Favourite disciple – Kalyan

Ramdas Swami used to live in Sajjangad (a fort in Maharashtra, India), along with his disciples. The fort did not have a supply of water, so one of the disciples, Kalyan, would do the satsevaa (service unto God) of bringing up pots of water from the village at the foot of the fort. This activity would occupy most of his day, leaving him little time for spiritual studies. The other disciples used to study throughout the day, learning the holy books from Ramdas Swami through question-answer sessions and discussions. Yet, Kalyan was their Guru’s favourite. The disciples could not understand why this was so and were a little envious of Kalyan. Ramdas Swami was quite aware of their feelings.

One day, while teaching the disciples, Ramdas Swami asked them a difficult question. No one could answer it. Just then, Kalyan was passing by so the Guru called him and asked him the same question. To everybody’s surprise, Kalyan knew the correct answer !

The other disciples asked Ramdas Swami, "How is this possible? Kalyan has hardly ever studied with us. How could he answer such a difficult question?" Ramdas Swami replied, "He is the only one who actually practices what the holy books teach. Daily he does satseva in the true sense, with the attitude (bhaav) that he is doing it for God Himself. Only intellectual knowledge about the Holy texts is not enough." The disciples quickly understood their mistake. All of them were proud of their intellect (knowledge), but Kalyan had intense love for God and hence God Himself gave the answers through him.

Moral: We too, can become good disciples, if we serve God with intense love and develop qualities like Kalyan. This can be done through studying and practicing what the Holy scriptures teach us, like chanting, serving others and so on.