Once upon a
time, in the village of Girishanagar there lived a humble sage who went by the
name of Samrat. Rumour had it that he was the only son of a very wealthy
businessman but after his father’s death, he gave away all he inherited to a
charity and went on to meditate in the woods in search of the actual truth.
After he attained the holy knowledge, he went on a journey to spread this among
other people. This story was so similar to Lord Budhha that it led some to
assume that he might be his incarnation. I wondered if he was, then why did he
do everything all over again?
Anyway,
that’s just the words in the wind. On his path to god he stumbled upon a small
village where I and some not so humble villagers resided. Although his
influence over the villagers was strong, I somehow remained immune to his
divinity. Even though I didn’t like him, I was not much concerned about his
involvement in the village affairs. He was a smart man who had a way with
words, I can tell you that. And he also kept his safety above everything else.
So when some poor soul in dire need of counsel came to him, he chose the safest
way. He would listen to the problems, explain about them in detail, tell both
pros and cons and would just say, “the answer to your problem lies within you”.
This way he never actually told anyone to do anything which cleared him of all
the blame. I wondered when the poor villagers will understand that their town
and problems will remain exactly the same even without him.
That aside, I once asked him about the story
of his origin and didn’t get anything solid. I probably would’ve known this, a
person as cautious as him wouldn’t reveal anything which might connect him to the same ground we all walked. In his voice, he said, “I don’t know who I am. About
10 years ago I woke up in a government hospital with all my memories gone. I
can’t remember a thing about my past and since then I’m travelling to wherever
life takes me.”
Well he knew
I didn’t attend his sermons, nor I ever came for advice to him so it was
natural for him to believe that I don’t believe in him. That would be the
reason he didn’t include any supernatural intervention in the story he told me.
Yet I didn’t believe this story either. My best guess was that he was a
vagabond with no home, no family nor any source of income so he would stray his
time away in the streets. Over time, his beard grew bigger before he realized
he could capitalize this new look with a few famous quotes. And this way he
turned into the revered sage that he is today.
To know the fate of our beloved sage, read the next part.....
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