Dharam Das was a man who lived in India. He was a man of virtues as his name suggested. His father had given him a lot of wealth. He used to spend a lot of it to help others. It was his habit to help anybody. So he was surrounded by a lot of people, always.
Soon he spent all he had. All those who were coming to him suddenly disappeared. He became very poor and very few were there to enquire after him. Even during those hard days he never strayed from his righteous ways. He prayed God everyday to bless him enough for helping the needy, who came to him.
One night he had a dream. A divine person came to him and said, “Dharmdas, there is one way for you to get a lot of wealth. Tomorrow you will find me coming to the shadow of the big tree in front of the temple. I will sleep in the shade. All you have to do is to pick up my staff and hit me on my head. My body will turn into a heap of gold. You can take it all.” Dharamdas saw the speaker’s face very clearly.
Although Dharam Das did not believe or like the idea, he went to the tree, next day. True to the word, a holy man came there. He was rather tired from a long walk. As soon as he reached the shade of the tree, he put aside his staff and the long sack he carried and went to sleep. Dharam Das recognized him as the man in the dream. Nobody else was around. He could easily hit the sleeping man and take the gold. All his worries would be over.
But he would do nothing of that sort. Attacking another person is violence, even if permitted by the victim. He would not do that. Not even for the entire wealth of the world.
He sat there looking at the calm face of the sleeping man for several hours. Finally the holy man woke up. He asked with amazement, “Why! You had a chance of a lifetime! Don’t worry! I will give you another chance.”
Dharam Das said, “No, master, even then I am not going to do a wrong thing. Instead, why don’t you come to my house and have a frugal meal. You have not eaten for several hours now.”
The holy man smiled. He got up to leave. Dharam Das touched his feet. With the blessing words “You will soon be prosperous!” the man gave him the sack he was carrying. In another moment he was gone! The good man’s amazement was doubled when he saw that the sack was full of gold coins!
From: Balendu's Nonviolence Stories
