Priceless Wealth

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
22 January 2012, Nandigram (Andhra Pradesh, South India)

I can tell you one story from Bengal.

Many years ago, there was one brahmin called Jivan Chakravarti. He worshipped Lord Siva—always meditated on him, always worshipped him. One day, Lord Siva became very happy with his meditation and asked that brahmin,

"O Jivan Chakravarti, what do you want?"

"O Lord, my daughter is twenty years old, it is time for her to get married, but it is necessary to give some dowry. That is why I want some money... Please, can you give me some wealth?" answered Jivan Chakravarti.

"I have no wealth," said Lord Siva, "but you can go to Vrindavan. Sanatan Goswami lives there, he can give you proper wealth. You can go and ask him."

In those days, there were no cars, no buses, no trains—Jivan Chakravarti walked to Vrindavan. When he reached Vrindavan, he asked some poor brahmin sitting in the street,

"Do you know where Sanatan Goswami lives?"

"I am Sanatan Goswami," answered the brahmin.

Jivan Chakravarti was surprised. He thought, "I am a poor man, but this man has nothing at all. He has no house, he lives under a tree. He has no glass, no plate—all his utensils are made of clay... How will he give me wealth? He is even poorer than me. I must have come to a wrong person." He said to Sanatan Goswami, "I have come to you for wealth, but seeing you I think I must have made a mistake." He turned round and walked away.

Suddenly, Sanatan Goswami called him, "Oh, I remembered! The other day, when I was bathing in the Yamuna, I found a piece of touchstone. I threw it somewhere in the sand on the bank of the Yamuna. You can take that touchstone and become a rich man—you will be able to arrange the marriage of your daughter, you will get a house and anything else you want."

Jivan Chakravarti went to the bank of the Yamuna and found the touchstone, but suddenly he thought, "Why did that man throw a touchstone in the Yamuna? Maybe he has something more valuable than that... I want to ask him." So, Jivan Chakravarti again came back to Sanatan Goswami.

"Why did you come back?" asked Sanatan Goswami. "You have got your touchstone. Go back to your home, you will be rich."

"I have a question to you... Maybe you have something more valuable? What valuable thing do you have that you throw away a touchstone? Can you perhaps give something more valuable to me?"

"Do you want that wealth? I can give it to you, but first you must throw this touchstone into the Yamuna."

Jivan Chakravarti threw the touchstone away, and Sanatan Goswami gave him chanting beads.

In the end, his family became rich and his daughter got a good husband. It was not necessary for him to arrange anything—Krishna arranged everything for them.

Krishna said, "If you think about Me, I will think about you, but if you are always thinking about yourself, why should I help you then?" It is necessary to fully surrender to the Lord...

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