A sage was travelling in country. At night, he requested a person named Anand to allow him to stay in his house till next morning. Anand attended him happily and gave tasty food to eat. Next morning, he presented fruits to him while the sage was leaving. The sage became very happy and blessed, "May you always prosper."
Hearing this, Anand laughed and said, "O sage! Whatever I have, even this will not remain forever." The sage kept looking at Anand while hearing the reply.
Two years passed. The sage returned to Anand house and found all prosperity of Anand had gone. He came to know that Anand was now living in a nearby village as a servant to a wealthy man. The sage went to meet Anand. Anand welcomed the sage even with his limited resources. Anand gave him stale food. Seeing such a condition, the sage felt sad for Anand and murmured, "Oh God, why you did this."
Anand again laughed and said, "Why are you getting so sad! Great personalities have always said a human should not be deluded by the surroundings. The situation of life keeps on changing. This too will not remain forever."
The sage started thinking, "I am sage just by my appearance. Real sage is this Anand."
Two years later, the sage again visited the village and became amazed to see the prosperity of Anand. Anand had become the richest person of whole state. He found that the rich man, who hired Anand as servant, was not having any children. While dying, he gave all his property and money to Anand. Anand consolidated the wealth and invested it further. The sage smiled and said, "May God always bless you with the prosperity you have now."
Anand again laughed hearing this and said, "O sage! you are still behaving the same ignorant way."
The sage asked, "You mean this will also not remain with you."
Anand replied, "Absolutely. Either all this prosperity or I will not remain forever. This will keep on changing and will go in some other person's hands. If there is anything that remains forever, then that is the Supreme soul and my soul, which is nothing but just a drop of that Supreme soul." The sage listened Anand very carefully and then went from there.
When sage returned after another year, he saw the bungalow of Anand was inhabited by pigeons who made their nests in garret. His daughters were married. Only his wife was staying in a corner of house.
The sage said, "O human! Why you feel so proud on this planet? Nothing remains here forever. Neither happiness, nor sorrow. Neither prosperity, nor poverty. You think you are in trouble and your neighbor is in joy. But remember, this is an illusion and only your perspective. Neither troubles nor any joy can remain forever. Everything comes to an end. Blessed are those who live happily in good or bad phases of life alike. Blessed are you Anand and your master, who gave you such a pure and true self-knowledge. I want to put some flowers on your photograph."
The sage entered another room where Anand's photograph was hanging. He took some flowers and went near to put them below the photograph. But his hands stopped just before putting flowers on the photograph. Anand had got these words inscribed just below his picture:
'This will also not remain forever.'
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