No Fooling the Faithful

Like God they are all-knowing

Saint Tukaram lived in the village of Dehu. Once an ascetic (sanyasi) was to visit the village. To welcome the sanyasi, the villagers built a big mandap (a tarp supported on poles to make room for people to sit in shade). A huge crowd of villagers gathered to meet him. News had spread in the village that the ascetic fulfills all the wishes.
When the sanyasi came to the village, each and every one went to meet him. The villagers waited anxiously for the ascetic to open his eyes so they can ask for their wishes of material prosperity to be fulfilled. The sanyasi sat there with his eyes closed. After some time had elapsed, he would open his eyes, then one by one a few people would approach him, pay obeisance to him and tell him all of their problems. The sanyasi would hear all the problems, give them prasad and apply holy ash on their forehead. The people gave him offerings, and the sanyasi would bless them.

Saint Tukaram came to know about all this. Saints know God and want to lead people to God, so he decided to intervene. There was a huge crowd and everyone was waiting to seek the sanyasi’s blessings. Tukaram Maharaj somehow scrambled through the crowd to sit in front of him. The ascetic was sitting with his eyes closed as if he was in deep meditation. He had not opened his eyes for the past one hour. The people were eagerly waiting for the ascetic to open his eyes.

Saint Tukaram sat right in front of the ascetic till he opened his eyes. On seeing Tukaram Maharaj he asked, “When did you come?” Tukaram Maharaj replied, “I came here just when you were thinking that this village appears to be a good place to stay. The land appears to be fertile and the villagers are very naïve; they are giving me lots of respect and also lots of offerings. If I buy a piece of land here, I shall be able to grow sugarcane on the land. This will bring me lots of money. I arrived when you were counting the money that you will earn from your crops.” 

On hearing this, the fake ascetic was speechless. His face turned pale as he realized that his evil plans had been busted. Now there was no hope for him to make a fortune in this village. Next day, before sunrise, he packed all his belongings and fled from the village. 

Moral

• A true saint is one with God. He has the ability to know the past, present and future of everyone. So, nothing can be hidden from him.
• The saints are loyal to God, they aspire to lead others to God, not to dupe them.  
• For spiritual growth it is imperative to discriminate between saints and imposters.