Page 73 - Kailaspati: Paramhans Hansdevji Avadhoot

who has love and adoration for his Guru can only envision God. The story runs like this:
Once a King, at the advanced stage of his life, developed a feeling of renunciation. he thought deeply and concluded that unless one has a Guru, he cannot envision God. Where to find a Guru? Despite a frantic search, there was no solution in sight. Every evening, the Minister reported negatively that he did not find any person who could be the King’s Guru. One day the King excitedly asked, “Now, i will be on the look-out for my Guru myself. at the end of the night, i will leave the Palace. if i fail, i will never return to the Palace. and in my absence, you will look after the Kingdom.” Thinking deeply for a while, the King said to the Minister, “Bring me the costliest of the gems from my Treasury to offer them to my Guru.”
The night over, the King took the gem, got himself dressed in dirty clothes and left the place all alone on foot. all the employees of the King came to know that the King had left the Palace. One of the attendants thought to grab the gem, being borne by the King. if a trick be applied, the gem could be his and that would eradicate his poverty for good. Thus thinking, he secretly followed the King’s way. When he saw that the King was going to enter a forest, he took a winding route and encountered the King. Being not used to walking a long way, the King walked a weary way and took rest under the shade of trees. The thief firmly believed that the King would not at all be able to recognize him, because he did not ever face the King. he had with him a set of disguise. and when he realized that the darkness of night would soon envelope the world, he disguised himself in a lonely place. along with a set of locks and a heavy beard, he disguised himself as a sage. Then, the trickster sat cross-legged by the side of a road. as he saw the King approaching, he closed his eyes.
The King stood still and looked at the sage for a long time. The world around was getting plunged in darkness. Whatever little he could see in that dusk roused in him a feeling of Bhakti (devotion). he fell on the knees of the sage and prayed for his blessings. “sit up”, said the sage.
The King could follow the meaning of “sit up”. he could also
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