Rays of Dharma

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Divine Knowledge Society

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Rays of Dharma
Some people are prone to be angry; they remain arrogant and shun those, who point out their drawbacks. There was a grandfather, who used to talk incessantly and did not allow anyone to interrupt. He was once applying jam to the bread. His grand-daughter noticed that there was a cockroach in the jam. She tried to point it out, but the old man would not allow her to speak. After taking the food, he asked the girl what she intended to say; the girl replied that there was a cockroach in the jam and he ate it away.
While doing anything, one should also remain careful not to indulge in any sinful activity. There is an instructive scriptural story. One man had no child and was keen to get one. Someone told him that he could get a child, if he pleased a goddess by offering a goat. The man was hesitating to resort to such a violent means, but he agreed when another person undertook to do it on payment. Accordingly the man purchased a goat and it was offered to the goddess on his behalf by the said another person.
As the destiny would have it, the wife of the man got pregnant and in due course she delivered a son. The man was impressed by the miraculous impact of the goddess and decided to keep her pleased by offering a goat every year. His son grew up and continued the tradition set up by the father. In due course the man died and was reborn as a goat. It was bought by the son for offering to the goddess. While it was being dragged towards the temple, it came to pass by the same shop and remembered the previous life. In order to seek protection from the impending death, it climbed upon the shop, but the son asked those men to drag it down and take it to the temple.
Meanwhile an enlightened sage happened to pass by. He took pity on the goat and said in its ears, you had started this practice and have now become the victim of it; why do you hesitate to bear the consequence of your own Karma?' The goat realized the truth and gave up the resistance. The son was surprised to see it and asked the sage about the mystery. When the sage said that the goat was his father in the previous life, it was spared from getting slaughtered.
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