Page 249 - Kailaspati: Paramhans Hansdevji Avadhoot

desire, determination and purpose, it is least likely that you will have complete realization.”
The King retorted, “i have neither desires nor hankering for money, i am a free man now.”
The Queen said, “You must not be proud of it. it is too difficult to cast aside ‘Maya’. in this connection, i have a tale to tell you. Once, on the top of a mountain, surrounded by a forest, was seated a great sage. he used to remain absorbed in bliss, peace and happiness. he used to remain lost in the holy thought of God on seeing the exquisite beauty of Nature all around. Once he saw a highly powerful man with a rope passing by him fast. Out of curiosity, he said, “Who are you?” said that man, “i am but Maya. i appear before man sometimes in the form of a male, sometimes in the garb of a female.”
said the sage, “What are you holding in your hand?”
answered the man, “it is a rope. i bind a man or woman with this piece of rope.”
The sage enquired, “Do you bind the sages with this rope?”
Replied the man, “i need no rope to bind sages like you. it is for Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar.”
The sage said, “We have renounced family life, cast aside the desire of comfort and luxury. is it then a fact that we have not yet been successful to cast aside this rope of Maya?”
Maya smiled a little and left the place.
a few days later, while sitting atop the stone on the peak of the mountain, the sage could hear someone singing a song and quite at the same time he could smell a sweet fragrance. he had been there at that solitary place for a long time, but he had not heard such a sweet song and smelt a sweeter fragrance. so he went for the source of the song and smell. after having walked a long distance, he could see a beautiful garden in front. But there was neither its owner nor its gardener. The trees were full of flowers, its branches had birds perching on them and there were seats, made of stone. and adjacent to those stone-built seats there were fountains. But there was not a human being. as the sage walked forward, he saw a woman of bewitching beauty sitting on
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