Chinna Katha Jan 06 - "Leave What Must Be Left"

"Leave What Must Be Left" Chinna Katha

ONCE A KING WENT TO A forest for hunting. There he was separated from his entourage and lost the way. While walking in darkness, he slipped and fell into an old well. Fortunately, he firmly caught hold of some roots of the branches of a nearby banyan tree as they were hanging in the well. Thereby, he saved himself from falling into the well.

After some time, a person doing Nama Sankirtan happened to pass that way.
Hearing the sound of groaning coming from a nearby place indicating that someone was in distress, he came near the well and peeped into it. Seeing someone hanging in the well, he managed to procure a rope from somewhere to pull him out. Throwing the rope in the well, he addressed the person in trouble, "Catch hold of this rope firmly; I will try to pull you out slowly." The king had a doubt: what should I catch at - the roots of the branches of the banyan tree or the rope?

In the same way, man becomes the victim of doubts in certain situations and loses his discrimination. First, the roots of the branches of the banyan tree were the means by which the king saved himself. But to come out of the

The king had a doubt: what should I catch at - the roots of the branches of the banyan tree or the rope?

well, he should have left those roots and caught hold of the rope. Here, the roots symbolise the world which man keeps holding.
But some day or the other, he has to know the path which can lead him to his redemption.
Leaving the roots and catching the rope are the means which lead him to the path of his liberation.

Source: Chinna Katha* By Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Related Sai Stories links:

Over 50 (Sai Stories)Chinna katha: Sathya Sai Baba Stories and Parables
Good Night Stories

<<back to Sai news

*Chinna Katha" - When Bhagavan intercepts the speeding current of His Discourse with these three Telugu words, meanings, "One little story" all ears are alert, all hearts are quivive. For, the story that follows is a flash that illumines, a shower that cools, a joke that tickles, a "tablet" that alleviates, a peep into epic grandeur or pompous absurdity, a poetic parenthesis, an exhilarating prick, a lilt that enlightens, a sugar-coated pill of profundity, a disarming repartee, a volley of raillery on religious rigmarole! It may be a tonic tale of the past or the report of a contemporary comedy; it may be a thrust on theological disputation or a dear little dig at some egoistic dignitary. The Chinna Katha, if only we ponder over its relevance, is an effective instrument in Bhagavan's educational process. When He is discoursing, these parables and stories, ever on the wing, hover in flocks in the firmament of His Love; He lets a few fly into our hearts and nestle there, until we fondle and foster them and make them part of our thought and behaviour patterns. Here is a charming, fragrant bouquet of these multicoloured kathas, for our delectation, meditation and inspiration.
- N. Kasturi