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THE WAY OF LIFE
Shripal gave a hint to Mayanasundari who was standing by and said, "Mother, all this is the result of the efficacy of your daughter-in-law who is standing here". Mayanasundari felt shy and prostrated at the feet of her mother-in-law; and said, “No, mother, I do not have any power or efficacy. All this benefaction has been bestowed upon us by the revered Gurudev. All this has come about on account of his power”.
How full of heartfelt gratitude were those two people! Shripal did not consider Mayana only as his wife. He deemed her his benefactress. Not forgetting one's wife's benefactions -- this is not an ordinary virtue. This is an extraordinary virtue. Shripal, was overwhelmed with joyful emotions when he spoke about his wife's benefaction to his mother. Can you imagine how full of love; how full of faith and how full of reverence, Shripal was for his wife ?
Shripal did not at anytime speak thus in anger to his mother, "Mother, you made me a leper by leaving me in the hands of lepers. You went away entrusting me to those lepers and I in the company of those lepers had to wander from place to place. Instead of this, it would have been better if you had handed me to those soldiers because, in that case, I would not have had to endure all those adversities. Of course, if you had handed me over to the soldiers, I should have been killed by them but I would have experienced the pain of death only once but this is my good fortune that I have found such a great wife who has cured me and my companions of this dreadful disease; and now you have come here".
If Shripal had spoken to his mother in that indignant and rude manner, what would have happened to the mother's heart? The mother's heart would have been broken if she had heard such words from her son for whose sake and to save whose life, she had faced untold miseries and wandered from place to place in bitter desperation and privation. A son who does not realize his mother's benefactions would have broken her heart by speaking in a more indignant manner than this. It is natural that such a thing should happen in the absence of the feeling of gratitude. It is impossible to fail to adore and
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