A grave trouble is about to visit Benida. The dacoits have sent a letter threatening to loot his wealth. I hear that Benida is very anxious. I am a little sorry to hear about it. I had a grievance in my mind about being poor, but now I have no complaint. I have no fear of dacoits. What will they come to take away? I have nothing. All that I have is want. The dacoits are not looking for want. Otherwise, why would they commit dacoity? How easy has God made it for me by making me poor! I have no anxiety about dacoits. My mind drifted, lost in these thoughts.

All of a sudden I saw inside my house; the dacoits had struck my place!! Six dacoits were fleeing with six pitchers of coins (mohurs). Alas! All is lost! I had only six pitchers of mohurs but the dacoits have taken away all of them. Is there anybody? ‘They have taken away all that I had!’ I began to cry aloud.
At that moment I became aware of a man, clad in white, wearing a garland of white flowers around his neck, with white sandal paste smeared on his body.

He gave a little laugh and asked me, ‘Who are you? Why are you weeping?’

‘I cannot say who I am. I have forgotten…forgotten my own self. Who are you, Sir?’

He said, ‘My name is Guru. What is the cause of your weeping?’

I said, ‘See, my Lord, six dacoits are carrying away on their heads, six pitchers of mohurs that belong to me. What am I to do? O Lord, what am I to do?’

The Guru said, ‘Well, I will give you a solution. Will you be able to recognize your six pitchers?’

I said, ‘Why not? All my pitchers have names written on them.’

He said, ‘What are the names?’

I said, ‘Forgiveness, Uprightness, Compassion, Contentment, Truth and Devotion The dacoits also have some names written on their backs; Lust, Anger Greed, Delusion, Pride and Envy.

Guru Thakur said, ‘Just see, which pitcher each of them is carrying.’

I said, ‘There is Lust fleeing with Uprightness on his head, Anger with Forgiveness, Greed with Compassion, Delusion with Contentment, Pride with Truth and Envy with Devotion. Alas! Alas! All is lost, Guru Thakur, I pray to you, my Father, please find some way to save me.’

He said, ‘Well, take this gun of the Name of God and pursue the six dacoits. Fire the gun of the Name continuously and hit the dacoits. Challenged by you, they will run, but will not be able to go much far along the way they have taken. Just a little further down, they will come upon a bottomless pit of Detachment (Vairagya) with an inaccessible mountain of Wisdom (Jnana) rearing above it. They will not be able to advance any more. Go, don’t delay.’

I took aim with the gun of the Name and attacked the six dacoits. They ran and I went after them. I was not accustomed to holding a gun. Many shots missed their marks. Some shots did hit them. They were such hardened dacoits! They kept running even after being hit by gunshots! I now began to fire at every breath. After a while, on coming upon the bottomless pit of Detachment and the inaccessible mountain of Wisdom, they drew to a halt. There was no way forward for them. Seeing me coming up from behind, they sensed the danger and consulted amongst themselves. They quickly took the pitchers off their heads, collected their shields and joined them into one by a special mantra. The dacoits then took cover under the shield. I began firing again. I saw the words ‘Attachment to the World’ (Sansara Asakti) written in large letters on the shield. I fired relentlessly, targeting the dacoits under the shield. But gradually, I grew tired.

I invoked the Guru, ‘O Gurudeva! Those six wicked dacoits are lying covered by the shield of ‘Attachment to the World’. What should I do? Should I go near them or fire from a distance?’
Gurudeva gave me a sword and said, ‘Go! Bring down those six dacoits with this sword of Meditation (Dhyana).’

Armed with the gun of the Name of God in my left hand and the sword of Meditation in my right, I fell upon the dacoits with the ferocity of a lion. I snatched away their shield. I saw that bullets (of God’s Name) had pierced the shield and had riddled the dacoits’ bodies. They were debilitated and deathly pale. I said, ‘Wicked fellows! Will you decamp with my six pitchers of mohurs? I will slay you.’ All of them fell at my feet, ‘We seek your shelter. Do not kill us. We will do your bidding.’

I asked the first one, ‘Well, what is your name?’

He said, ‘My name is Lust (Kama).’

I told him, ‘Well, crave emancipation and keep repeating, ‘May I have emancipation.’

I asked another, ‘What is your name?’

‘My name is Anger.’

‘Show your strength on these three objects of desire: Virtue (Dharma), Money (Artha) and Lust.’

‘What is your name?’

‘My name is Greed.’

‘From today show your intensity towards the service of God.’

‘What is your name?’

‘My name is Delusion.’

‘Well, use your power to exhibit the beauty of God.’

‘What is your name?’

‘My name is Pride.’

‘Well, apply yourself to the thought ‘I am the least of all’.

‘What is your name?’

‘My Name is Envy.’

‘Well, show your prowess on the statement ‘I am nothing, I am God’s servant.’

Seeing the gun in my left hand and the sword in my right, they agreed to obey. I began the return journey with the six fellows carrying back my six pitchers on their shoulders.

I met Gurudeva on the way. I said, ‘Here, take back your gun of the Name and sword of Meditation. I have conquered the enemies and recovered my stolen treasure!’

He said, ‘No, son! The victory is not yet final. It is very difficult to conquer them. Do not think that you have conquered them. They are always on the lookout for a chance and at the first opportunity they will strangle and ruin you. Keep that gun of the ‘Name’ by your tongue, and keep the sword of meditation close to your mind. Then you will have no fear. When it is time for you to return the weapons, you will be unable to find me; howsoever hard you seek. Then, you will have no power to speak. Go, son. Do not forget to challenge these looters day and night. There is no harm if a few shots miss, but the reports of the gun must be heard. Only then will these dacoits remain under control.’
Suddenly my trance came to an end and I looked. Where were the dacoits and where were the mohurs? Hari…Hari! Was it a waking dream? Anyhow, since the Gurudeva has asked me to, I will continue to fire the gun as long as I live.

Jai Jai Rama, Sitaram
Gauri Shankar Radheshyam
Radheshyam Sitaram,
Gauri Shankar, Jai Jai Rama.