WILLING TO DIE FOR THE HAPPINESS OF THE BELOVED

 
The faith of the disciple must always be securely grounded in his experience of the divinity of the Master. He must not be like a straw carried anywhere by the slightest breeze. He should be like a rock that remains unmoved in the severest of storms.

The story of Kalyan brings out the meaning of a really sound faith in the Master. Kalyan was a disciple of Swami Ramdas Samarth, who was a Perfect Master at the time of Shivaji. A Master loves all disciples alike, but some might be particularly dear to him — just as an individual loves all part of his body, though the eyes may be more dear to him than his fingers. Swami Ramdas Samarth had many disciples, but his favorite was Kalyan. The other disciples did not quite understand why Kalyan should be dearer to the Master than the others.

One day Swami Ramdas tested the devotion of his disciples. He asked all his disciples to come to him and pretended to be so sick as to be on the point of death. He had placed a mango on the joint of his knee and bound it in a bandage so that it looked like a huge swelling. Swami Ramdas pointed to this swelling and told the disciples that it was a malignant tumor and that there was no chance of his living unless someone sucked the poison from the joint of his knee. At the same time, he made it clear to all that whoever sucked out the poison would die instantaneously.

Then he asked whether any disciple was prepared to suck out the poison from the swelling at the cost of his own life. All the disciples hesitated except Kalyan, who arose immediately and began to suck from the swelling. To his surprise Kalyan found sweet mango juice and not poison, and Swami Ramdas praised his unswerving faith and self-denying love.

To be willing to die for the happiness of the Beloved is true love. Such implicit faith, unfaltering love, and undivided loyalty as that of Kalyan can come to the disciple only through the Grace of the Master.