THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN HEART.
The godly man, or as we call him in India, the man-god teaches by acts which, though they are very hard of imitation by the common human being, do yet a great deal of good by furnishing the ideal to strive after.
Panth Bàbà, a sadhu or holy man, while bathing in the Ganges, saw a scorpion floating by. He took it by the hand and gently placed it on the bank to save it from drowning. For his pains he got his fingers stung by the reptile. The scorpion slipped into the water again and was again rescued by the sadhu who was a second time stung. The pain was, no doubt, sharp; but he looked as placid as ever. A man who had marked the Bàbà's doings said, "Father sadhu, I thought you had been too sufficiently rewarded for your first act of mercy to repeat it a second time." The sadhu answered, "My son, it is the nature of the scorpion to sting and it has stung me. Why should I fail to act after man's uncorrupted nature which is to be merciful to all living things?"
