07.STEALING and THE FALL OF THE MINSTER SATYAGHOSH

STEALING and THE FALL OF THE MINSTER SATYAGHOSH
Taking with out permission or with out informing, the wealth and other materials of others - kept by them either secretly or openly or forgottenly left by them on farms, villages, forests, lanes and by lanes, houses, places for storage of garbage and cow sheds etc. constitutes theft. Hence, such wealth should not be taken in a clandestine manner.

Varanasi is a beautiful city of India, inhabited by learned persons. Once upon a time it was governed by King Jai Singh. His queen was Jayavathi. The Royal Priest was one Shivabhuti who was renowned for his truthfulness.

Shivabhuti had taken a vow to the effect that he would never speak untruth ; he also taken another vow that in case some false word or words come out of his mouth, he would cut his tongue .People used to call%im “Satyaghosh” because of his truthfulness. The King was much pleased with his truthful nature. He had earned good faith of people in general. That is why many of them used to keep their wealth with him. unhesitatingly.Once, a merchant of Padmapura named Dhanpai came to Varnasi. He wanted to keep his wealth safely with some one. So he made enquiries with many to find a suitable truthful person for that purpose. All of them suggested him to do so with Satyaghosh. The merchant approached Satyaghosh who welcomed him and asked about the purpose of his visit. The merchant said, “Respected Sir! 1 have to go to distant countries, in connection with my trade. 1 do not want to carry all my wealth with me in view of the risks involved with my journey. 1 have therefore come to you to keep my precious jewels in your custody. The value of these precious jewels is nearly about five crores. I wil take them back, after my return. They are very important to me, as they alone shall save me from disaster, in case I suffer some heavy loss in my business. My whole life depends on them and they are also the only source of my future livelihood. Hence, 1 requestyouto keep them safe. I have great faith in you because you are avowedly truthful. These jewels are as dearer to me as my life”. So saying, the merchant was about to hand over the jewels kept in a cover of cloth. Sathya Ghosh with hesitation said, “oh Seth! you probably do not know that I do not even touch the wealth of others by my hands. Whomsoever comes to keep his property in my custody, does it with his own hands and take it back in the same manner. I never touch it. Hence you please keep your jewels yourself in that box. You can take them back from there as and when required”. After this ,the merchant himself kept the jewels in a box shown by Sathya Ghosh and went away.

The merchant did lucrative business in foreign countries for as long a period as twelve years. He then decided to return to his native place. While he was returning by sea his ship unfortunately dashed against some big rock and was broken to pieces. All the properties of the merchant sank in the ocean; somehow the merchant survived and reached the shore with the support of some broken wooden plankof the ship. This disaster made the merchant most unhappy, l ie went to the city and worshipped Sri Jinendra Deva for full two days. Thereafter he STEALING ANOTHER MAN’S PROPERTY & ITS CONSEQUENCES wanted to get back the jewels kept with Satyaghosh ; when the merchant was at some distance on the way to Satyagosh’s house, Satyaghosh noticed him; some bad ideas occured in his mind which nade him to change like a chameleon. Alas! He forgot that he was praised by one and all on account of his truthfulness only. Generally a large number of people used to be present in his drawing room during the day as well as during night seeking his advice or help; when the merchant Dhanapal was nearing the house, Satyaghosh told the persons assembled in his house that he was likely to be accused with some false charges and be indicted. They told him in one voice that it was not at all possible because he was beyond any suspicion. When such talks were going on, Seth Dhanpal reached there. Satyaghosh did not take note of him. Seeing this indifferent attitude of Satyaghosh Dhanpal was surprised. After a few minutes Seth Dhanpal prayed for the return of his jewels. But Satyagosh instead of returning his jewels to him started rebuking him by saying “oh Seth!I am sorry! the sinking of your ship in the ocean had caused your condition to be so bad. Please wait. I am arranging for some help."’ Seth was shocked to here thi; he sasked Sathya Ghosh “Sir, 1 do not want anycharity. Please give me my four jewels which 1 had deposited with you before 1 left for foreign countries”. Satyaghosh on hearing this, told the persons sitting in his house, “look here, as i told you all some time back, my doubts have come to be true. This man had gone mad because his ship had sunk in the sea; in this state of madness he is telling that he had kept his jewels with me and asking for their return . Had he not gone mad, how could he demand the return of something which he did not deposit at all with me? This man is unnecessarily defaming me.” All the persons sitting there believed the words of SathyaGhosh and supported himt; mercilessely the merchant Dhanpal was driven out of the house, after having been declared as a mad person. Seth Dhanpal was in tears and helpless; he then approached the King, but he also turned a deaf ear to him. The king had full faith in the truthfulness of Sathya Ghosh. This made Seth Dhanpal much dejected. He lost all hopes of getting his precious jewels back.

