Rays of Dharma

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Divine Knowledge Society

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Hankering for the Shadow
one should also have the discretion to make the right use thereof. The great men have therefore said that we can make progress in life only to the extent we make right use of the means at our disposal; wrong use will ruin us. The discretion is therefore the key to having a successful life.
The main purpose of life is to see, listen, consider and do what is virtuous. But so long as one does not have the concept of death, he does not realize the true value of life; he spends time carelessly and behaves arrogantly. By virtue of ignorance of the transitory nature of worldly life, one gets swollen-headed and refuses to respect or listen to the words of elders and gurus; out of pride he moves about with head erect. He may afford to keep it erect for some time, but death ultimately bends it down. Death is thus the teacher that brings him to sense. This does not mean that one should always remain frightful of death. Those, who make out the true concept of death, realize that birth and death are two ends of the same phenomenon; there was life before birth and it would be there even after death.
Once there arose a dispute between a man and his shadow as to who was greater. As they could not resolve it, they went to a temple and asked the deity about the extent of their greatness. But there suddenly arose a voice ordering silence. On hearing it the man and the shadow hid themselves in a corner. From there they saw that a man entered and uttered in a sad tone, ‘While I had money, people tried to be friendly to me; as I have no money now, everyone stays away from me.'
Thereafter a retired officer came there. Since he had retired, he was shorn of all authority. He said, “When I had the authority, everyone tried to remain around me; people used to bow their heads to me. Since I do not have even the phantom of authority now, I have become valueless. Does the world bow only to the phantom, not to the person?'
Then there arrived a person, who had recently acquired wealth. Till yesterday people used to call him Lakho, now they are addressing
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