| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
DAYANANDA SARASWATHI |
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| Dayananda's
Devotion To His GuruBy his extraordinary
devotion and sense of service Dayananda soon became the most beloved disciple. Every
morning, whether it was hot cold or raining, Dayananda fetched water for his teacher's
bath and for other purposes from the river Yamuna. It was also his duty to sweep the floor
and keep the premises clean and tidy. And Dayananda did every kind of work without the
slightest hesitation. Several incidents show his extraordinary devotion to his master.
On one occasion, as Virajananda was teaching, something made angry with Dayananda. Then with Skinny hand he hit Dayananda on the back so hard that the teacher's he began to ache. After a while Dayananda slowly approached his guru and said in all humility, "Gurudeva, my body is hard like stone and beating like this cannot hurt it. Only your hands will ache. Hereafter, when you punish me kindly make use of a cane instead of your hand." Dayananda's request was not in vain. At another time when Virajananda was displeased with Dayananda for some reason he struck him with a stick. Seeing this, Nayansukha, his schoolmate, said, "Gurudeva, it is not proper to treat such a great sanyasi in this way. He should be treated with respect." When the lessons were over, Dayananda took objection to his friend's disrespectful behaviour and said, "Do you think that our Gurudeva beat me out of hatred? Just as a potter shapes the lump of clay by pounding and beating it, the guru shapes the personality of his disciple by beating him and correcting him. You should not have spoken like that Later on, when Dayananda attained the status of a 'maharshi' and became the teacher of the people, he used show the marks on his shoulders made by Virajananda and say: 'These marks always remind me of all that I owe to my master.' |
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