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DISCOURSE 18
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and all your sorrows and worries will disappear. In a grantha entitled, “Upamiti Bhavprapanchakatha”, Shri Siddharshi, a great sage explains the meaning of the Paramatma's grace in a profoundly moving and suggestive manner. The Paramatma's grace means his compassion or kindness. Your heart must be pure.
A STORY FROM THE GREAT WORK "UPAMITI”
The king of a country thought, “In my city, there should be no beggars”. He gave this order to his minister. "Call all the beggars to the palace and give them clothes, food, etc. and make them give up beggary". The minister began to carry out the order of the king. He rescued countless beggars from beggary. The beggars were given jobs so that they might earn their livelihood. In a few days, beggary was completely eradicated from the city. One day, the king who was standing in the balcony of his palace saw a beggar on the road. At once, the king sent for the minister. The minister sent officers to bring the beggar to him. The beggar was asked to take a bath and he was given good dress to wear. Then, he was taken to the dining hall. The minister said to him, “Your begging bowl contains stale and stinking food. Throw it away and wash your vessel. If you wash your vessel and make it clean, I can put into it wholesome and excellent food”. The beggar thought, "If I throw away the food that is there in my bowl and if this man afterwards does not give me food, what will happen to me? I will be losing both, therefore I do not want to clean my begging bowl". Thinking thus, he said to the minister, “Whatever you want to give me, put it into my bowl. I will not throw away the stale food. If you want to give me food put it into this bowl”.
The minister explained to him that his begging-bowl contained foul and stinking food, and that such food should not be eaten. He said to the beggar, “Throw away that stale food. Wash and clean your vessel. You must receive wholesome food, with a clean vessel. Otherwise, even wholesome food becomes unwholesome, when it is put into your vessel. If I put wholesome food into your vessel which contains stale food, even
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