There was a princess who was very
pious, immersed in the contemplation of the glory of God; her father
sought in all the quarters for a suitable partner for her, but, could
not find one. Of course, many princes competed for her hand, but, they
were all worldly minded and fond of royal luxury and the father knew
that his daughter would not be happy with such a partner. At last, the
king heard of a young mendicant, a devoted servant of the Lord, whose
face shone with inner joy.
When the
king met him he pleaded that he was too poor to confer any happiness on
the princess, that he lived in a little hut, that he had barely three
paise with him and that he would not receive anything from others. The
king was overjoyed at his piety and the marriage was celebrated with
three paise only, to the satisfaction of the groom and the bride and the
king.
When the
princess went into the hut to share her life with the mendicant, she was
surprised to find on an earthen plate a bit of bread! She asked her
husband why it was kept there and he promptly replied, “I felt it could
be put to use today and so, I kept it on that plate yesterday.” On
hearing this, the princess said, “Then, I have no place in this hut with
you. I shall return to the palace where I came from.” The husband was
very much confused at her behaviour, which appeared strange. He asked
why the bit of bread should so upset her. She replied, “That bit of
bread proves that your faith in providence is not rooted deep; The Lord
Who provided for you so far, will He not feed for you this day too? Why
this doubt, this hesitation about His mercy, His love and His care?
Either this bit of bread that is kept for another day must go or I must
go out of this hut,” she said.
The
husband had his eyes opened by her remarks; he caught hold of her hands
and pleaded her to remain as his guru, teaching him lessons on faith and
devotion. He thanked her for her advice and promised to mend his ways.
They lived together happily, encouraging each other in the path of
sadhana, until they realised the limitless glory of God of which they
were themselves minute expressions.
