The next day, the minister went to that shop dressed as one of the locals to see the shopkeeper. He casually asked him how his business was faring. The shopkeeper, a sandalwood merchant, reported sadly that he had hardly any customer. People would come to his shop, smell the sandalwood and then go away. They would even praise the quality of the sandalwood but rarely buy anything. His only hope was that the king would die soon. Then there would be a huge demand for sandalwood for performing his last rites. As he was the only sandalwood merchant around, he was sure the king's death would mean a windfall.
The minister now understood why the king had stopped in front of this shop and expressed a desire to kill the shopkeeper. Perhaps, the shopkeeper's negative thought vibration had subtly affected the king, who had, in turn, felt the same kind of negative thought arising within.
The minister; a noble man, pondered over the matter for a while. Without revealing who he was or what had happened the day before, he expressed a desire to buy some sandalwood. The shopkeeper was pleased. He wrapped the sandalwood and handed it over to the minister.
When the minister returned to the palace, he went straight to the court where the king was seated and reported that the sandalwood merchant had a gift for him. The king was surprised. When he opened the package, he was pleasantly surprised by the fine golden colour of the sandalwood and its agreeable fragrance. Pleased, he sent some gold coins to the sandalwood merchant. The king also felt sorry in his heart that he had harboured unbecoming thoughts of killing the shopkeeper.
When the shopkeeper received the gold coins from the king, he was astounded. He began to proclaim the virtues of the king who had, through the gold coins, saved him from the brink of poverty. After some time, he recalled the morbid thoughts he had felt towards the king, and repented for having entertained such negative thoughts for his own personal goal.
If we have a good and kind thought for another person, that positive thought will come back to us in a favourable way. But if we harbour evil thoughts, those thoughts will come back to us as retribution.
"What is Karma?" asked Swami
Many replied, "our words, our deeds, our feelings, our actions......"
Swami shook his head and said
"Your thoughts are your Karma!"
Below are the verses from "Bhagwat Gita-Chapter Twelve- Verse - 6-7", in which God is asking his disciple Arjuna to do all his actions / activities for Him only.
'Ye tu srvani krmani
myi sanyasya mat-para
anany-naiv yogen
maam dhyayant upasate'
'Tesham-aham samud-dharta
mrityu-sansar-saagrat
bhavami na-chirat parth
mayy-avesita-chetsam' (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XII verse 6-7)
"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Those people, who worship Me by surrendering all their activities unto Me, are always devoted to Me, always meditate upon Me, Having always fixing their minds upon Me, O Parth - to them, I swiftly rescue from the ocean of birth and death.'
Below is a good verse, "Verse - 70, Chapter Two of Bhagwat Gita" teaching peace of mind.
“aapurya-manam achala-prathistham
samudram apah pravishanti yadvat
tadvat-kama yam pravishanti sarve
sa shantim-apnoti na kama-kaami” (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter II verse 70)
"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, As the waters (of different rivers) enters the Great Ocean, which though full on all sides remains undisturbed, like wise a person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires - can alone achieve peace, and not the man who runs after these desires & strives to satisfy such desires."
Keep your desires in control & think positive; do not hanker after these desires & be just like an Ocean & never lose your peace of mind in any of the circumstances. So always be creative in life by thinking positively as thoughts have the power to change one’s life completely. Be always Positive & always be Happy in Life thereafter.
Jai Shri Krishna
