The story of the two saints and a drowning young woman is
found in the Puranas. It illustrates the nature of the mind. Two young saints
were taught by their Guru not to look or touch a woman. They were one day
sitting on the banks of Ganga and discussing Vedanta.
Drowning Young Woman
Drowning Young Woman
A young woman who was passing through the banks got scared
of a snake and fell in the river. She did not know how to swim and she was on
the point of drowning.
Of the two saints, one jumped into the river to rescue the drowning
young woman as he thought it was his fundamental duty to save her life.
The other saint was contemplating on the words of Guru.
The Girl is Rescued
The Girl is Rescued
The saint that jumped into the river rescued the young woman,
brought her to the shore, and revived her using the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
technique.
The other monk remained indifferent and was shocked by his
friend’s action as he considered it to be against the principles of sainthood.
Soon the young woman regained consciousness; she left
thanking them profusely.
Orthodox Saint is Taking the Woman back to the Ashram in his Mind
Orthodox Saint is Taking the Woman back to the Ashram in his Mind
The saints also decided to return to their ashram.
On the way the indifferent saint started scolding his friend
for touching a woman.
He said: “You touched a woman’s body, you embraced her, you
kissed her!!”
On hearing all this the saint laughed and answered: “After
having rescued her, I left that young woman on the banks of the river, while
you, my friend, are bringing her with you back to the ashram!”