Sivananda's Personality-47.

47.

The Master remarked to the disciples, "I hold Jayadeva as my ideal. He was robbed by dacoits, who cut off his hands and threw him into a well. When the Gods arrived with a celestial car to take him to paradise, he refused to ascend it till the dacoits who had cut off his hands were also taken. That is my ideal."

Exactly ten years later, on January 8, 1960, at evening time, a stout young man was brought on a stretcher to the Ashram hospital, accompanied by two policemen and a small crowd. The man was badly wounded. Blood was oozing from all over his swollen face. He was virtually unconscious. The doctor administered first aid and dressed the wounds. The policemen explained how the wounded man had been waylaying people and robbing them, and how he was caught after a chase, during which he fell into a deep pit and got badly injured.

Within minutes, Dilip Kumar Roy, for that was the name of the man, became a showroom exhibit. Curiosity-mongers came from every direction. Some took pity on him, some scoffed at him and said that he deserved what he got, while others made many remarks about the helpless man.

Sri N. Ananthanarayanan
 To be continued ...