Once a certain king came to Bhaskarananda and offered him a golden dish with quite a few diamond rings. Bhaskarananda refused to accept them, saying, “I do not value these things. I value only God’s Compassion, Light and Delight. What shall I do with things that I do not value?”

The Master Bijoykrishna happened to be there at the time with a few of his disciples. Bhaskarananda’s renunciation amazed Bijoykrishna and all of his disciples. Bijoykrishna immediately composed a song in utmost adoration of Bhaskarananda, and sang it most soulfully.

Commentary:

Earthly wealth is necessary for those who value it, but when we ourselves are pinched with inner thirst or when we want to create inner thirst in others, we can never be happy with earthly things, no matter how valuable they are. With earthly possessions we satisfy the needs of the human in us. With heavenly possessions such as God’s Compassion, God’s Light and God’s Delight, we satisfy the needs of the eternally real in us, the soul.

Sri Chinmoy