In a certain village, there lived a weaver. He was a very pious soul. Everyone trusted him and loved him. He used to sell his goods in the market-place.
When a customer asked him the price of a cloth, the weaver would say: “By the will of Rama, the price of the yarn is one rupee and the labour four annas; by the will of Rama, the profit is two annas. The price of the cloth, by the will of Rama, is one rupee and six annas.”
Such was the people’s faith in the weaver that the customers would at once pay the price and take the cloth, The weaver was a real devotee of God.
After finishing his supper in the evening, he would spend long hours in the worship hall meditating on God and chanting His name and glories.
Now, late one night, the weaver couldn’t sleep. He was sitting in the worship hall meditating when a band of robbers happened to pass that way. They wanted a man to carry their goods and said to the weaver, “Come with us.” So saying, they led him off by the hand.
After committing robbery in a house, they put a load of things on the weaver’s head commanding him to carry them. Suddenly the police arrived and the robbers ran away. But the weaver, with his load, was arrested. He was kept in the lock-up for the night.
Next day he was brought before the magistrate for trial. The villagers learnt what had happened and came to the court. They said to the magistrate, “Your Honour, this man could never commit robbery.”
Thereupon the magistrate asked the weaver to make his statement. The weaver said: “Your Honour, by the will of Rama, I finished my meal at night. Then by the will of Rama, I was sitting in the worship hall. It was quite late at night, by the will of Rama. By the will of Rama, I had been thinking of God and chanting His name and glories when, by the will of Rama, a band of robbers passed that way. By the will of Rama, they dragged me along with them; by the will of Rama. they committed robbery in a house; and by the will of Rama, they put a load on my head. Just then, by the will of Rama, the police arrived and, by the will of Rama, I was arrested. Then, by the will of Rama, the police kept me in the lock-up for the night, and this morning, by the will of Rama, I have been brought before Your Honour.”
The magistrate realised that the weaver was a pious man and ordered his release. On his way home the weaver said to his friends, “By the will of Rama, I have been released.”
– From Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna
Image above: An India Postage stamp from a set of 11 stamps on the Hindu epic, Ramayana, issued in 2017. When the mighty army of monkeys is busy building a bridge of floating stones to cross over to the island kingdom of Lanka, Lord Rama notices a little squirrel doing its best to help build the bridge. He lifts her up and runs his three middle fingers over her back as a form of blessing and affection. Thus an Indian squirrel has three stripes on its back, unlike the western chipmunks. For details of all other stamps, please visit https://azimvth.org/
A Romanian postage stamp issued as part of a set of four in 2020 depicting the Indian palm squirrel.