A Divine Slumber

The operation was soon to begin. Sanjay had been given a mild sedative before being wheeled into the operation theatre. He was made to lie down on the operation table; his arms stretched on either side on a cross. Huge overhead discs of lights were focussed on him.

The anaesthetist came close to his ear and whispered, “Sir if you take any kind of drug or narcotic, please tell us. It will help us to take better care of you.” Sanjay shook his head and said, “I don’t take anything of that sort.” The anaesthetist looked pleased as she pushed the cannula into the vein at his wrist.

She said, “Sir, please say the name of your chosen Lord and I shall repeat after you.” Sanjay said, “Jai Shri Ram,” She repeated after him, “Jai Shri Ram,” Once, twice, thrice … Till Sanjay said, “Jai Shreeee Raaaam,” and he zoned out. He was completely anaesthetized. The surgery was performed by the surgeon and his team. Everything was done and over. He had to be now brought out of anaesthesia. The doctors were waiting for him to ‘wake up’. As the anaesthetist felt that he was ‘coming back’, she started reciting ‘Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Ram …” In that inebriated condition Sanjay mumbled softly, “Jai … Shreee …Raaam …”

Later when he reflected on this and narrated it to his wife, a thought came to his mind, “What a beautiful way of going into and coming out of anaesthesia the doctor had devised.” She was only doing her duty. It was her job to anaesthetise the patient. It was how she was conducting herself that made all the difference. Bhagwan Baba Says, “Duty without love is deplorable; duty with love is desirable; Love without duty is Divine.”

Here is another anecdote … A very wealthy man could not sleep at night because he was always worried about his properties being damaged, burgled, money being stolen, bank being looted etc.

So miserable was he with his sleeplessness that he sought help from an astrologer who told him to liquidate all his properties and convert them into a big block of gold. The man did just that and buried the gold brick into the ground. He would inspect it every day to check if it was there. The gardener noticed this rather odd behaviour of the man and got to the bottom of the secret.

The first opportunity that came his way, the gardener took away the gold brick and absconded. The neighbour watched all the drama from her window. The following day the man came to check on his treasure and realised that the gold had been stolen. He cried bitterly.

Seeing him cry, the neighbour came in and said, “Oh! Why are you crying? Are you looking for your gold brick?” The man nodded in disbelief. She said, “I saw your gardener dig this up yesterday, and I snatched it from him and kept it with me. Here it is.” Saying so, she handed a packet neatly wrapped in brown paper. It was meticulously taped and sealed. On it was written, ‘The neighbour’s gold brick’.

The man was so relieved. He hugged her and thanked her no end. He then took the gold brick inside and kept it in the darkest corner of his closet. A year later, he died peacefully. When his heirs opened that packet, it contained an ordinary brick; a building brick!

Why do you think the neighbour did what she did? She knew that the old man was never going to use that brick. He would never need to because he had enough to go by. All he needed was peace of mind. She succeeded in making him comfortable. Love without duty is truly Divine!

As they say, “Work is worship, duty is God.” Everyone works. Everyone does something or the other. But, it is how we execute our duties is what matters.