SEEING COMFORT AND SEEKING COMFORT

The following article is developed based on a seminar on the text Yati Panchakam by Swami Ananda Saraswati. This was held in early Dec, 2017 in Tuscany, Italy

There was once an old boatman in the country side who used to earn his living by helping people cross a river. He had with him a boat that was as old as him but still was good enough to do the job. One fine day, with the sun at its peak, he was about to retire after one last journey across the river. While on his way back, he noticed an unusually shiny stone at the river bank. As he landed at the bank, he walked hurriedly to pick it up.

It was a large stone that sparkled brilliantly, reflecting the sun’s rays in all its splendour. He decided then to keep this stone as a souvenir from the river and placed it in his boat at all times. Time and again, he used to see the stone during his work and marvel at its brilliance.

One fine day, a cobbler who sought the boatman’s services was awestruck by the stone’s luster.

He asked the boatman, “Where did you get this stone? It is so beautiful”

“I got it from the river bank” replied the old man

The cobbler was tempted; he wanted to possess the stone and asked the boatman spontaneously,

“Can I buy this stone from you? I will pay you 500 Rupees”

The Oldman felt that this was a good deal. He hardly made 150 Rupees each day and he told himself that he had already gained his share of pleasure from the stone. He felt it was fine for him to give it away for good money. So the cobbler bought the stone. His happiness knew no bounds and he wanted to keep the stone with himself in his shop. He used it at work and showed it with great pride to his customers.

Many weeks passed by and one fine day, a goldsmith happened to visit the cobbler. His trained eye gravitated towards the stone and he at once knew this was not an ordinary one. This stone was a precious stone, a diamond, which the cobbler was blissfully unaware. He found it hard to digest that the cobbler was using a diamond worth millions in the most frivolous of ways.

Sensing an opportunity, he asked, “I really like your stone. Where did you buy it?”

The cobbler beaming with pride said. “I got this from the local boatman for 500 Rupees”

The goldsmith slowly pushed his case, “I have grown so fond of your stone and I am ready to pay you 1000 Rupees for it. Will you sell it to me?”

The cobbler nodded in disagreement, “I am not keen to give this stone away. Please don’t take me wrong”

The Goldsmith increased the price five times, and said, “Will you refuse even if I were to pay you 5000 Rupees?”

The cobbler gave in. He could make 5000 Rupees only in a month, and this was an offer that was hard to resist. The goldsmith relished in his success and rushed to his shop to test the quality of the diamond at hand. But the very moment he put himself to work on it, the diamond shattered into pieces. The goldsmith, who had just been jumping with joy, was heartbroken.  He could not comprehend what went wrong.

At that moment, a voice from above spoke.

“The boatman who picked this stone first did not know of its true value, neither did the cobbler who bought it from him. But you knew its true value and yet you cheated the cobbler. You thus do not deserve to gain this diamond and its value”

Does the same not happen in our lives?

Seeing comfort and seeking comfort are two different mind sets.  We must understand that comfort must always be seen and never be sought. And when we truly discover comfort within ourselves, we will find value in everything. And ironically, we will find the right value in everything only when we truly deserve it.

Note: A masculine reference has been used in this article across all examples and illustrations. This has been assumed purely for the sake of convenience.

– Written by Karthik Sundaram based on Swamiji’s talk