Beauty An Illusion

[Ashok]

    Once upon a time, there lived a princess named Roopi in Basantpur. She would disguise herself in the attire of a man so that everybody may mistake her real identity.

    Once a rich person came to Basantpur for his wedding. After the marriage ceremony, in accordance to the custom, he went to the princess to bestow gifts. The gentleman was so well shaped in flesh and appealing in countenance that she fell in love with him at the very first sight. She summoned him in solitude and proposed to him. Hearing the princess’s voice and her passionate desire he was startled. The man had control over his senses and so he said, “I won’t touch any other lady except my wife.”

    The man thought, “If I accept the princess’s proposal, I will break my vow. If I reject it, the result may be detrimental.” After pondering for sometime, he made some excuse and ultimately returned to his house. Then he thought deeply about it. Finally in order to keep his vows, he renounced home.

    He accepted the path of initiation. When the princess came to know about this she became melancholic. She felt uneasy in his absence. She started thinking that I cannot live without him and the only means of fulfilling my intention is by accepting initiation. Then I can contact him, and he shall be mine. Pursuing this line of thinking, she became a nun. The nun was obsessed with the monk. So she used to come to the monk and gaze at him with great passion. On account of her continuous stares, the monk too began to feel uneasy. He was attracted towards her and started seeing her with deep attachment. He could not help reciprocating her feelings.

    One day another monk caught them red-handed. He inquired of them. “Are both of you attached to one another? Do you like each other?” but both of them denied straight away. After death, even though they had tolerated the hardship of monkhood, they went to hell only due to the feeling of attachment.

    Beauty is a delusion. It allures people, their vision becomes blurred and thinking becomes perplexed. They cannot visualize things in their true dimensions and ultimately these attractions ruin their life. It is imperative to strike a balance between our emotions and passions. Regulation of the sense becomes important for every person.

[saisaran]

Sairam! i remember a story in this context told by Baba in His Divine Discourses. It seems that there was a beautiful Princess in a kingdom. One youngman who happened to visit the palace once saw her beautiful face and form and instantly he was attracted to her beauty. He could not keep quiet. He sought an audience with the Princess. However the Princess possessed great virtues and wisdom. Though she conceded to grant audience to the youth, she was not sure why the unknown youth sought her audience. On summoning the youth to her presence, she asked him what is the reason for his demand. The youth bluntly told her, that he was enchanted by her beauty and he want to marry her. Though she pardoned his blunt statement, she told him, Come to the palace after a week time. The youth promptly left the Palace with the hope that he will hear positive reply from her after a week. Meanwhile the princess took some strong dose of purgative and undergone the effect of it. Within two days she became a scare crew. But she asked the maids to collect the purging in big jars and close it tightly. The youth returned after a week with full of expectations. His arrival was intimated to the Princess, who was unable to even walk due to the effect of purgative. The youth was summoned again to her Presence. The youth was unable to identify the princess and he was asking her "Where is the Princess"? The Princess laughed feebly and told the youth that she was verily the princess and the beauty, he saw a week before is lying in the jars as dirt. The youth could not believe his eyes and ears but he became wise. This particular story contains the reality of beauty which vanishes like the bloom of a flower and whither away on the same day. Sairam.