Section 2
The Following Two Stories Are By Mano...
The following two stories are by Mano Ranjan Ghose. They were translated from the original Bengali by his younger brother, Chinmoy.
The stories first appeared in AUM Magazine , Volume 1, Number 1, printed in 1974.
Mirabai And The Sannyasin
Mirabai was a princess of Rajasthan. She was a woman of immense beauty and virtue.
In the course of time Mirabai was married to a prince. In his family everyone was a worshipper of the Mother-Power. Mirabai was the only worshipper of Sri Krishna. Because of this, a sad dispute arose every day.
There came a time when, utterly dejected and frustrated, Mirabai left her husband’s palace and went to Brindaban to live. It happened that a Bengali sannyasin, who was also a great worshipper of Sri Krishna, went to Brindaban at the same time.
Mirabai expressed a deep desire to visit this Bengali sannyasin, but the sannyasin would not condescend to see her. She was told that the sannyasin lived a life of austerity and penance, hence it was impossible for him to see and speak to a woman. Mirabai was deeply hurt.
A few days later, without securing the sannyasin’s permission, Mirabai went to visit him. She said, “I have always known that in Brindaban there is only one man, and that man is Lord Krishna. The rest are all women, his devotees. How dare you claim to be another man? For me there is only one man, Krishna, here in Brindaban.”
The sannyasin recognised his mistake. His pride was smashed by Mirabai’s soulful wisdom-light. He spoke to Mirabai, and Mirabai became his disciple.
The Buddha’s Silence Wins
One day the Lord Buddha was meditating. An elderly man came in and started abusing the Buddha most ruthlessly. The Buddha remained absolutely silent.
How long could he continue his abuse? After a while he stopped and was about to leave the place. But the Buddha said, “Just wait, please. I have something to ask you. Tell me, when you offer gifts to a person, if he does not accept your gifts, what do you do?”
“I just take them back.”
The Buddha said, “Well, you have been trying to offer me the gifts that you brought with you. Since I have not accepted your gifts, you are taking them back with you.”
The man felt sad and ashamed of his conduct. He begged forgiveness of the Buddha. The Buddha forgave him, and eventually he became a close disciple of the Buddha.
