Kisagotami’S Son

A woman called Kisagotami was crying miserably because her beloved son had died. She roamed the streets of the city carrying the dead child in her arms and wailing for help to bring him back to life. A kind old man took pity on her and led her to a Sadhu.

The woman expressed her grief to the great saint and beseeched him to bring her child back to life. The Sadhu said, “I will bring your child back to life, if you can bring me a handful of mustard seeds .”

The woman was jubilant and stood up at once to run and get the mustard seeds. “What a simple remedy, I can ask anyone in the village for mustard seeds, all householders would have them in their kitchen,” she thought to herself, her heart racing fast.

As she turned to bring the seeds, the Sadhu stopped her gently and added, “Wait, I have not yet finished. I was saying that I can bring your child back to life, if you can get me a handful of mustard seeds from a house where nobody has ever died.”

Kisagotami went from one house to another. Every where she went she asked the same question, “Has anyone ever died in your family?” She found that in each house someone or the other had died at some time or the other … the father or mother, sister or brother, husband or wife, child or uncle or aunt or grandmother or grandfather. She hobbled back to the Sadhu and expressed her inability to get the mustard seeds. The Sadhu said, “Sister, death is extremely painful to bear, but howsoever painful it may be, one has to bow to the will of God. God alone knows when and where, who has to take his last breath. We cannot dictate the will of God.”

Yes, the God of death visits all the houses in this world. No house is spared. We can only pray that God shower His grace on us all and there be no untimely deaths. All of us have to die one day. Sometimes death comes to one who is too young and leaves behind a string of shattered relationships, broken promises and unfulfilled responsibilities..

Baba tells us, “Attachment presents never ending attraction towards objects. But it is very easy to renounce! Simply think: ‘Everything belongs to God. Nothing is mine!’ This is the way to transcend attachment. You can say: My home, my land, my wife, my child, my wealth, my car and so on; but bear in mind this: These are for using only, not for ownership. They are God’s property. You must part with everything at death. So, gradually, decrease the idea of ‘mine’. Experience the world with your power of discrimination.”