column.
We want to give you a gift of a beautiful story which Rabindranath Tagore has written in his 'Gitanjali'. We will like to tell you this story in our words.
Once there lived a beggar in a village. One fine day in the village path appeared the golden chariot of God in front of him. He was very happy as he thought he would get a good amount of alms that will end his poverty. The chariot stopped. God glanced at him and came down with a smile. He held out his right hand and said, "What have you to give to me?"
The astonished beggar said to himself, "What a jest! God is opening His palms to me—a beggar!" He stood confused for a few moments and then he took out a little grain of corn from his bag and put it on the hand of God.
At the end of day the beggar emptied his bag and, lo and behold, he found a little grain of gold in the poor heap of alms he had received. He bitterly wept and lamented his miserliness. He wished he had had the heart to give his all to God.
The moral of this story is: (a) the secret of receiving is giving. The beggar received a grain of gold in return for a grain of corn. Not only this, when you give, God entitles you to receive more than what you give. Didn’t the bagger receive gold in return for the corn, he gave? (b) The more you give, the more you receive. Had the beggar given more, he would have received more.
How will this idea of 'giving' enter your mind as an uppermost thought? Only when you think that you are not you alone; you are you plus others—known and unknown. This means that you should live for others, you should be useful to others. This is the best form of 'giving'. Our revered Swami Krishnanandaji Maharaj used to say—"Your life is not your life." What a beautiful idea! It stresses the same point of thought—you are not you alone.
Dear children! try to listen to the messages of God which He has been conveying silently to us through the rivers, through the trees, through the flowers.
The flowing rivers say—Our waters are meant to quench the thirst of others and not ours.
The fruit-laden trees say—Our entire gift of fruits is meant for wayfarers, birds, beasts—everybody and not for us.
The fragrant flowers say—Our fragrance is for others and not for us.
May these silent messages go deep into your hearts! May you be ever ready to spend the treasure of your life liberally for the sake of others!
This will pave the way for 'receiving' the most valuable thing in human life - God's grace. You will experience this grace in the form of love and cooperation which will be showered on you by others.
We repeat, you are not you alone; your life is not your life; the secret of receiving is giving; the more you 'give', the more you 'receive'.
Dear readers! keep in touch with us. May God bless you all!
With all love and Om,
With Om and love from
The Divine Life Society Headquarters
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