One day Ramdas Kathiya Baba was smoking heavily. Three young men wanted to join him, but he refused to smoke with them. They demanded, “What kind of Master are you? You should be generous.”

He said, “I don’t want to show my generosity to thieves. You three are thieves.”

The young men protested vehemently, and a serious argument took place. Finally Ramdas said to the three young men, “You will see! Before the day ends you will be arrested.”

His words were irrevocable. That day the three young men were arrested for a previous theft they had committed. Three weeks later two of the thieves were released on bail. They went to Kathiya Baba, sat at his feet and cried and cried. “Please help us! We want to be free! You have the power to set us free. We shall not steal anymore,” they said.

Ramdas replied, “Now you are on bail. You will be freed on the condition that you promise not to steal anymore.”

Then the two thieves said, “We shall never, never steal again.”

The Master’s words again proved true. The two young men were freed from prison. Their friend, however, remained.

A few months later Ramdas was going to a nearby town. As he was walking along a young man came up to him crying.

The Master asked, “What is the matter with you?”

The young man said, “Don’t you recognise me? You forgave my two friends. Now they are free, while I am working so hard fixing the road. Please, you have the power to free me, too.” And again he started crying pitifully.

Ramdas said, “All right, in three days you will also be free.”

The man laughed at Ramdas. “Yes, yes, I will be free in three days. You are just joking. How can I be free in three days?” He did not believe Ramdas, but Ramdas gave him a compassionate smile, so to some extent he was consoled.

In three days the village authorities were advised by the government that each prison had to release a certain number of prisoners, for the government was finding it difficult to meet with the expenses of so many prisoners. Those whose crimes were not serious should be given the first chance to go free. This particular young man was one of those whose crime was not extremely serious; therefore, he was set free along with others on the third day.

Commentary:

An ordinary person finds it difficult to accept the prophecy of a spiritual Master unless and until it has been proved. What is prophecy? Our human belief feels that prophecy is the ability to see something that will occur in the future and then tell when this incident is due. But in the case of a spiritual Master, prophecy is only a spontaneous revelation of truth-embodiment. This truth-embodiment has to be revealed in God’s own Way at God’s choice Hour, for He alone knows when prophecy will create unnecessary worries and anxieties, and when it will create illumining aspiration and fulfilling satisfaction.

Sri Chinmoy