There was a devout religious man who took great joy in cultivating a
garden full of beautiful flowers and fruits. Even though he was
steeped in spiritual knowledge, he had developed a strong touch of
egoism within him. The moment egoism developed, jealousy also
entered. When egoism and jealousy make their appearance, hatred
automatically joins them. God took a personal interest in this errant
devotee. God saw that this person, although he had all the proper
religious outer trappings, had nevertheless, filled his heart with
poison. God decided to correct him by teaching him a lesson. The Lord
manifested himself in the form of an old mendicant and took a stroll
by that garden.
The old mendicant went to a recently planted tree and greatly
extolled the beauty of that tree. Noticing the garden owner nearby he
asked him, "Who is the gardener responsible for cultivating such a
fine tree?" The proud owner puffed himself up and said, "Sir, it is I
who have brought up this entire garden. I grew this tree and I raised
all the other trees that you see here, as well. By my own efforts I
developed all these pleasing paths and made this beautiful garden. I
alone look after everything here. There is no hired gardener. I am
the one who draws the water. I spread the manure. I pull the weeds
and I remove the pests. I clean the paths. I am developing these
beautiful flowers and fruits, doing all these things for the sake of
giving joy to others." In this way he went on repeating I... I... I.
Appearing to appreciate the beauty of the garden, the old mendicant
continued to dwell there for awhile, while the owner busied himself
nearby, grooming his garden. After some time the mendicant left. A
little bit later a cow entered the garden. She was so weak that she
was about to fall and destroy the plants that were there under her
body. The owner of the garden saw that this cow was about to spoil
his beautiful garden. So he took a small stick and threw it at the
cow to chase her out. But the moment the stick touched the cow, the
cow fell down and died. Now, in his religion, cows are considered
very sacred, and should never be molested or harmed. Having thrown
the stick from which the cow dropped dead, he would now have to
suffer the great sin of killing a cow. He was aghast at this terrible
turn of events.
It was not very long afterwards that the same old mendicant came back
into the garden. Walking along the path where the cow had strayed, he
saw the dead cow and was shocked. He sought out the owner and urged
him to quickly come to the spot. The mendicant asked, "Who killed
this cow? Who committed this outrage?" When the owner did not answer
immediately, the old mendicant asked more directly, "Tell me, do you
know who killed this cow?" The owner replied, "Surely it was the will
of God. Without the will of the Lord, would she have died just like
that? Unless she was meant to die, would she fall down and expire
just because a little stick touched her?"
The moment the old mendicant heard this he told the man, "Previously
you told me how it was you alone who was responsible for raising this
whole garden, how you alone planted and nurtured all these plants and
put in all the paths. You were taking credit for all the good things
that have happened here. But for anything that is wrong and
inauspicious you put the blame on God. You are an arrogant, self-
serving fool, so puffed up with your own importance that you won't
even acknowledge the Creator's hand in bringing forth all the beauty
that is here. You are taking credit for that which belongs to God.
You are even jealous of God. If not for the will of God, there would
be nothing in your garden."
At this point, the old mendicant revealed his true identity. He
said, "I am the Lord himself. I have come to destroy your egoism."
The erring devotee fell at the Lord's feet in contrition. The devotee
realized how ego had stolen into him, had gained a foothold, and then
had completely taken him over. Now, he understood the deeper meaning
of the spiritual teachings that he had been mouthing for so long. He
realized that everything is imbued with the divinity, and therefore,
he should see the divinity everywhere and live his life with the
knowledge that down to the minutest detail, everything is under the
control of the divinity.
