Tenderness

The only possession that Swami Gangadhar priced as precious was his copy of the Bhagavad Gita. His mornings began and evenings ended with meditations on randomly chosen shlokas of the Gita. But one day he lost the Gita. It was missing. He searched everywhere in his simple, ascetic room, where there wasn’t much space to search. He had no doubt that the Gita was missing.

Only one person had entered his room that day, his favourite disciple Venkateswar. Swami Gangadhar smiled to himself. Venkateswar had mentioned the other day that he needed some money to help his mother.

The shopkeeper from the neighbourhood came to meet Swami Gangadhar. He needed a small help. “Can you look at this book and tell me how much it is worth? Somebody wants to sell it and I’m not sure how much I should pay.”

Swami Gangadhar smiled again. It was his copy of the Gita.

“I’m willing to pay Rs 100 for it,” Swami Gangadhar said looking at the tattered book. He got his beloved holy book back. And his disciple could buy medicine for his mother.

Venkateswar continued to be the Swamy’s favourite disciple. Their next lesson was on tenderness.