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Category: Message Of Week
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-by Swami Shivananda
Swami Ramkrishna was studying for his matric (Secondary school final) examination. He had neglected maths. On the morning of Maths examination he was worried as he was not prepared properly, and the failure seemed almost certain.

He had faith that God would do anything, even which appeared impossible. He went to the temple near the school & prayed, “God, help me get pass marks in Maths. If I am able to answer the paper well, I will offer you Prasad worth Rs 20/-. And the miracle happened. All the questions in the paper were easy for him. He answered all questions fully correct. He was sure about it. He was overjoyed.

As paper was easy, he completed it early and had lot of time to spare. To utilise this time, he started preparing the list of items that he would buy in the Prasad with total cost Rs 20/-After completing the list, he reviewed the same and said two of the items are not essential & why waste money on it. He removed them and the estimate came to Rs 15/-.

He still had time, he looked at the list again, and said to himself,”Is God a businessman, granting success in return for a Prasad of Rs 15/-? Further after offering Prasad to God I also have to treat my friends. So why spend so much on it and the estimate came down to Rs 5/-. He remembered a sloka from Gita, which God accepts with delight even a flower, a fruit or even water offered to Him with faith & devotion. After all what matters is faith & Bhavna. And the estimate finally came down to Rs 2/-.

The bell rang and he gave the answer sheets with a broad & happy smile to the teacher, and went home confident that he had an amazing success in Maths exam. On reaching home, his father exclaimed, “What is this you have brought the answer papers home?”,
looking at the papers in Ramkrishna’s hand. To his horror, he realised that in his absent-mindedness he had handed over the Prasad estimate papers & brought home the Answer sheets. He was now sure that he will get a big Zero.

He started weeping bitterly & said,” Father! I had done wonderfully by the Grace of God. But my wicked mind had begun to think of cheating God. Even my philosophical arguments seemed to support this unfaithful action. And this is the result.”

We cannot deceive God. We must live honestly in life for true & lasting success and happiness. God resides in every one. Hence we should never think of cheating any person.