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Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!

Namaste!

Love And Love Alone Can Transform Evil For Ever
by Swami Sivananda

In times of yore, a small Ashram consisting of a few huts and a temple, surrounded by a big garden of flowers, herbs and different kinds of plants and trees, was situated, far from towns and cities, on a hill slope by the side of a swift-flowing stream adjoining the Oudh Forest. A saint along with his six disciples used to live there. He was a devotee of Lord Gopala and used to call himself His servant. Hence his name became Gopaldas and the Ashram was called ‘Gopal Ashram’.

Gopaldas was a saint and herbalist too, famous for his nobleness, kindness, purity, loving behaviour and successful free-treatment of all sorts of patients without any distinction of caste or creed or colour, rich or poor. He always kept open house, never demanding anything in lieu thereof. If any rich man, on his own accord, ever donated any sum, almost the whole of it, was utilized in preparation of medicines, lodging and feeding of poor patients and other visitors etc. but he and his disciples, mostly used to live on alms which was generally collected by two disciples—turn by turn—from villages, going from door to door.

The young Zamindar (landlord), Jagdish Singh, of the Talug was known for his cruelty and loose conduct. He was very much afraid of Gopaldas. He had a honey tongue and a heart of gall. He never liked Gopaldas but always pretended to respect him whenever they met. Many a time, he sent sinful, mischievous and immoral persons to hurt and harm Gopaldas and his Ashram. A few of them returned back. They could not even dare to approach the saint. Some went to the Ashram and as soon as they saw Gopaldas, their minds were changed and they disclosed everything. Gopaldas heard all very calmly and kept quiet, smilingly. The Zamindar, finding that all his efforts failed and his intentions laid bare, made friendship with one Karan Singh, a renowned dacoit and culprit, living in the nearby forest with his gang. Both met, drank and dined together and made plans etc.

Gopaldas had a horse, not only very attractive but belonging to a special, famous breed, scarcely available, having all the qualities of a fine horse. The horse was very useful and dear to Gopaldas. One day, while going to see a patient in a certain village, Gopaldas rode through the forest. Karan Singh saw him and decided to attack him, but his courage gave way. However, on his way back, Karan Singh appeared on the road, disguised as a lame beggar and began to sigh. When the saint saw him, he was filled with love and compassion and made him be seated on the horse and he himself, started walking. After covering some distance, the dacoit spurred on the horse and left the saint behind and said in loud voice turning his face backward, “O Foolish Sadhu, I am Karan Singh. I decided to plunder your horse which I have done so tactfully. Now you can’t get it back.” Gopaldas laughed and replied, “The horse is well trained and will come back to me even now on my whistle. But I do not want to do that. I am glad to see that I was able to serve Gopal in thy form.” After a pause he continued, “Kindly do a favour, if possible.” Karan Singh asked in a stern manner, “What favour do you expect from Karan Singh? Do not try to befool me.”

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The following article was recently posted at Sri Swami Krishnanandaji's site:

• A Superior Kind of Meditation
• Individual Will, Deep Sleep and Brahman
• Entering the Cosmic Being

 

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

Spiritual Stories
by Sri Swami Sivananda

There is not a single means of imparting spiritual knowledge to people that H.H. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj has ignored. Sayings, Poems, Songs, Essays, Discourses, Plays, Parables and Stories—he has, in the words of Sri C. Rajagopalachariar, then Governor-General of India, beaten gold into various shapes.

And, here is one more story-book; and it will be greatly enjoyed by children—young and old—who will find a wealth of wisdom in them.

For more information, please see: Spiritual Stories

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ON CHILDREN: While distributing fruit and sweetmeats to some children, the Master observed, “Children are greater manifestations of God. We must be like them. Of course, everybody likes children, but we must love them more—in a cosmic way.”

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“God Almighty – everything is inside that. The whole universe is inside God. You are also inside that. When He created the universe, He created you also. He created the sun, moon, stars, everything. You just open your eyes, look around, and mentally imagine: 'I am beholding the Cosmic Being in front of me. I am inside Him. He is absorbing me into Himself. All the actions that I perform are His actions. My fingers are all His fingers, my mind is His mind. Everything that I do is done by Him only. I am only a motivating individualised factor. I am an instrument in His hand, like a fountain pen.' If a person writes a book with a fountain pen, the credit does not go to the fountain pen. Shakespeare writes with a pen, but we don't say that Shakespeare's plays are written by the pen. It is written by another person.” – Swami Krishnananda

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