No Pain, No Gain

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham
31 May 2013

There was once a brahmachari who felt very disturbed and wanted to leave the temple. He thought, "I do not want to live in the temple. Gurudev is always giving me this service, that service, this work, that work... I am very tired!" So, he decided to leave the temple and go back to his home and family, "I will go back to my parents, I will not stay here!"

The Guru of this brahmachari used to keep his drinking water in a clay jar, or pitcher so that it stays fresh during the hot season. So, one day Gurudev asked this brahmachari, his servitor, "Please go to the tubewell (water pump) and bring some water for me." The tubewell was a little far from the temple, and he thought, "Oh, it is a very nice opportunity! I will go outside to bring the water and leave!"

He went to the tubewell thinking, "This is my chance! I will keep the jar at the well and run away." So, he kept the jar beside the water pump and started walking away. Suddenly, the jar began to speak, "Hey! Come, come, come! Where are you going? I know you are getting some austerity, you are very disturbed because your Guru is giving you so much service, but you listen to my story first. I have some pastime to tell you. Do you know what happened to me?" And the jar told the brahmachari its story.

"I used to be a piece of mud in the field, everybody ignored me—everybody passed stool and urine on me, I was so dirty. But one time a man picked me up. He collected me and turned me into dust with his hammer. You know, I got so much austerity at that time! I felt so much pain! Then, he poured water on me, but even then he was still not happy—he wanted to give me more austerity. He took me to his potter's wheel where he made me go round and round and turned me into some clay. Then, with his hands he made a jar out of me. He had given me so much austerity, but still he was not satisfied. Next, he put me in the sun to dry—oh, it was so hot! I had lain in the sun for two-three days! You know, even then he thought it was not sufficient. He decided to give me more punishment. What punishment did he give? He started burning me! He baked me and I became a jar. After that, he took me to the market, and people were asking him how much money he wanted for me, some people even offered him as much as thirty rupees... Now I had some price, I had some value! I used to be abused before, people used to pass stool on me, but do you see what I am now? Now I look good, I have price, I have value. Your Guru bought me for fifty rupees and kept me in his house. He kept me in a very nice place and kept his drinking water(!) inside me! You too carried me carefully. Now nobody disturbs me, nobody punishes me—I have become a good thing, I have become a valuable thing!

"I had got so much austerity, I had to tolerate so much, I had to be very patient, but now you see that I have become a jar, a valuable thing. You too can get this result if you can tolerate all austerities and have patience. Go back to your Gurudev's house, take service from him, serve him, and you too can become a valuable thing."

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