In the Narada Purana there is a nice story of a business man who had two
sons. These two sons felt that their father has spent his whole life in
Business and now he should be sent on some Pilgrimage with a Sadhu with
enough money. The sons told the Sadhu ” Do not bring the father back until
his heart is converted. Let him pass his time in Pilgrimage and let him
leave the body there “. So he was taken to various holy places by the Sadhu.
The Sadhu eventually became frustrated because this business man’s heart was
not changing. He remained as hard hearted as he was and always talking about
business and money – where ever he went.
Finally, the Sadhu was about to give up. He informed his sons “Your father
is hardcore businessman he is too difficult to change”. The sons said No!
No!.. You should not give it up. You should still try.
So as a last resort, He took him to the holy city of Varanasi.
They were passing thru’ one of the burning ghats (a crematorium).
As soon as the Business man entered the Crematorium and saw so many dead bodies
burning on the logs of wood he started crying. Tears filled up his eyes and
started pouring down his cheeks. The Sadhu was happy to see the old man’s
detachment at the last. He turned to the old man and placed his hand on his
shoulders and said “What do you feel now? How do you feel about life now?”
The businessman said “I really feel bad. I feel terrible, I have wasted my life.
The Sadhu further enquired “Really ?” why do you feel terrible? Tell me.
The businessman replied “I was a cloth merchant throughout my life. If I knew
that there is so much demand for wood, I would have done business in wood.
How I wasted my whole life. I’m feeling bad about it now”. Sadhu then gave
up on this man.
Moral : From this we understand that simply by passage of time desires will
not evaporate automatically. One must make sincere efforts. If we don’t make
efforts now over a period of time our desires will become impossible to
control.
PS: I humbly request all the devotees to please forward moral / instructive stories they hear so that everyone can be benefitted.