This is a story of a famous saint. He was born in a Brahmin family. He received good training in his childhood. But he was not interested in the family profession of conducting rituals for others; he wanted to become a devotee of god. Therefore, he left home when he was 16 and settled in Rishikesh. He began to study various scripttures and held discussions with those with similar leanings.
He would chant god's name for several hours every day. Gradually, calm descended on him and he began to feel connected to god. People began to notice that he was special and came to him for spiritual advice. Some stayed on and became his disciples.
As the number of disciples grew, serious thought was given to housing them. They looked around and located an ashram not far from Rishikesh. It was a large property that was lying vacant. They got in touch with the owner who agreed to let them stay for a minor rent. The saintly person moved with his disciples to the new location.
Everything was going well with the disciples collecting enough money through donations for their subsistence. However, the saintly person was beginning to get very impatient with different things; he wanted everything done perfectly, which was not always possible. Things began to get worse and the disciples started finding themselves at the receiving of their spiritual teacher's anger. Still they tolerated him and life went on.
One day there was a long delay in the preparation of food. The saintly person lost his temper and spoke very harshly to his disciples who were engaged in kitchen duties. Things appeared normal till the sage found that no one came for the regular evening class. After waiting for his disciples for sometime, he came out to investigate. He found all his disciples huddled together and discussing something quite animatedly. He quietly went and listened in on them. He realised that they were upset at his getting angry frequently. He understood his mistake and vowed to try and control his anger. Getting angry and staying angry, no matter what the provocation, is a demonic quality. We must not fall prey to this weakness.
