Spiritual charity

A sage once went as a guest to the house of a zamindar, who had a huge mansion in the midst of his landholdings.

A very wise sage once went as a guest to the house of a zamindar, who had a beautiful huge mansion in the midst of his extensive landholdings. The zamindar's wife was very impressed with his wise counsel, and went on to invite four of her friends from the city, each wealthy and powerful, to come and listen to his teachings.

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The next day, when these four ladies arrived they asked the sage, "O Master, can you tell us why God created His Universe?"

The sage answered them with his own question. He started asking them what life was like in the big city that they lived in. Immediately, all four of them went into detailed accounts of how overcrowded the city was, compared to this beautiful green area, how much they longed for pure, unpolluted air to breathe, how they were always in the grip of power and water shortages, etc. They felt honoured to be enlightening the sage on such important matters, as they could show off knowledge that only they had access to.

At lunchtime they realisd that the sage had not answered their question.

"Never mind," said he, "Keep it alive in your minds for the time being, and the answer will be revealed to you at the appropriate time."

The guests left the next day, and the zamindar's wife very politely asked the sage why he deliberately chose not to answer their question. The sage kept silent.