Page 277 - Kailaspati: Paramhans Hansdevji Avadhoot

Seventh Taranga
One day, while giving a sermon at Puridham, Baba said that one has to contain his greed. One of the disciples said, “i feel like eating a mango, should i not eat it?” in reply, Baba said, “You
can eat a mango at will, but the very desire to eat a mango or to have greed for a piece of mango must be contained. The more one indulges his greed for eating, the more strong it becomes. if you desire to have milk today, you may have greed for payasam the next day. The very next day you may be greedy about malai or rabari. so the very temptation for eating this or that must be harshly dealt with. a poor man who has an inordinate amount of greed takes to stealing, and the other who despite being rich is greedy is made into a pauper.
The other day Baba said, “One must not think or speak ill of others. One who criticizes others is hemmed in by the sins of those whom he criticizes. it so happens that whatever you take to be right may be a cause of embarrassment or anger of the others around. and it amounts to criticism if you say something about someone about whom you know nothing.
Baba told us a tale in this respect. There was a King who had been a leper. he had a number of queens. But when they came to learn that the King had been suffering from leprosy they never got close to him. he begot no son. he had a daughter who though young, was widowed. it was she who took care of him. and as he grew weaker because of the ailment he had been suffering from, he began hating himself. he never came to his court with his naked and smelly body. One day he said to his minister, “i do not like to stay in this Palace in such a diseased state. i would like to leave this city tonight. if i be ever cured of this disease, then i may return. in my absence, you will do the duties of the King of the land.”
Under the cover of darkness, the King left his capital-city. Lest he should meet someone, he took the path through a forest. On
Sixth Volume: Seventh Taranga 247