The greatest wrestler

There were two men in a particular village who were deadly enemies. They constantly used to speak ill of each other. In every way they would try to defame one another. One day, the greatest wrestler in the land came to the village. Of the two enemies, the one that was richer invited the wrestler to stay at his house as his honoured guest. The wrestler accepted the invitation and his host treated him with such concern, love, joy and pride.

One day the host said to his guest, “Will you kindly do me a favour?”

The wrestler said, “Certainly! You have been so kind to me. I will certainly do you a favour.”

The host said, “I am giving you two hundred rupees. I will tell you the name of my worst enemy. One day you have to thrash him soundly! Only do not kill him. If you kill him, some problems may arise. Keep him alive, but beat him black and blue!”

The wrestler said, “That is a very easy task. I will gladly do it.” He fully agreed to the proposal and took the two hundred rupees.

A day or two later, the host had gone to the market to do his shopping and he was returning home in the evening. He was hoping that soon he would hear the news from the wrestler that he had beaten his enemy black and blue. These were the thoughts that were occupying his mind. All of a sudden, the wrestler appeared from nowhere and started thrashing him mercilessly.

The man cried out, “What are you doing? You are mistaken! I am the one who gave you the money. You are not supposed to beat me up! Can you not see who I am? I am your host and you are my guest.”

The wrestler said, “I know you are my host. I am fully aware of that fact.”

The host said, “Then what happened to our agreement? Why are you beating me instead of beating my enemy?”

The wrestler said, “For two reasons. I went to your enemy and told him that you had given me two hundred rupees to thrash him. Your enemy immediately gave me four hundred rupees to thrash you! Since he gave me double the amount, I am beating you and not him.”

As the wrestler continued beating the poor fellow, he said, “Now I will tell you the second reason. Before coming here, I was an honest man. I was the strongest wrestler, but I never thought of beating an innocent person. In wrestling, it is justified to fight. If wrestlers challenge me, naturally I defeat them, because I am a better wrestler, I am the strongest. But you tempted me with money. You taught me dishonesty. You took me into the temptation-world. That is the second reason why I am beating you. You asked me not to beat your enemy to death, so I am not going to beat you to death. But I am making sure that you will remember this day!”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Life’s bleeding tears and flying smiles, part 10, Agni Press, 2001
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/lts_10