Renouncing The World

o03.pngnce within a brane a young yogi finally succeeded in renouncing the world. He left his master to live the life of a hermit. After some short months of wandering he finally settled at a river where he found a cavern of appropriate size.

There he spend his day with a strict practice, a short walk provided him with all the fruits and berries he needed. His sole possession consisted of two loin-cloths one of which he wore while the other was washed and left to dry. The first few month passed in happiness and bliss. But then he noticed much to his discomfort that obviously during the night, a rat was gnawing off the drying cloth. So every once in a while he had to undertake a two hours walk to the next village where he easily found replacement for the damaged garment. And back he went.

kittyicon.gifTwo years later he could not fail to realize that his hermitage was grossly disrupted by this occasional trip to the village and so he decided that the acquisition of a cat would be much to his advantage as the animal could take care of the nightly pests. This turned out to be very effective, alas as a matter of fact, the kitten performed too well, so more than one hungry day put the hermit in puzzlement. When there were not enough rats the kitten would not stop to miaow and the yogi had to go and get some milk. This did not occur too often but it made him wonder.

‘Why ‘ so he said to himself ‘why don’t I get myself a goat? If I had a goat I’d save the time I waste whilst getting the milk." And so he did. Now everything seemed well and favorably organized: he had his clothes, the cat, the goat. He spend his days with asanas, pranayamas and meditation, and yes, with milking the goat. Our yogi was not a practical man. He had not foreseen the necessity of milking the goat daily, leaving him with much more milk than he actually needed and less time than he wanted. So he wondered again.

"If - well just supposing - if I got myself a wife!? If I got married she could take care of the clothes, the cat, the goat and all…" and so he did and before long everything he once renounced came flying back to him.