Introduction
Once a guru went to the house of one of his disciples.
Guru’s Request
The disciple prepared nice food, and after the guru had eaten, the disciple wanted to show his guru-bhakti.
Haritaki Incident
In Ayurveda the haritaki fruit is recommended for good digestion, so the disciple came with haritaki for his guru.
The guru said, “All right. Remove the unnecessary things and give me the necessary part.”
Disciple’s Misunderstanding
That disciple was a speculator, a crooked person.
He thought, “Oh, the outer portion of the haritaki is unnecessary and the inner portion is necessary.”
So he threw away the outer skin and gave the inner portion, the hard seed, to the guru.
Guru’s Disappointment
But with haritaki the outer skin is necessary and the inner portion is thrown away.
That disciple did the opposite because he was a speculator bharavahi, saragrahi nahin—he always accepted the unnecessary things that are not the essence.
His guru could not enjoy the haritaki. “You are such an unintelligent fellow,” he said. “Don’t you know? The inner portion, the hard nut of haritaki, is unnecessary. The outer portion, the skin, is necessary.”
Cardamom Incident
The next day, after the guru had eaten, that so-called disciple brought some cardamom.
Remembering the previous day’s event, he thought, “Oh, the guru has taught that this inner portion is unnecessary and this outer portion is necessary.”
So he threw away the inner portion of the cardamom and offered the outer skin to the guru.
Moral of the Story
But with cardamom, the seed is necessary and the skin is useless.
That means that those who are kapati, crooked persons, only speculate. They will not accept anything as it is. Therefore the mahajanas have said that one who is very serious and eager to achieve perfection in his human birth, that is krsna-bhakti, should cultivate simplicity.
Simplicity is Vaishnavism. Those who are real vaisnavas are simple by nature. Kapatya, crookedness, is a great hindrance on this path of perfection. It is a sort of disease. And because a crooked person becomes envious towards the doctor who has come to cure him, his disease is incurable.
In Bhakti-Sandarbha, Jiva Goswami has said that there are many such persons who pretend to be devoted, but inside their heart there is great crookedness. Outwardly they pay dandavats, falling down like a rod from a great distance, as if they are very humble. Yet they criticize sadhu, acarya, and gurus. They may even offer worship, but actually they have no respect at all. They are very keen to find out the faults of the sadhu.
Conclusion
