Depart Without Debt…

Bhagawan is hailed in the Arathi song as “Sadgurudeva”. He is the Divine Teacher of Supreme Truth. He makes use of every conceivable occasion to drive home the profoundest truths in the most compelling and interesting manner. The students and small group of devotees who were present at the evening gathering in “Trayee Brindavan” after Bhagawan’s return from Ooty on 11 May were blessed in many ways. Besides Bhagawan’s darshan and prasadam at the end of the meeting, they had the unforgettable privilege of listening to Bhagawan’s informal discourses which were mainly concerned with what may be compendiously described as “practical spirituality”. Bhagawan spoke one evening on what is true friendship. On another evening, He illustrated from a crucial episode in the Mahabharata how it is sinful to be silent witnesses to the perpetration of a grievous crime.

One evening, Swami related instances from the lives of Socrates, the Greek philosopher, and Prophet Mohammed to pinpoint the lesson that one should not leave any undischarged debts before one passes away.

In relating the story of Socrates in His own gripping manner, Swami described how the young men in Athens were attracted to Socrates because of the way in which he inspired in them a deep interest towards the basic problems of life. Because too many young men chose to remain with Socrates, the authorities in Athens condemned him to death. Rather than allowing himself to be put to death by others, Socrates chose to end his life by drinking a cup of hemlock.

Swami described the last scene in which Socrates was surrounded by his numerous young disciples. With no fear of death, Socrates spoke to them cheerfully. Before receiving the cup of hemlock from the hands of his disciples, Socrates told one of them that he owed a hen to a neighbour. He asked the disciple to give a hen to his neighbour so that he may be free from any debt to anyone before his passing. He then received the cup of hemlock from the disciples’ hands and drank it calmly.

Incidentally Swami described how Alexander, a student of Aristotle—who was himself a pupil of Plato, the guru of Socrates—met an Indian ascetic during his invasion of India and learnt from the sage the supreme value of detachment (Vairagya) and the impermanence of worldly acquisitions.

Referring to Prophet Mohammed’s life, Swami described how on one occasion when the Prophet was fleeing from Mecca, he had to use the services of a camel-driver for carrying him across the desert. The Prophet had no money to pay to him at the time. Later, when the Prophet was about to leave the world, he called one of his disciples and asked him to discharge the debt the Prophet owed to the camel driver.

Swami related these incidents to the students to impress on them how important it is in life to discharge one’s obligations to others. The ancient Indian sages, Swami said, believed that if a person dies without discharging his debts he cannot escape the obligation to be born again to discharge the unpaid debts. Our ancients attached the highest value to honouring one’s pledged word. Harishchandra was the supreme example of one who was prepared to undergo every kind of trial and humiliation to fulfill the promise he had given.

Swami recited a Telugu poem which says:

The signature is vital to a promissory note;
The army is vital to a fortress;
Character is vital to a community;
Truth is vital to speech. ]

Depart Without Debt Spiritual Wisdom

True Friendship

One evening, Swami asked the students to define the characteristics of true friendship. Various answers were given and the examples of Krishna and Arjuna were cited. Bhagavan said that He wanted examples from human beings alone. The relation between Krishna and Arjuna was that of the Divine to man.

Swami then gave the answer Himself and illustrated it with an example from ancient Italy. Swami said true friendship is present when the friends regard themselves as two bodies with one heart and soul. Swami then related the story of Damon and Pythias. Pythias had been sentenced to death by a ruler (of Syracuse) for an offence against the State. Pythias’s friend, Damon, came to the ruler and said that as the sentence was to be executed a month later Pythias might be released from prison to see his wife and children. The ruler agreed to release Pythias on condition that Damon agreed to be in prison for a month and was willing to suffer the death sentence in case Pythias did not turn up on the due date. Damon readily offered to take Pythias’s place. Pythias was freed and permitted to go home to meet his family. On the day prior to the date of execution a large crowd had gathered at the prison to see whether Pythias kept his word. Tension mounted as Pythias had not arrived by the evening. Damon was cheerfully ready to mount the scaffold in case Pythias did not turn up. Late in the night Pythias came running to the prison to save Damon from execution for his sake. The next morning the ruler was astonished at seeing both Damon and Pythias and was struck by the extreme devotion between the two friends. He pardoned Pythias and took both the friends into his service.

-Devotional India