There was a woodcutter once, going daily into the forest and collecting a bundle of fuel which he sold in the village nearby for a pittance, which just sufficed to keep his wife and children alive.
One morning, while he was stepping out of his hut, the wife reminded him that it was Yugadi (the New Year Festival) the next day; she pleaded with him to collect a heavier bundle of fuel that day, so that they could get a few more paise to give the children a morsel of sweet rice each. The man nodded assent and walked on. He succeeded in gathering an extra huge bundle but, with that heavy load on his head, he was soon exhausted; he had to deposit it on the ground before he could approach the village.
This set him thinking of his plight. He had lost all his old zest for living. He called upon the Angel of Death, the Mrthyudevatha, to relieve him. He cried, "O Death! Have you no mercy toward me? Why have you forgotten me so long? How I wish I could die and escape from this daily grind!"
The Angel of Death took pity on him and appeared before him to fulfil his wish. But the woodcutter suddenly receded; he cleverly changed the purpose of his appeal to the Angel. He had no wish to die, though in his despair, he had called for her help. He said, "No, no. I have no one here to lift this bundle on to my head, so I called on you to come to my aid. That was the only reason behind my prayer. Please help me to lift this burden and place it on my head; I have to reach the village soon!"
Since man is innately immortal, he recoils from the grasp of death; the will to live is very strong, much more persistent than the will to die.
(Quoted from the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
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