The Wrong Ears
The Invitation
“Jairam! Let us go to the temple. A renowned scholar is reciting and explaining the Puranas there,” Bhanudas told his neighbor.
Jairam was not enthusiastic about it, but he could not disregard a suggestion from Bhanudas, as he was an important person in the village.
The Return Home
Imagine the surprise of Gouri, Jairam’s wife, when she found her husband returning home at the dead of night, thoroughly drunk! Jairam did not go to work the next day because he woke up very late and complained of a severe headache. That was the effect of wine.
A Question of Influence
“Who is the wretch that inspired you to take to drinking?” asked Gouri when Jairam seemed sober.
“Tut, tut!” muttered Jairam. “Don’t use such derogatory words against gods. Yesterday, the scholar said that Indra, the king of the gods, drinks Soma. What was Soma? I inquired of my friends. They told me it was a kind of wine. If Indra drank wine, why shouldn’t I?”
The Cycle Continues
Jairam went to hear the discourse again in the evening. Again, he returned drunk, and what is more, Gouri discovered that some money was missing from her box. At first, Jairam tried to evade Gouri’s questions regarding the lost money, but he finally admitted to having stolen it.
“Look here, even Indra once stole away a horse that belonged to King Sagara. Hence, there cannot be anything wrong in my stealing your money,” explained Jairam.
“You are fast approaching Indrahood!” observed Gouri. Jairam smiled proudly.
The Wait for Lunch
It was already noon, and Jairam was getting hungry. “Go and see what your mother is doing,” he asked his young son. “She ought to have called me for lunch by this time.”
The son returned in a few minutes and informed Jairam that his mother was engrossed in making a garland.
Jairam waited for yet another hour. When he could not bear the pangs of hunger any longer, he went into the house and demanded of Gouri, “What do you mean by wasting time on a garland? When are you going to cook our lunch?”
An Unexpected Revelation
“Cook?” asked Gouri, feigning surprise. “Well, I don’t understand what you mean. Since you became identified with Indra, I got identified with Sachi, Indra’s wife, the queen of the gods. In the pages of mythological books, I have seen Sachi passing her time making garlands. Never have I come across a description of Sachi cooking!”
Jairam now realized his folly. He kept silent and had to suffer the hunger for the rest of the day. In the evening, when Bhanudas called him for the discourse, he was not in the mood to accompany him.
The Lesson Learned
During the discourse, the scholar told his audience, “Never coax a man to come to such sessions. Only those who have developed a natural urge for understanding scriptures should come here. Otherwise, one cannot enter into the spirit of the discourse. The words of the scriptures, passing into the wrong ears, are likely to produce wrong results!”