You Can’t Outrun What’s Meant for You

There was once an rich and prosperous king. He ruled for many years. Then he realized that owning and controlling the wealth hasn’t made him any happier than before. In fact, the cares of the world made him more stressed and anxious. So he handed over the keys of the kingdom to the crown prince and went to a jungle to meditate on God. As time passed by, the travelers through the jungle gave him various useful objects to make his life comfortable.

One day a traveler passed by and saw that this sage was meditating in the woods, far from civilization, yet he had so many objects to make his life comfortable. He approached the saint and said, ”Baba ji! You live far from the world to attain God. These things will be an obstacle in your way, please accompany me. I’ll take you elsewhere, where you won’t be bothered by the upkeep of these things”.

That saint had willingly given up so much opulence in the past, why would he care about leaving behind some pots, pans, and clothes etc? He considered this as God’s wish to get away from all those things. So he accompanied the traveler to the denser part of the forest. There the traveler said, ”there are many fruit trees and you can eat these fruits and use your time to meditate on God. Since, this is a denser part of the forest people will also not disturb you”. Also, the traveler promised to check back on him in a few months.

No sooner did the traveler take leave from Baba Ji that a king passed by that place in the dense forest. Seeing the aura around Baba Ji the king felt he was a divine personality. So the king alighted the horse, approached the saint with folded hands and said, ”Baba Ji ! You are such an elevated man. Please bless me and accompany me to my kingdom. There I shall serve you and learn about God from you”.

The saint narrated the story of how he was a king and gave up everything to meditate on God. Baba Ji told how he loved having so much time to devote to God and be far away from the cares of the world. So Baba Ji politely refused the offer. The king urged and said, “Please allow me to serve you”. So the saint said, “I won’t leave this place, but you may do what you please”.

The king got a house made in the forest for the saint. It was studded with precious gems, It had a comfortable bed which was embellished with gold and precious gems. Pots, pans and dishes were all made of gold and silver. King also appointed a few servants to cook/clean and take care of the saint. Considering that it was God’s wish Baba Ji continued to live in that opulence and do his daily devotions.

After some time the traveler came back to check how Baba Ji was doing in the dense forest. He was astounded to see so much opulence. He approached Baba Ji and asked how he amassed all this wealth. So Baba ji narrated the whole story.

Moral
If you are destined (prarabdh karma) to be opulent, you will be. You don't need to invest all your time in attaining those things. You have been given a human body to attain God. Even while living in the world, focus on attaining that goal or else the human body would become a bane instead of a boon.