BRAHMA - THE WRITER OF YOUR DESTINY

 Once upon a very long time ago there lived a young man named Brihad. Brihad was at that point of his life when he was trying to figure out what path he should take. Should he join the politics, should he join the royal court and decide the destiny of the kingdom or should he learn at the feet of a wise and brilliant sage so one day he too might be able to impart knowledge to others. Now, like most young men, Brihad chooses the glamour of the royal court but in just a very short time he realized that politics was not for him. He was a young man of quite exceptional insight and he realized that to run the lives of others you need to first understand yourself and so he turned towards the other option. To learn at the feet of a wise old sage. 

Brihad had heard of a great and brilliant man who lived deep in the heart of the forest. And so braving the thorns of the jungle and the threat of wild beast he journeyed for many days till he finally arrived at the little tiny hermitage on the bank of the river. The old sage who lived there was wonderful. He welcomed Brihad with open arms, he even gave him a place to stay in his hermitage and also agreed to be his teacher. Brihad in turn promised to study, learn and to serve at the feet of his master. 

They say that everything in life is predestined, that our destinies are written even before we are born and I don't know if you agree with that but certainly seems as though everything happens for a reason. So, the very first strange thing in this story is that very late into their marriage quite unexpectedly the old sage's elderly wife becomes pregnant. The next strange thing is that eight months into the pregnancy the old sage decided that he has to go up on a pilgrimage and he has to go now. And so leaving his eight-month pregnant wife and his unborn child in the care of Brihad the old sage goes off on his pilgrimage. As you can imagine, Brihad was very stressed, what did he know about birthing babies and so on and yet here he was incharge of everything. But the remaining days of the pregnancy passed by quite eventually and finally arrives the day of labor. Now, imagine the scene. The old sage's wife is inside the hut trying to have the baby. Brihad is outside pacing up and down utterly nervous. He has no idea what he might be called upon to do. While all of a sudden he sees a strange man trying to enter the hut. Just walking right in. Brihad is absolutely furious. He jumps up in front of the man and yells at him to stop. 

Are you wondering who the man was?

It was Brahma. The Great God Brahma, The creator of The Universe. 

The Hindus believe that Brahma attains the birth of every child in order to hand over the child's destiny. They say that he writes it into the sutures of the skull so that it cannot be seen and cannot be erased. And he has to write it at the exact moment when the child is leaving the mother's womb and entering the world. It's a very tiny window. 

BRAHMA - The Writer of your Destiny

Brahma has done this for every single child since the time began. But of course, he always comes and goes unseen. He is invisible to ordinary eyes. But as I said before Brihad was no ordinary young man. He was a man of exceptional sights and he saw Brahma. Now, yes he did not recognise Brahma because he wasn't dressed like he would expect him to be. He wasn't wearing his golden breastplate and foreheads with their glittering crowns and his big gold cuffs etc. He just looked like any ordinary man and here he was trying to enter the hut. Brihad was furious, he jumped out in front of Brahma and yelled at him to stop. He said: "How dare you trying to enter the hut when my master's wife is trying to have a baby. Leave, before I do you harm."Poor Brahma was so startled. He almost jumped out of his skin. He had never been spotted before. However, Brahma quickly explained who he was and what he was there to do and once again he tried to rush into the hut. But, Brihad was a very well brought up young man. He knew that he had insulted Brahma, The Great God Brahma. He knew that he had to make a formal apology and he knew what the formal apology involved if it had to be to someone who is so much higher in station than yourself and so very carefully Brihad removed his upper garment and tied it around his waist and he undid his hair and then finally he lay down flat on the ground with his head on Brahma's feet and presided to make a formal apology. A very long formal apology. 

