(Credit: Sandya – http://third–eye.blogspot.com/2009/04/from-sanyas-to-marriage.html)
I came across this story while browsing through .Thought of putting it in here as it raised an eyebrow 🙂
A gentleman wanting to renounce the world took to Sanyas after the loss of his wife. He donated all his possessions to various charities and settled himself in a hut built by himself away from the city, keeping with him one trusted shishya and the started meditation.
He discarded wearing cloths but for a Kaupeenam i.e. loin cloth. He wore one and washed the other himself and left it to dry on the rocks for next day’s use. But after some time he found the Kaupeenam missing. He got one more and carried on. But after few days even the new one was missing. He asked his shisya to keep a watch on how a worthless object like Kaupeenam could be missing every other day.
The sishya found out it was the handiwork of a mouse which was dragging and dropping it in the valley next to the ashram. He suggested that they should keep a cat to prevent the rat coming. The Swami gave him some money to get a cat from the town. After that the menace of the mouse ceased but their problem increased.The Shisya had to go to the far off town and get milk for the cat. As much of his time was wasted in getting milk and feeding the cat, he suggested to the Guru that they should have a cow at home.
At the same time, some body from the town presented him a cow as ‘Go-Daan’ (giving the cow free) to the Swamiji which he gladly accepted. The owner told him “Swamiji! The cow is pregnant and we should have an attendant to take care of it. I shall send one of my servants.” Swami gratefully accepted the offer. Soon after, the cow delivered a calf, and the milk was sufficient only for the calf. So they got one more cow. To look after all these animals and attend to the cooking and serving the growing number of mouths, they had to maintain a maidservant. She was irregular in attendance and needed constant supervision.
The Shisya finally told his Guru “Swamiji, the only way to circumvent all these problems is for you to get married. Your wife will take care of all of us.” The Sanyasi finally had to become a family man, got married and settled down.
He told to himself “To get away from the family I became a Sanyasi. Just for protecting the Kaupeena, I have now renounced Sanyas and become a married man.
“Kaupeena samrakshanartham ayam patatopah”
One should not allow one’s concentration to get disturbed and one’s determination dissipated by listening to others’ advice. Something worth thinking about I guess! 🙂