THE VOICE WITHIN

Once upon a time in ancient India, there lived a wealthy man with a great love for champion horses. He would bring rare breeds from far and wide, crossing them to create new breeds. Needless to say, his horses were the envy of all. So when the horse lover passed away suddenly one day, the question on everyone’s lips in his village was who would get to own his beloved horses.

Their curiosity grew when they counted his horses, full 19 in number. And when the deceased man’s will was read out, there was much bewilderment all around. He had decreed that upon his death, half the horses he owned should go to his only son, one-fourth to the village temple and one-fifth to his faithful servant.

The village elders were in a fix. How could they give half of the 19 horses to the dead man’s son? Surely there was no sense in giving him nine-and-half horses! After puzzling over the formula for weeks on end, the elders decided to seek the counsel of a wise man who lived alone in a farm a little distance away.

On receiving their summons, the wise man came riding on his swift horse. The elders then told him about the strange bequest and whether it could be carried out.

The wise man promptly asked them to place all the horses in a row standing next to each other. It was a wonderful sight to see the 19 horses all abreast in a line, stomping and rearing. To everyone’s surprise, the wise man added his own horse to the line.

From the total 20 horses, the wise man led away ‘half’ or 10 horses to the son, ‘one-fourth’ or 5 horses to the temple committee, and ‘one-fifth’ or 4 horses to the servant. Thus, 10 plus 5 plus 4 or 19 horses were disposed off, just as the dead man had wished. The remaining 20th horse was the wise man’s, which he then proceeded to mount.    

Full of admiration for the wise man, the village elders and others gathered around him with words of gratitude and praise.

Smiling, the wise man replied: ‘The device I used to solve your problem is known to every student of Mathematics. But in a deeper way, many of you employ this principle in your daily life.’

As the mystified villagers looked at each other, the wise man explained: ‘Like the 20th horse that I added to the problem to solve it and then took out unchanged, you too use the God principle to deal with problems life throws up.’

‘Many a times, circumstances are such that our reason fails to find a way out. Forced to live out life’s contradictions, we take God’s me and pray. Thus in our daily struggles, we add His me and the problems seem lighter, the journey easier,’ the wise man added.

There are some who say God does not exist, that it is in the interest of man to invent Him. Be as it may, it is for every man to feel God in his heart. Once his faith grows strong within, the God principle comes turally. God comes in and goes out unchanged, but the devotee’s life is changed forever.

—the harbinger

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