Page 28 - Kailaspati: Paramhans Hansdevji Avadhoot

दैवी ह्ेषा गुणमयी मम माया दुित्यया। मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्े मायामेतां तिन्न् ते॥
daivī hyeṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā, māmeva ye prapadyante māyāmetāṃ taranti te.
in order to explain how Satchidanand is realized, the sage told us another parable: Once a man, before he got down to bathe in the river, left his precious necklace on the bank. a bird who was then sitting atop that tree took it to be delicious food-stuff and having taken it up with its beak perched on a tree beside a pond. On examination when the bird came to learn that it was all but an inedible substance, it left the necklace there and flew away elsewhere. another man who had been to that place for a bath was amazed at the reflection of the necklace in the water and hastily got down in the pond. as he got down, the water got muddy and he could not locate the necklace under water. he returned home hopeless. after a certain passage of time there came the third man in order to bathe there. he too found the reflection of a necklace in the water. intelligent as he was, he could easily realize that there was no necklace under the water. so without trying to find it under water, he looked up and located it. he lost no time climbing up the tree and after much effort he got the necklace.
having told this tale, the sage explained its implicit meaning. The necklace, said he, is happiness embodied. The human world has an eternal hankering after this joy, but it’s nothing difficult to acquire it once one has patiently located its source. There’s everything but joy and happiness in things terrestrial. Every human being has that source of happiness embedded in his heart of hearts. Atman is that source. Once a man finds it out, he is sure to be oblivious of his selfishness, gets devoted to serve others and thus gets absorbed in eternal bliss and happiness.
6 Kailashpati