KINDLINESS IS GODLINESS !

KINDNESS IS GODLINESS.

Part : I

On the banks of river Bhima, there was a village by name, Ramavaram. There lived a cobbler named Ramayya; he was middle aged; his wife was a shrew; he had two daughters aged 12 & 9. He was unhappy in life and with his wife; so he became a drunkard. His family was poor and lived in a hut on the outskirts of the village, near the river-bank. His wife could not run the family & faced severe financial troubles; they starved usually. Whatever he earned, he spent most of it for liquor.This irritated her; whenever he came home, in drunken condition, she used to beat him with brooms. She also mended and repaired damaged shoes and chappals at home & earned some money to support the family; the daughters were working as servant-maids in the nearby houses of rich familiesand eked their livelihood. Every night there was fierce fighting between the drunkard and his wife. One night it was very dark; it was a new-moon night. Ramayya was coming home half-drunk; the liquor bottle was in his hand. On the road he stumbled on a log and fell down; he rose up cursing the log; but he felt the log was soft; so he looked with his eyes wide open in that darkness; he fond it was a man. It was winter time. The man had only a loin cloth on and is naked. He was shivering; he was very weak and emancipated. Ramayya walked about a furlong (200 mts) leaving the man behind; he came back and again stared at the man in distress. Again Ramayya recollected his poverty & felt helpless; again he walked for over half-mile. The man on the road was lingering in his thoughts; he came back his heart was filled with sympathy for the man; he made the man drink the brandy in the bottle; the man slowly recovered. Ramayya lifted the man & gave him support & took him home. His wife, named Sanysamma, was very angry; she should; “Wretched drunkard; you come home every night fully drunk; you are a menace to the family; we all toil hard to feed us & you also. Now, you bring another wretched beggar to our home to be fed. Throw him out.” So saying she branded her boom and gave three ormor blows to Ramayya; then she shouted at the other man, “We are beggars; we do not have any bag of money here to feed you; you wretched person; off! go away!” She stared at the man and found his condition is pitiable; a spark of sympathy lit her heart. She said; “Alright, I pity you; I give you a glass of gruel to drink. Sleep here tonight and leave us early morning; we cannot feed you every day.” She offered him a glass of gruel to drink. The man drank and expressed his profound thankfulness to the wife and husband by his smiling looks and his hands folded to say namaste (salutation). He then looked up towards the sky and lifted his hands to offer namaste to God. He was youthful, about 30 years of age; he suffered starvation; so he looked ill. Next morning, they asked the man about him. He replied; “I am all alone in this world; I have no family, no friends, no relatives & no place to life in. If you can keep me with you, I shall work for you and earn for you; what all I earn is yours; I need food, clothing and place to stay in. You may try me for a month; if you so feel, I shall leave you.” The cobbler couple agreed. He was named Santayya. Ramayya showed him how to mend & make new shoes. In just three days time, Santayya learned every-work very well; the cobbler couple were amazed by his artistic skill, speed and technical perfection in his work; soon Ramayya & Santayya Cobbler shop won good name all over the state. Every day dozens of customers came and got the foot-ware made. Santayya’s artistic shoes fetched the prices 100 to 200 times the normal shoes. Soon they became rich. They built a new spacious house, with all comforts. The girls joined a good school for education; the family hadfine and costly clothes of silk. The family members were very happy and prosperous. But Santayya never asked anything; he worked for 16 hours a day; he worked all the seven days in a week; he took no holidays. He ate whatever food was given to him; he slept on the same ordinary cot and cotton bed; he prayed God twice a day before taking food for about fifteen minutes, offered the food to God (naivedya) first and ate it later as prasadam. The cobbler couple treated him very well; they gave him good, healthy, and tasty food and plenty of milk. He was happy; he wore ordinary dress only. He refused all luxuries and comforts; he was content. He was silent most of the time; he never talked unless questioned. He was polite and courteous to all. All liked him very much. He never went out of the house; and always stayed in doors, doing the work. ‘Work is worship’ for him. In one year time, the cobbler family became millionaires; Santayya still lived as a humble worker. He lived a pious life. He had no desires, no anger, no greed, no hatred, no pride, no envy; he wascontent with what he was given and never complained. He lived like a saint. (To be continued tomorrow)