Parable of The Poor Man and His Treasure-Trove

Divine Life Society Publication: Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda

There was a poor man in a village who had an all-consuming desire to become rich. God took the form of a fortune-teller and told the poor man: "O man, dig a pit near the wall at the back of your house. You will find a rich treasure-trove in it." The poor man rejoiced greatly when this proved correct. Having obtained much wealth, the poor man relaxed and became indifferent to the acquisition or even maintenance of the wealth. Coming to know of his carelessness, one day a thief entered the house and carried away the treasure-trove. When the poor man found that his wealth was gone, he was terribly shocked. He cried himself hoarse and began running here and there in search of the treasure-trove. In the meantime, the same fortune-teller found the thief running away with the treasure-trove and caught hold of him; the treasure-trove was duly returned to the poor man, who rejoiced greatly. From that moment he never relaxed his vigilance and was ever guarding the treasure-trove and exerted himself to add to it.

Similarly, a good man aspires to realize God. His aspiration is so intense that God, in His Supreme Mercy and Compassion, sends him a Guru. The Guru points out that within the chambers of his heart resides the Supreme Bliss, God. The good man exerts himself and attains some measure of success in his Sadhana. This success turns his head and makes him relax his efforts. Finding him thus callous, Maya overpowers him and carries away his spiritual progress. He is where he was before he started Sadhana. He suddenly discovers this truth and laments over his fate. The Guru comes to him again and recaptures for him the experiences he had previously gained by Sadhana. He also warns him against lax in Sadhana. From that moment, the good man never relaxes his vigilance. He guards the treasure-trove of spiritual experience that has been granted to him and exerts to add to it day after day. Once having known the consequences of non-vigilance, viz., great misery, he never relaxes his vigilance once again.

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Parable of The Poor Man and His Treasure-Trove - Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda