A milk-maid used to fetch milk daily for a brahmana priest living on the other side of a river. Owing to the irregularities of the boat service, she could not maintain punctuality every day.
Once, being rebuked for her going late, the poor woman said, “What can I do? I do start early from my house, but have to wait for a long time at the river bank for the boatman.”
The priest said, “Woman! People cross the ocean of life by taking the name of God, and can’t you cross this little river?”
The simple-hearted woman was delighted on learning this easy means of crossing the river. From the next day, the milk was being delivered early in the morning, without any delay.
One day, the priest asked the woman, “How is it that you are no longer late nowadays?”
She replied, “I cross the river by taking the name of the Lord as you told me to, and now have no need to wait for the boatman.”
The priest could not believe this and said, “Can you show me how you cross the river?”
The woman took him with her and began to walk over the water. Looking behind, she saw the priest in a sad plight and said, “How is it, Sir, that you are uttering the name of God but at the same time trying to keep your cloth untouched by water?”
Absolute faith in God is at the root of all miracles.
– From Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna