Bhavana Bodh

Author(s): Shrimad Rajchandra
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram

Page 17

10
BHAVANA BODH
aimlessly in a forest, felt hungry and so languidly he reached a village wherein approaching a common man's home, he ardently begged for some food to quell his hunger. The householder's wife, feeling pity at the beggar, gave him the remnants of the eaten sweet food in the house, receiving which the beggar was all pleased and reaching the shade of a tree on the outskirts of the village, he cleaned a little space and putting nearby his old pitcher of water and his old tattered and dirty quilt, he finished his unusual sweet lunch and sat completely satisfied and pleased and then putting a stone as his pillow, he lay down and in no time feeling intoxicated by the unusual good lunch he had, his eyes were closed and he fell into good sleep.
in it he dreamt that he had acquired great royal prosperity and that he had worn costly clothes and ornaments, that in the area around he had earned a fame of a highly victorious ruler and that his band of obedient servants were serving him and his attendants were praising him and that he was sleeping on a rich bed in a beautiful mansion and that damsellike women were massaging his feet and that from one side some servants were serving him with fans carrying fragrant flavours by their movement. Thus this beggar experienced an unusual happy dream full of all worldly pleasures and enjoyments and so he was overpowered by happiness of the dream and he began to believe the dream as real life. Just at this moment the sunshine was covered by the clouds, the lightning flickers started and the clouds, impending heavy rains, overcrowded and the darkness spread out everywhere and it appeared that it would soon rain heavily and a strong loud thunder was heard and this thunder woke up the beggar suddenly from his above described beautiful dream and he was caught with fear.
When he woke up, he, to his utter dismay, does not find anything of his dreamt riches and pleasures--there is no area or the city he dreamt of, nor any mansion or his dreamt rich bed, nor any damsels nor attendants, nor the dreamt ornaments, nor beautiful dresses, neither fragrance giving fans nor agreeable breezes, none to follow his commands, nor his pride of wealthy acquisitions and unusual fame. Instead, he finds himself and his tattered bed and old