Page 268 - Kailaspati: Paramhans Hansdevji Avadhoot

With these words, he left his house. he then sent for the members of the Executive Committee and said, “i am leaving for a distant land. i am going to hand over these thousand sons of mine to you. i hope there will be no problem in taking care of them.”
The merchant, after having left his home, began thinking about the poor, the orphans, the homeless and walked along. Never for a little did he think of his wife and son. They had everything like men, shelter and money. On the other hand, there was none to look after the orphans. While thinking about the poor people he got unmindful and went a different way. When he saw that he was pricked by thorns, he realized that he was in a forest. he thought that since God had brought him this way he would continue walking. and in course of time, he entered the denser part of the forest. The forest was at the foot of a mountain. as the evening drew near, he felt a little bit worried. he also began to think about how he could escape the fury of the ferocious beasts of the jungle. he thought that there might be a cave in the mountain. With that idea in mind, he began climbing the mountain. To his surprise, the jungle began thinning as he went higher up the mountain. it was not as dark as it was down in the hills. There was no path to walk along, but with all faith in God, he continued. after reaching some distance, he saw a Yogi sitting close-eyed in meditation under the shade of a huge tree. With all reverence he paid his pranam and sat apart. he looked all round and saw a cave nearby. he understood that the sage lived in that cave, but he could not understand what the sage lived on. in fact, he was then feeling hungry and therefore he was thinking about food. When he brought down his eyes from having the sky above, the trees and the cave around, he saw the sage looking at him minutely. he then again paid his pranam to the sage and sat with hands folded. The sage took pity on him. he beckoned the merchant and drew his attention to a little cave and offered him a few fruits to eat.
On the morrow, the merchant went out of the cave and saw the sage still sitting close-eyed in a state of meditation. he could not find out what the sage was meditating on and what joy he was having out of the meditation. The sage sat close-eyed, but
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