Despite all this Seth Dhanpal did not lose hope and courage; he found a new idea to draw the attention of the King. On the midnight of everyday the poor Seth used to go to the back side of the Royal palace, climbe upon a tree and shout at the top of his voice, “Maharaja, grant due attention to my case. Be kind enough. You are the only one who can help me. The king must be just and kind. He must help those who are affected; kindly listen to me. I had deposited four precious jewels with the priest which he has misappropriated. Hence, be kind enough to impart justice and order the priest to return those jewels to me’\Though the King was indifferent, Maharani Jayavathi noticed that the utterings of Seth Dhanapal was same every day.. One day Maharani Jayavati said to her husband “My lord! why don’t you listen to the prayer of this poor man? who seeks justice from you”. The king told her that the merchant had gone mad and the charges he made against the priest were false. This did not satisfy theQueen. Ultimately the King entrusted this matter to Queen Jayawati herself to find out the truth. One day the King and the Queen sat together to play dice as a sport. At that time Sathya Ghosh came there to pay the customary greetings to the King. After he greeted the King, the Queen invited the priest to join them. The priest first hesitated to do so, but he agreed to takepart after the persuasion by King himself. In course of gambling, the queen asked the priest casually about the charges made by Dhanpal against him. In the mean time she sent her maidservant without being noticed by Sathya Ghosh, to his house to bring those jewels of the merchant. The wife of the priest did not give those jewels to that maid servant. It so happened that the priest lost heavily in gambling. He lost even his ring that he was wearing.The queen again sent her maid servant to priest’s house along with that ring as a proof. This time also the maid servant returned, empty handed. By that time the priest had lost his necklace as well. So the maid servant was again sent to the priest’s house along with that necklace. This time, the maid servant asked the priest’s wife, “Look here, this time the priest has sent me with this necklace also. He had asked me to tell you that he was in great danger; and in case you want him to see alive, you should immediately send those four jewels through me”. Sathya Ghosh’s wife was shocked and very much worried. She did not know at hat moment what to do ; she rushed inside and brought those four jewels and handed them over to that maid servant. The maidservant immediately went to the palace and handed over the jewels to the Queen. The queen, then gave those jewels to the King and asked the priest to stop playing telling him that it was too late to continue the game. The Queen returned the ring and the necklace of the priest to him and went away. Seeing the jewels, the King was very much surprised and he was taken aback. He asked the priest casually, “ O ,Sathya Ghosh! tell me the punishment given for theft.” The priest’s replied that the thief had to be hanged outright or he should be cut into pieces by sharp weapons. The King again asked that in case the thief was not fit for such punishment what else should be done? The priest emphatically replied “O Maharaj! whomsoever and howsoever big the thief be, he must be punished in the aforesaid manner only; otherwise, the King becomes guilty of negligence.” The king after discussing the law on the point, put all the four jewels before the priest. SathyaGhosh was shocked and breathless for a time. The King then condemned the priest and said “1 would have straightway ordered to hang you but your case deserved some sympathetic consideration as you were renowned in the past for your truthfulness ; but now you had lost that reputation.. Hence the punishment is eitheryou eat three big plateful of cowdung or you leave from my country forever after surendering all your property to the State treasury; or you shall have to undergo the punishment of being beaten by four wrestlers chosen by the State. You are given the option of choosing any one of these three punishments”. The priest opted eating of three platesful cowdung but he was unable to eat even from one. He then pleaded to award the second punishment of beating by powerful wrestlers. The priest could not bear the blows by powerful wrestlers, and he fell down and died. Due to painful and wicked concentration of mind his last thought actions at the time of death were bad and cruel;as a result he was born as a snake in Government treasury.

Oh Brother! beware! remember that Satyaghosh lost his entire prestige and honour, his great name and fame and his earnings of whole life due to his one single offence of stealing the property of others. His crime is even now recollected and condemned;he will be ridiculed for his offence for thousands of years.Satyaghosh lost not only the stolen wealth abut also his own hard earned wealth. One theft proved enough to take his life. Not only that, Satyaghosh had to suffer in next births also on account of that offence. Having in view of all this, one must give up stealing even from thought for ever. It is preferable to remain poor rather than be rich by way of stealing. Theft brings bad name to its perpetrator. The peson who leads a life by stealing, lives a disgraceful life which is full of condemnation by others. An honourable death is preferable to a disrespectful life.

Man can tolerate and overcome all hardships in life. He can bear all pains, face dangerous situations; he can examine and weigh the strength and the quality of a person and accordingly he can adjust and lead a honest life. He who gets melted by the fire of hardships, fails. Similarly he who remains unbending, also fails. The mudane soul must adjust with the given circumstances but it shoul not deviate from the path of honesty and truthfulness. He, who steals due to the pres- sure of circumstances also leads the life of a hellish being in the future births. TRUTH ALWAYS TRIUMPHS! SATYAMEVA JAYATHE!

Maxims / Aphorisms
1. Stealing is the greatest crime of human beings.

2. Stealing amounts to selling ones honour openly.

3. Stealing indicates one’s poverty of truth and his lowliness

4. Stealing amounts to extending direct invitation to death

5. Stealing is the real mother of unreliability.

6. Stealing is the cause of miseries and wailings of the innocent.

7. The blot or the stain of theft can never be washed away or cleaned, no matter how chariable or philanthropist one comes to be with the stolen properties.

8. Every theft whether committed openly or secretly causeskarmic bondage.

9. If the earnings of thefts are utilised in religious preformances, reli gion gets polluted.

10. Charities by means of earnings from steling are not charities at all.

11. The life of a thief is worser than that of abegger.

12. Howsoever strong a thief be ,he is afraid of even small children il presernt at the place of theft.

13. People in general remain careful and doubtful to such a honest person who was a thief in the past.

14. A thief may escape punishment of the Government or society but he can not escape from the punishment of Karmas.

15. A thief does not take a sigh of relief even fora moment throughout his life.

16. It is impossible to correctly assess the plight of a thief.

17. Thehungerofathiefforstealing can never be fully satisfied and it is insatiable.

18. Persons who are black marketeers, who take bribe and who evades payments of taxes are also thieves.

19. Not discharging the duty in an appropriate manner also amounts to stealing.

20. All who commit theft, who cause others to commit theft, who give advice to thieves, who appreciate and encourage those who commit theft and who are delighted to see persons committing thefts are equally guilty of stealing and such persons do reap the consequences thereof.

“Who does not think high? Who is not ambitious? Who does not aspire for the supreme status or highest position? But he and he alone is crowned with greatness, who actually, constantly and untiringly, marches ahead, on the path shown by his inner-self. Those who cherish the art of fraud will perish by their own actions. —The Unknown - Acharya Kunthakuntha - Thirukkural 289