We always think that something which is twisted and complicated is great and will grant success. We do not give importance to simple actions or practices. We feel simplicity cannot grant success. Often many of us have doubts if a simple mantra like ‘SitaRam’ can transform our lives. Can SitaRam bring the mind under control? Can it help us overcome the vices of anger, lust, greed, desires, jealousy, attachment and pride? Can it dissolve the ego? Will it bring grace into our lives? Will it guide us to God? Yes! Yes! Yes! The mantra is a Siddha mantra and when taken from the Guru and chanted daily, it transforms us from within. Over a period of time, it makes us fit and worthy of receiving the final grace of enlightenment. Simple actions can have profound effect on lives as is seen in the story of the ‘mouse merchant’:
Once, a wise adviser of the King was on his way to attending a meeting with the King. He saw a dead mouse lying on the road and commented to his group: Small and simple beginnings with hard work bring success. A man of intelligence can build a fortune by using this dead mouse here. A man who was passing by heard this remark and decided to follow it. He picked up the dead mouse by its tail and carried it. As luck would have it, within a few minutes, a shop keeper called him and said: My cat is hungry and pestering me. Give me the dead mouse and I will give you two copper coins.
The man exchanged the dead mouse for the coins and bought sweet cakes and waited on side of road. Flower sellers returning from the market bought the cakes and gave him flowers in return. He sold them and bought more sweet cakes for selling. This went on for some weeks. One day there was a storm with heavy winds. The man noticed that many branches were broken and had fallen down on the ground in the King’s garden. He offered to clear the branches away if he could keep them and the lazy gardener quickly agreed. The man found some children playing across the street. They agreed to collect all the branches and bring them out to the street for the price of one sweet cake each child. The King’s potter came along. He needed wood for firing his glazing oven and he offered a handsome price for the wood and also some pots.
With the profit from selling flowers and the wood, the man opened up a refreshment shop. One day, the local grass mowers stopped by his shop. He gave them free drinks and cakes. They wanted to pay but he said he would seek payment from them when the time came. A week later, he heard that a horse dealer was coming to the city to sell 500 horses. He asked the grass mowers to give him a bunch of grass and not sell any grass to the horse dealer till he sold the grass he held. In this way he made good money.
Time passed and the man came to know that a new ship was landing from a foreign country. The man hit upon a good business plan. He made a good gold ring with a beautiful red ruby in it and gave it to the captain of the ship. In return he asked that all the passengers be sent to him and he would take them around the shops and get commission from the shop keepers. After several ships came to the port, the man became very rich. He remembered from where this journey of success and wealth started –from the simple advice of the wise minister. So he made necessary arrangements and invited the minister and offered him 100,000 gold coins which was half the wealth he earned along with his humble thanks. When the minister asked him how he got the money, he told him the story of the dead mouse, hungry cat etc. The minister was very impressed and offered his daughter to him in marriage and after his death, the King made the man as his chief adviser.
The changes in this man’s life came by taking a simple action. A simple action of SitaRam mantra japa starts an avalanche within which gathers momentum over a period of time and brings drastic changes and internal transformation. Let us perform this simple action of SitaRam mantra japa with diligence and sincerity and improve our lives
