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Once upon a time in a little village, lived a nine year old boy named Ramu. Ramu's family was in charge of the bell ringing service at the old Shiva temple in the village. Ramu followed his family's tradition and was also involved in that service since childhood. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and performed the service whole-heartedly and devoutly. Whenever he rang the bell the reverberating sound of the bell reminded him so much of Lord Shiva that he would lose himself in His thoughts. He led a peaceful life with the money and the prasad he earned from his service.

As years rolled by, the temple became very famous for the ‘Vibhooti’(sacred Ash) prasad that was believed to cure innumerable ailments. As the temple's fame spread, lots and lots of people started visiting the temple. Even foreigners started coming to the temple. New trustees took charge of the temple and introduced many changes in order to cater to the needs of all the people who visited the temple. A new rule was ordained wherein all the temple employees were required to read and write English fluently. It was decided that those who did not possess that qualification should either acquire it or will be fired from their jobs with a compensation of a month’s salary.

Ramu was 40 years old then and was the head of a big family. He was illiterate and did not even know to read or write Hindi which was his mother tongue. He begged the trustees to exempt him from this rule as he had been serving the temple for a long time and also because he was incapable of doing any other job. But the trustees turned a deaf ear to his requests and let him go giving Rs.100 in a way of compensation.

With a broken heart Ramu entered the Shiva temple and pleaded with the Lord, “Is this what you give in return to your humble devotee who served you relentlessly with devotion and love all these years? Are you totally devoid of compassion? Alas! A stone image that you are! Has your heart too turned into a stone? Then, how can I call you ‘an ocean of compassion’? Ah! A fool indeed I was in trusting you!” Crying thus, Ramu walked out of the temple with a heavy heart.

As he was walking through the market, a thought struck him. He thought, "Why not open a small shop here?” He put his thought in action and opened up a new shop on the way to the Shiva temple. In a few years he gained enough profit to establish a few more shops in that area.

Once, the manager of the bank where Ramu had deposited his savings called him. He said, “You have lot of money accumulated in your account. It will be beneficial to you if you move your money to a higher interest gaining account.” Ramu replied, “I do not know about all these things. I trust you and will follow your advice”. So the manager prepared the required documents and asked Ramu to cast his signature on the form. Ramu said, “I am illiterate and I do not know how to sign.” The manager was taken aback! He asked, “How did you become a successful businessman without being educated? What were you doing before starting this business?” Ramu replied, “The only thing I knew was to ring the bells at the Shiva temple.”

Ramu had by now realized that whatever God does is for the ultimate good of us.

Courtesy : “Stories for Meditation”

By

Sri Shantananda Puri

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