A King, his Queen and their dear ones were swimming in a private swimming pool. There were guards all around, so nobody knew how Troilanga Swami had managed to come in and stand right in front of the swimming pool. As he was naked and very fat, he was extremely odd-looking. When the King and Queen saw that he was watching them swim, they were furious. The King wanted to punish Troilanga Swami, and there was a great uproar all around the pool.

Meanwhile, Troilanga Swami’s devotees were looking for their Master. When they learned where he was, they ran and told the King how great the Master was. “He has a childlike nature; that is why he was watching you swim,” they said. “Just like a child he has come here for innocent amusement. He has no lower vital problems. He is above all that. For him, sandalwood and waste matter are the same. Everything is the same to him.”

The King said, “If everything is the same to him, then he has to eat what I eat: meat. Since he is a spiritual man, I am sure he does not eat meat. Let us see if everything is equal to him.”

Troilanga Swami said, “Yes, I am ready to eat meat, but first, will you eat my food?” The King, knowing perfectly well that since he was a sadhu, he would eat only fruit and milk, said, “Certainly I will eat your food.”

Then, in front of everyone, Troilanga Swami immediately emptied himself and started eating. Everyone was amazed and horrified. Then, he said to the King, “Now, eat what I have eaten.” The King simply ran the other way. But the onlookers got a very good fragrance from this—like sandalwood—and they were surprised and moved.

Later the King said to Troilanga Swami, “I know your spiritual power. I know who you are, and I am issuing a message that nobody should bother you anymore, even if you walk naked.”

Commentary:

The beauty of a childlike, innocent flower-heart gives off a special fragrance everywhere, not only from what it has within itself, but also from the fragrance it gets from the beauty that it sees all around.

It was not Troilanga Swami’s so-called curiosity that compelled him to go to the swimming pool, but it was his equality-vision which wanted to show to the world the evenness of reality everywhere. Discrimination abolished, equality’s universality reigns.

Sri Chinmoy