Parables of Rama
by Swami Rama Tirtha | 102,836 words
Stories in English used by Swami Rama to illustrate the highest teaching of Vedanta. The most difficult and intricate problems of philosophy and abstract truths, which may very well tax the brains of the most intellectual, are thus made not only simple and easy to understand but also brought home to us in a concrete form in such an interesting and ...
Two brothers involved in litigation appeared before a Magistrate. One of them was a millionaire, the other a pauper. The Magistrate asked the millionaire how it was that he became so rich and his brother so poor. He said: “Five years ago we inherited equal property from our parents. Fifty thousand dollars fell to his share and fifty thousand dollars to me. This man, regarding himself as wealthy, became lazy, and whatever work was to be done he entrusted to his servants. If he received a letter, he would give it to his servants and say, 'Go, attend to this business.' Anything that was to be accomplished he told his servants to do. He lolled away his time in ease and comfort. 'Eat, drink, and be merry.' He would always bid his servants, '.'Go, go; attend to this business or that." Speaking of himself the rich man said: "When I got my fifty thousand dollars, I never committed my work to anybody; when anything was to be none, I would always run to do it myself and I always told the servants, 'Come, come, follow me.'
The words on my lips were always 'Come, come,' and the words on the lips of my brother were 'Go, go.' Everything he possessed obeyed his motto; his servants, friends, property or wealth went away, entirely left him. My maxim was ' Come'; friends come to me, property increased, everything multiplied.
When we depend upon others, we say, "Go. go”. Everything will go away, and when we rely upon Self and trust nothing but the Atman, all things flock to us. If you think yourself a poor, sneaking vermin, that you become, and if you honour yourself and rely on yourself, grandeur you win. What you think, the same you must become.
MORAL: Dependence on others makes us lose, while reliance on Self gains for us everything.