Brahma was in a real rush, the baby was about to born. He was about to leave the mother's womb and enter the world. You see it's a very tiny window of time in which he can write the destiny. Short of kicking Brihad's head out of the way and stepping over him. There was very little he could do. And he waited till Brihad had finished and once again Brahma tried to rush into the hut but Brihad was not done. So said Brihad to Brahma with a big smile on his face: "What are you going to write on the child's head?" By now Brahma had lost his temper. He said to him: "Do you know young man even I don't know what I am going to write on the child's head. A person's destiny is decided a long time before they had even born. I just put my pen on the child's head and the pen does the rest. Destiny is calculated according to the good and bad deeds you have done in your past life. But if you please let me go I promise I will stop on the way out and will tell you what exactly I have written." And saying that Brahma rushed into the hut. He was out again in a moment. It doesn't take very long but by the time he came out, he was looking very serious. He said to Brihad: "I have bad news. The child is a charming baby boy by-the-way. The child is destined to have a very sad life. He will grow up to be very-very poor and all he will ever have in his life is one buffalo and one sack of rice. That will be his lot and luck." Hearing this as Brihad opened up his mouth to object to this terrible destiny, Brahma said: "Yes I know, your master is a wonderful man and he doesn't deserve his child should have such a terrible destiny but destiny is calculated how good or bad you were in your previous life. No one gets a free past just because your parents are wonderful in this life. No, don't argue with me. That is the rule of Karma and remember you cannot tell anyone what I have just told you otherwise your head will explode into a thousand pieces." And saying that The Great God left. 

As you can imagine Brihad was very upset from what he had just heard but he couldn't tell anyone about it. Gradually as time went by he pushed it into the back of his mind and almost forgot all about it till three years later quite by chance the old sage's elderly wife becomes pregnant again. Once again in the eighth month of the pregnancy, the old sage decides to go upon a pilgrimage. It's all very familiar. Once again Brihad is left the incharge of the birth of the child. Once again on the day of labor Brahma arrives to write the child's destiny. Once again Brihad is waiting for him and once again on his way out Brahma stops to tell Brihad what he has written. This time Brahma was looking even more serious. He said to Brihad: "I have terrible news. The child is a beautiful little girl by-the-way. The child is destined to grow up to be a prostitute. Her destiny is to sell her body every night and that is all the money she would ever have. That is what she would feed herself with. The money that she earns from selling her body. Once again Brihad opened his mouth to argue. Then Brahma said: "No don't argue. As I said before your destiny depends on your past life and not on how wonderful your parents are. And remember, you cannot tell anyone what I have just told you or your head will explode into a thousand pieces. And with that once again Brahma left. Brihad was heartbroken with what he had just heard. His master was a good and true man. He couldn't believe that the Gods could be so cruel as to give his children such terrible lives. If all that mattered was what you had done in your previous life then what was the point of doing anything at all in this life. Brihad was so upset. He decided to leave the hermitage. He couldn't stay there and watch the children grow towards these horrible lives that Gods have mapped out for them. So, Brihad left the hermitage and he stayed away for twenty years. But no matter how much time passed he couldn't put this out of his mind and so finally after twenty years he picked up the courage to go back to the hermitage. To go and check on the children. 

By now the old sage and his wife had died and the children had moved away. Everything that Brahma had said has come to pass. The son had moved to the next town where he lived in utter poverty with his wife and two children. He worked as a potter and all he had to his name as Brahma said was one buffalo on which he carried his load and one sack of rice with which he fed his family. Every day the family would anxiously take out one small hand full of rice to cook and eat. When the sack was finished the young man would then go and borrow a little bit of the money so that he could buy another sack of rice and so the cycle went on and on. The daughter too had moved away. She had moved three towns further up where she lived and worked as a prostitute. Selling her body every night. Feeding herself with what she earned by doing this. When Brihad saw what had happened to his master's children, he sat down and cried. He held his head in his hand and he was inconsolable. They say he cried for seven days and then after seven days a thought occurred to him. Why are we all so imprisoned by our destiny? Destiny is simply a path, it's a road. How you walk on that path is up to you. It's all about how you look at something. If you look at something from a different angle, you can change everything. 

The very next day Brihad went to see the young man. He said to the young man: "I have a plan to get you out of this terrible life of yours. You see this buffalo and this sack of rice, this is your destiny. Brahma has said that this will be your lot and luck. Which means that it will always be yours. So, I want you to give it all away. Sell the buffalo and with the money that you get by selling it buy food and add the sack of rice to it, cook it and feed everyone in the town with that food. But remember you have to give it all away. Do not keep behind even the tiniest amount because if you hold on to even the smallest little bit the destiny will think that you already have what is owed to you and nothing will change. Give it all away. 

Could you have done that? Giving everything away that you have. 

