In the book "Summer Showers in Brindavan - 1990 (Chapter "The Three Gunas"), Bhagavan expounded on man's desire for worldly riches and illustrated this by a story of a devotee who aspired for riches and had performed a severe penance to secure what he desired.
"Today man's desire for worldly pleasures has exceeded all limits, and what is more, he wants quick fulfulment of his innumerable desires, by resorting to short-cuts. But he must realise that short cuts are always dangerous and riddled with thorns, stones, etc. The highway is always preferable, though it may seem longer. The ways of the Divine are not easy to comprehend. Wishing the welfare of everyone in the universe, the Divine uses a myriad methods.
It may be illustrated by the story of a devotee, aspiring for riches, who performed a severe penance for securing a boon from the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi. Man is prepared to undergo any ordeal for achieving material wealth but will not take any trouble to realise the Divine.
Lakshmi appeared before the devotee and asked him what he wanted. He replied that he wanted Lakshmi Herself. She agreed and said that adoring Herself with all ornaments, She would follow him and asked him to go ahead. She said She would come to his house and hand over all Her ornaments to him. She imposed, however, one stipulation.
"You must go ahead of me and never look back. If you look back, I will stay back at the spot." Filled with joy, the devotee strode ahead towards his home. The Goddess' jewels were making all kinds of sounds as She walked behind. Unable to restrain his curiosity to find out what were all the jewels she was wearing, he turned back to have a look at her. He could not repress his desire till he reached home. The moment he looked back, Lakshmi stopped there and did not follow him.
This is what happens when one cannot control one's desire. Even though he got the grace of the Divine, the devotee could not benefit from it. This means that even if you are blessed with an abundance of Divine grace, you must acquire the capacity to benefit form it. To get this capacity, you have to obey implicitly the injunctions of the Divine.
If the devotee in the story had adhered to Lakshmi's conditions, he would have benefited from her bounty. Failing to abide by her conditions, he forfeited what he had been offered."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
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