In the southern part of the country, there is a city called Mahilaropyam. Not far from the city, there was a temple dedicated to Shiva. A Sadhu, by the name of Tamrachuda, used to live in this temple. Every day he would go into the city for alms and in this way, he supported himself.
When the Sadhu had finished his evening meals, he would put what was left over in a begging bowl and hang it up. Then he would go to sleep. In the morning he gave this food to the workers, who in return cleaned and swept the living place.
Now one day, the other mice said to Hiranyakal, “The Sadhu is afraid that we will take his cooked food, so he puts it in a begging bowl and hangs it up on a peg, so that we cannot reach it. But you are so good at jumping that you can reach the bowl very easily. Why should we have to go to the bother of searching for food elsewhere when, with your help, we can enjoy what is here.”
And so, Hiranyakal agreed to the plan and they crept to the place together and found the begging bowl hanging there. Hiranyakal reached it without any difficulty and threw some food down to his friends standing below. Then he had his share. Afterwards, they all crept back to their homes. In this way, they enjoyed the food night after night.
When the Sadhu noticed that his food was being stolen, he hung his begging bowl still higher. However, the minute he went to sleep, somehow or other, Hiranyakal reached the begging bowl and they did as usual.
Finally, the Sadhu thought of a plan to put a stop to Hiranyakal’s mischief. When he was wide awake, he would beat the begging bowl with a split bamboo stick to frighten him off. The minute he went to sleep, Hiranyakal would try to reach the food as usual but somehow or other, the Sadhu would wake up and hit the begging bowl again. Hiranyakal would run away as fast as he could but come back again after some time. In this way, they would spend the entire night fighting.
One day, a Sanyasi, by the name of Brihatsphinga, who was on a pilgrimage, came to the temple to see his friend Tamrachuda. The Sadhu welcomed him with open arms and was very hospitable towards him. Before they finally went to bed, they talked about religion. But as the Sadhu was thinking of the mice, he kept hitting out at the begging bowl with the split bamboo stick. He was not attentive to the Sanyasi and so he gave only abstract and absent-minded replies. Suddenly, the Sanyasi said angrily, “Tamrachuda! It is now clear to me that you are no true friend of mine. You are giving me vague and abstract replies. Now that you have a temple of your own, you have become proud. You have forgotten our old friendship and the love you had for me. For such behaviour you deserve to go to hell. They say, ‘A householder should welcome a guest with the following words, ‘Please take a seat and make yourself comfortable. You have visited me after many days. Tell me, what’s the latest news? You are looking rather thin. Are you well?’ But, ‘A man who visits a house Where his host, seeing him enter, Continues to look absent-mindedly, Here and there and on the ground And answers with only half his attention, Such a guest is an ox without horns.'”
“Indeed, I can’t put up with such behaviour! I shall leave this very minute and go somewhere else.”
Tamrachuda was shocked to hear the Sanyasi talking like this and he said to him humbly, “Bhagawan, please don’t talk like that. You are my dearest friend. Please listen and I shall tell you the reason for my inattention. Every day, whatever is left over from my food, I put in a begging bowl and hang it high on a peg. But there’s a mouse that, somehow or other, manages to reach it. He eats something from it himself, then throws the rest down to the other mice. As a result, in the morning there is no food for the workers and they refuse to clean the place. That’s why I have been hitting this begging bowl, to frighten the mice off. This is the only reason for my lack of attention to you. For jumping, this wicked mouse even puts a cat and a monkey to shame.”
“Do you know where the mouse lives?” asked the Sanyasi.
“No, I do not,” said the Sadhu.
“Well,” went on the Sanyasi, “this mouse, wherever he may be living, must certainly have accumulated quite a lot of food, and this gives him a feeling of exaltation and consequently the energy to jump so high. They say: “When a man is wealthy, He becomes elated And his energy increases.” “For every action there is an explanation, As they say: “Mother Shandili had a reason When she tried to change The husked sesame seeds For unhusked ones.”
“How was that?” asked the Sadhu.
And the Sanyasi told: THE STORY OF MOTHER SHANDILI
