Once upon a time, a great sage went out with his disciple. The great sage did not like to talk. He preferred to speak little and remain silent, concentrating on his own work, but his disciple was a talkative person. He would spend the whole day talking about strange things and took great pleasure in the conversation of others.

While walking, the great sage and his disciple passed by a pond and saw a fisherman casting a net in the water and catching fish. Seeing this, the disciple was very angry and started preaching to him that non-violence is the supreme religion, but the fisherman refused to listen. At first, the fisherman ignored his disciple’s advances, but when the disciple refused to listen, a fight broke out between the two.

When both of them were arguing, the great sage went ahead, but when the great sage saw both of them arguing, he turned and asked the disciple to come with him and holding the disciple’s hand, the great sage took him with him.

The great sage said to his disciple, “Son, our job is only to explain, but God has not sent us to earth to punish.” The disciple replied, “Master, our king knows about such evil people, and he does not punish them. After all, who will punish such people?”

After listening to his disciple, the great sage said, “Son, don’t worry. There is a supernatural power in this world that can punish them, who knows everything. God is watching over everyone and he keeps an account of everyone’s deeds, so you should go now. There is no point in arguing with him.”

The disciple was satisfied with his master’s words and went with him. Two years had passed since then. One day, the great sage and his disciple were walking along the same river bank. The disciple had also forgotten the incident with the fisherman two years earlier. There, they saw a wounded snake in great pain. Thousands of ants were biting and eating it.

When the disciple saw this scene, his heart was filled with compassion. He could not bear it. He was about to go to save the snake, when the great sage held his hand and stopped him from going. The disciple asked his master, “Why don’t you let me go to save the snake?” The Mahatma said, “Let this snake suffer the consequences of its actions. If you try to save it, this poor creature will have to suffer again in the next birth, because everyone has to suffer the consequences of their actions.”The disciple asked the Mahatma, “Master, what sin has he committed that he is suffering so much?” The Mahatma replied, “This is the same fisherman whom you had preached not to kill fish two years ago, and who had agreed to fight with you. Those fish are ants that are biting and eating him.”

The disciple was surprised to hear the Mahatma and asked, “Master, this is a strange kind of justice.” The Mahatma replied, “Son, there are all forms of heaven and hell in this world. You can see examples of God’s justice everywhere on earth. Therefore, you should always remember your actions, because the truth is that no matter what we do, we will have to suffer one day.”

The Mahatma said that every moment of our life is precious, so we should not waste it by doing bad things. The disciple understood his teacher.

But, what did we understand? 🤔