The young man also couldn't. He objected strenuously but his wife convinced him to follow Brihad's rather unusual advice. She could see some merit in this. So the next day they sold the buffalo and with the money that they got they bought the food and adding the sack of rice to it they cooked it all and fed it all to everyone they came across. Every little bit of it. That night though the young man has the worst night of his life. What had he done, giving away everything? Why had he listened to this ridiculous advice? What would become of him now? The next morning out of sheer habit the young man woke up very early and he walked around to the back of his house to feed the buffalo and as he got to the back of the house he remembered there was no more buffalo to feed. He had sold it yesterday. Just as that thought crossed his mind he looks up and saw there in the same spot a buffalo and next to the buffalo a brand new sack of rice. The young man was delighted. He ran back to Brihad to tell him about this gift from the Gods. Brihad looked at him and said: "What gift, this is not a gift. This is simply your destiny. It is the same destiny that till yesterday was the cause of your misery. This is not a gift but how you use it will be a gift. Now go back and sell the buffalo again and buy food and as you did yesterday do the same. Give it all away. And from now on you will do it every day for the rest of your life. 

You know it always sounds so simple in stories but it can't have been easy to give away everything you have. Every day a new buffalo and a new sack of rice would arrive. Every day they would have to give it away all of it because destiny would not change if they kept behind even the tiniest little bit. Brihad stayed with the young man for the whole month. To help him into this new way of life and he watched him go from being the poorest, the most miserable, the most unwanted person in town to being the happiest, most respected, most loved man. The man who fed everyone every day at his expense keeping behind nothing for himself. Once Brihad had settled the young man and his family into the new life. He set up to find the daughter. To see if he could change her destiny as well. 

Brihad journeyed to three towns further up where the young girl, the daughter of the old sage lived and worked as a prostitute. He arrived there quite late in the evening. In Spite of the lateness of the hour the young girl opened the door the moment he knocked. I guess in this profession you cannot afford to keep people waiting. Brihad introduced himself and told her why he was there. That he wanted to try and change her destiny. The young girl by now was so disgusted by her life that she was ready to try anything. So, Brihad said to her: "Today I want you to lock your door and whenever a customer comes tell them that your price has gone up, way up. Your price is now the most expensive necklace of the finest quality pearls and only someone who can bring you that will get to spend the night with you. Brihad remembered that Brahma had said: "Her destiny was to sell her body every night. He hadn't said anything about the price." He figured that the Great God has written the destiny, he would have to figure out a way to make it come true, one way or another. The young girl was ready to try anything. So, taking Brihads advice she locked the door that night. Whenever someone comes she told them what her new price was. They all thought she had gone mad and they left one by one. Although she had been happy to try his advice but by now the night was almost over and she was starting to get very worried because she had earned no money that day. How is she going to feed herself tomorrow? But just before the night came to an end there was a knock at the door and waiting outside was a young man with a pearl necklace. The next day Brihad told the young girl. He said: "Go and sell the necklace and with money that you get feed the poor. From today for the rest of your life, this will be your price. There are very few men who can afford to bring you this necklace every day. So, the one who bought it yesterday will be the one who will bring it again and again. He is the only one that you will ever spend your night with from now on. 

Every morning you will take the necklace and sell it and you will use the money to look after the poor but remember you must give away all of the money. Do not keep the tiniest amount for yourself because destiny will think that you have what is owed to you and nothing will change. Once again Brihad stayed on for one month to settle the young girl into her new way of life. Once he felt that he had helped her through the change he decided that it was time to move on. 

However, the next morning as he woke up to leave. He realized that by mistake he had gotten up a little too early. It was still night outside, the moon was high in the sky. There was no sign of dawn. He figured that as he was up already and he had such a long way to go. He may as well set-off now in spite of the dark. So, Brihad set-off down the road. He had only gone a short way when from the opposite side he saw a man coming towards him. The man didn't see Brihad. His head was bowed under the huge sack of rice that he was carrying. In one hand he was holding a pearl necklace and with the other hand, he was leading a buffalo behind him. And as he walked he was muttering and cursing under his breath. 

The man... Can you guess? 

The man was Brahma. The Great God Brahma. 

Poor Brahma. How his life had changed? He had been making this trip now every single night for the last couple of months and he was exhausted. He had blisters under his feet from walking this path every single night. He had bags under his eyes from not sleeping. He had a polt patch in the front of his head from where the sack of rice rubbed against it continuously. His days were spend scratching the bottom of the ocean for these expensive pearls. His nights were spend going up and down this very road delivering all this stuff. It looked like there was no end to this for God knows how many years. And it was all the fault of Brihad, that clever boy Brihad. As Brihad passed him by and heard him muttering and cursing under his breath. Brihad smiled to himself and he thought: "Now I am ready for politics."