A ticket collector on a train found an old worn out wallet in a
compartment full of many people. He looked inside to find the name of
its owner. There was no clue. It had some money and a small picture of
Lord Krishna. He held it up and asked, 'Who is the owner of this
wallet?'
In response, an old man approached and
said, “That is my wallet, please give it to me.” The ticket collector
then told him: “You'll have to prove that it is yours. Only then I can
hand it over to you.” The old man, who had no teeth, smiled, and said,
“It has a picture of Krishna in it.”
“That is no proof;
anyone can have a picture of Krishna in his wallet. What is so special
about that? Why is your picture not in there?” Obviously, the ticket
collector was not an easy person to deal with.
The old man took a deep
breath and said, "Let me tell you why my picture is not there. My father
gave this wallet to me when I was in school. He used to give me a small
sum of pocket money. I loved my parents and I kept their picture in it. Later on, I replaced their picture with mine as it was an excellent color picture of a handsome looking teenager.
Some years later, I got married. My
wife was very beautiful and I loved her a lot. I replaced my picture in
the wallet with that of hers. I spent hours gazing at her pretty face.
When my first child was
born, my life started a new chapter. I shortened my working hours to
play with my baby. I went late to work and returned home early too.
Obviously, my son's picture occupied the prized position in my wallet."
The
old man's eyes brimmed with tears as he continued, "My parents passed
away many years ago. Last year my wife too left her mortal coil. My son
is very busy with his beautiful family. He has no time for me. All that I
had close to my heart is out of my reach now.
So, after all the
disappointments, I have put this picture of Lord Krishna, my favorite
form of God, in my wallet. It is only now that I have realized that He
is the eternal companion. He will never leave me. Alas! If only I had
realized this before. If only I had loved the Lord all those years, with
the same intensity as I had loved my family, I would not have been so
lonely today!"
The ticket collector
quietly gave the wallet to the old man. When the train stopped at the
next station, he directly went to the book stall at the platform and
frantically started looking for a picture of his favorite form of God
for his wallet!
Innumerable are the
occasions when Bhagavan Baba has told us that our one and only true
friend is God – He will never forsake us. He will always be with us no
matter what. He alone is permanent and will never lift His compassionate
gaze from us.
In a Guru Poornima discourse a few years ago, Baba said,
“Try to reduce
your attachment to the world to the minimum extent possible. Be happy
and make others happy. Do not hurt anybody. Consider difficulties as
passing clouds. You have developed family relationships and there are
bound to be some worries. But do not be perturbed by them. When you look
at the vast sky, you find many clouds. Likewise, in the sky of your
heart there are clouds of attachment. They just come and go. Do not
worry about them. Develop equanimity and strive to attain Divinity”.
(Source: Radio Sai)