Drop It Down

Once, a young man came all the way from Sri Gurudev’s (Swami Tapovanam’s) native village in Kerala. This man must have rushed out of his home in a moment of economic crisis. However, he had deep devotion and an ardent sense of reverence towards Sri Gurudev. He announced himself as a distant relative of Sri Swami Tapovanam and narrated non-stop the present welfare and well-being of various members of the ‘family’ in Kerala, in its various ‘branches’.
All the time — it was more than an hour — Swamiji sat, listening to the music of the roaring Ganges. Now and then he gave an encouraging and indulgent “Hm… Hm… Hm…” to the young man’s unilateral bombardment.
In the stream of his empty talks, he mentioned his present state of need and poverty. Finally, as an apology for coming without some gift, he said, “What would you say if I came to you empty-handed!”
Snap came the answer from Sri Gurudev, “Drop it down.”
But the noisy speaker, in his incorrigible innocence, went on, “I said, if I came to you really empty-handed?”
The answer shot out from Sri Gurudev, “Then gather and carry away as much you can!!”
When the mouth is noisy, little do we understand what others say, and much less can we comprehend what our mystic masters indicate with their rare words.
The young man understood nothing. He grinned, and Swamiji with a knowing look at me, smiled at the visitor. The visitor was consoled. He must have considered it as some joke Swamiji had cracked, which of course, he could not understand! The young man from Kerala continued his reports of his native village. Swamiji, still smiling, moved his eyes from the visitor to the refreshing flow of the ever-pure mother Gangaji!! Only empty hands can gather and carry away even when given freely by another.