Saint Kabir

The great Saint Kabir Das was a simple weaver.   He was a man of principles and practised what he preached.   The Saint was a muslim by birth, but some also believed that he was a brahmin.   He had many disciples as well as many who were against him.  
One of his devoted disciple was Bir Singh, who was none other than the Kasi king himself.

Whenever Saint Kabir visited Bir Singh, he used to offer him the throne to sit on and he himself sat  on the floor, at the saint's feet.

One day Kabir decided to test Bir Singh, if he was really as simple as he behaved.

The Saint  walked in the bazaars of Kashi with Ravi Das, the cobbler and a woman disciple who was once a prostitute, singing devotional songs. He carried in his hands, two bottles filled with coloured water, that resembled alcohol.

Some, both Hindus and Muslims who were against Kabir saw this act, created a commotion in the city. People gossiped about the prostitute, the cobbler and the bottles of alcohol.  The news also reached The King.

Saint Kabir entered King Bir Singh’s palace in just this kind of manner.

On seeing Saint Kabir, the King’s faith in the Guru wavered.  He did not get up from the throne.  

Saint Kabir was amused by the kings action and understood that the king thought just as the others did.  Immediately he dropped the bottles of coloured liquids with a crash at his feet.

This made the King think, 

“How odd, an alcoholic would never spill a drop of alcohol. There must be something else in the bottles!”

He got up from his throne and drew Ravi Das  aside and asked,

“Ravi, what is all this about?”

Ravi Das replied, “Oh Maharaj,  don’t you know that the Jagannath temple is on fire, and Kabir is putting out the fire with the water in his bottle?”

The Raja noted down the date and the time. He sent a messenger to make the long journey to Jagannath temple to enquire about the fire.

The people near Jagannath temple confirmed about the fire and  told, 

“Yes, there was a fire and Kabir did indeed put it out.” The Raja’s faith was strengthened again."

A Master can act in many ways but for the good of the disciple.  "

Only a rare disciple can pass this test.