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statues wear the same clothes as him. After that the saint told him to get inside one of the statues and hide. The saint said that the day the angel of death comes, hold your breath and stand still inside the statue, he will get confused and will go away. In this way your time of death will pass and you will be saved. (Though no one is saved from death, this is only a story!)
Anyway, the angel of death sent his soldiers, and they came to take the sculptor away. They were surprised to see nine statues that looked identical and beautiful. They fell into confusion and went back without the sculptor.
The angel of death was very worried when he heard their story and decided to go to the universal father, Brahmaji. He asked Brahmaji what was happening.
Brahmaji visited the sculptor, and what he saw amazed him. He said that even he, the Creator, had not made two that were exactly alike, so who had made these nine identical statues? He then said that he was mystified and would have to seek the help of Lord Vishnu.
They took Lord Vishnu to the sculptor's house. Upon looking at the nine statues, Lord Vishnu understood and smiled. He said "Lord, this is a lovely piece of work, one has to praise this art work. If the sculptor is found, not only will I praise him, I will also give him a big reward." On hearing this praise of himself and his work, the sculptor hiding inside the statue, came out and said "Lord, I have made them, this is my work."
Lord Vishnu caught him by the ears, and said "Come on now, we have been looking for you," and so they took him away. So praise turned out to be his downfall. Therefore, Nabhi Raja used to look at his face in the mirror when praised by people, to see if those qualities really existed in him or not. The mirror showed his true reflection - the replection seen by the inflated ego was false. Now you can ask me any questions if you want to.
shantidoot | messenger of peace
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