Saint Tulsidas and the thieves

Once upon a time, many centuries ago, there lived a Saint called Tulsidas in the city of Varanasi, India. Saint Tulsidas was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama and had translated the Epic, Ramayana, into Hindi. Pleased with His devotion, Lord Rama had appeared in front of Saint Tulsidas and blessed him. After receiving the blessing, Saint Tulsidas erected a temple dedicated to Lord Rama, just by collecting donations. He would sit in front of the statue of Lord Rama, singing holy songs (bhajans) about how to achieve the blessings of The Lord. The people of Varanasi loved and honored Him. They showering him with rich offerings of gold and silver. Tulsidas would keep all the offerings in the temple.

One night, two thieves from the neighboring city, broke into the temple. They packed up as much of the silver and gold as they could and started to leave. As they turned around, they saw two men, armed with bows and arrows, standing outside the door. Seeing them, the thieves rushed to another door. To their amazement, they found the same two men standing there. Instantly, they turned and ran to yet another door, but the same two men were standing there too! Trembling with fear, the two thieves took the stolen goods and put them back where they belonged. After doing so, they tried to run away again. But alas, outside every door they found the very same guards, with their bows and arrows. Scared and helpless, the thieves decided to spend the night in the temple.

In the morning when Saint Tulsidas arrived and opened the temple doors, He saw the two thieves there. As soon as the thieves saw Tuslidas, they fell at His feet and told Him the whole story. As Tulsidas listened to their story, He knew at once that the two men guarding the doors were none other than Lord Rama and His brother, Lakshman!

The two thieves cried: "O holy man! We are wicked. We have committed many sins. Let us serve You, so that we too, may become good men." Saint Tulsidas replied, "You are truly blessed, for you have seen The Lord and His brother! Live in peace here."

From that day on, the doors of the temple were kept open day and night, as no one would come to steal from the temple protected by Lord Rama Himself.

Moral: When one has devotion, like Saint Tulsidas did, The Lord’s protection is assured. To build such intense devotion, chanting (repeating) The Lord’s Name as per one’s religion, is the simplest and fastest way.