Page 40 - Courage Redifined

man to unfold the mystery. The old man replied, “The answer
is just one word. I will definitely tell you the solution but, as
you have travelled such a long distance, why not utilize this
visit ? Look, little puppies in our village are very cute. Each
one of you take one puppy with you. Also, if you sell them
at your place you will earn well. They are available for free
here. No one will demand any money from you.”

Those learned men thought, “It is not a bad deal. We are
getting it for free. Let's take them with us.” Thus, they went
out into the village lanes, fondly called out to the little puppies
and picked up one each. Seeing them coming back along
with the puppies, the old man expressed surprise along with
sorrow and said, “ Arre Arre! What did you do ? What did
you get along ?”

Those learned men were suddenly taken aback and exclaimed,
“O, old man! Didn't you tell us to get these puppies ?”He
answered, “Arre! You are learned and wise man whereas I
am an illiterate villager. Shouldn't you think on my words
before implementing them ? You had become clean and pure
on having a bath and now you again became impure by
carrying these impure puppies. Now how will you chant the
Lord's name in this impure state ? If you had been pure, then
you would have chanted ‘Om Namah Shivay’ in your mind.
But in the greed of a mere dog, you missed out on God's
name till the time you have a bath.” The learned men realized
their folly and said, “You are right. Now we will leave these
puppies have a bath at the riverside and then get going on
our way. But just tell us the answer to our query.”

The Mystery of ‘It is sinking...’ unfolds...

The old man said, “Oh, is the answer still left to be given ?
Isn't the answer so obvious ? You became greedy for these
puppies, lost your purity and lost chanting Lord’s name.

30 Courage Redefined