Sw. Nidrananda:- Naveen! Just wash the floor of the kitchen and the prayer hall. By that time I will finish my yoga nidra.
Sw. Naveenananda:- I will finish both in less than an hour.
Sw. Nidrananda:- Oh! In an hour I can easily enter into nirvikalpa samadhi, travel through time over a few centuries covering quite a few lifetimes and come back to normal waking consciousness.
Sw. Naveenananda:- Can you enter into samadhi so easily?
Sw. Nidrananda:- Oh! you are still a new swami and hence unaware of my powers. I have been a swami for ten years and I can go into samadhi just as a fish takes to water; especially after a heavy dose of ashram khichari which acts like a medicine.
Sw. Naveenananda:- Oh! I never knew that!
Sw. Nidrananda:- Ah! It is not possible for me to sing eulogies of the ashram khichari which is obtained as guru prasad. In the Patanjali Yoga Sutras the use of herbs has been recommended for getting siddhi. I have been in the Himalayas and tried several herbs but nothing beats the ashram khichari.
Sw. Naveenananda:- You have been in the Himalayas? Surely you must know a lot about herbs.
Sw. Nidrananda:- Herbs? Why, I have lived on them. There are certain fruits and bulbs which when consumed once, you don't feel hungry for a week. I have consumed heaps of such fruits so that I don't require to eat food for the rest of my life.
Sw. Naveenananda:- But I have observed that you eat more khichari than I.
Sw. Nidrananda:- That is why I said, you do not know the glory of ashram khichari. It is only because it is obtained as prasad that I eat it. From a nutritional point of view, I don't require even milk.
Sw. Naveenananda:- But you look so lean.
Sw. Nidrananda:- Ha! Ha! You really are a raw boy. Strength is spiritual. Physical strength is only a small part of spiritual strength. Do you know that I am controlling your mind right now?
Sw. Naveenananda:- Are you? But I feel nothing odd.
Sw. Nidrananda:- Because you are not conscious of it. I am controlling your mind at the level of causal body or agya chakra. Now start your work and I will enter into higher states of consciousness to read your future.
Sw. Naveenananda:- Please do. (Starts working at the kitchen floor.)
Swami Nidrananda soon falls deep asleep on a cot. After a few minutes Sri Guru Maharaj enters.
Guru Maharaj:- Naveen! I think Nidrananda was also supposed to do the cleaning.
Sw. Naveenananda:- Swamiji! He said he will read my future for the next few years by entering into nirvikalpa samadhi. So I volunteered to do all the cleaning.
Guru Maharaj:- Hmm... I see. This is not the first time that he has attained samadhi after a potful of khichari.
Sw. Naveenananda:- Nidrananda has already told me that he is quite an adept at entering into samadhi.
Guru Maharaj:- Throw that bucket of water over him.
Bewildered, Naveen does as told. Nidrananda wakes up irritated, rubs his eyes, yawns and then sees to his horror, Guru Maharaj. Suddenly, he flings himself to his feet.
Sw. Nidrananda:- Jai Sri Guru Maharaj ki Jai. The dust of thy feet can remove the sins of 108 lifetimes, bestow supernormal powers and kaivalya. Please bless me Maharaj. This humble servant is at thy mercy.
Guru Maharaj: (coldly) - You were supposed to help Naveen with the cleaning.
Sw. Nidrananda:- What atrocity Guru Maharaj? Am I to help Naveen or lead him and guide him? He is a raw boy without any enlightenment or divine knowledge. How can you allow me to suffer the fate of being a co-worker with him? Can't you be more gracious to a disciple who has been in your service for ten years?
Guru Maharaj: (coldly again) - As always; you have understood me wrongly. Naveen will lead and you will help him. Your status is not that of co-worker but that of subordinate. I think that makes things very clear now. Your brain has become dull by eating too much, even though it was just plain khichari. Along with the kitchen floor on which you spilt some khichari, your brain too requires some scrubbing.
Sw. Nidrananda:- It is outrageous. Ten years of fruitless labour in the name of karma yoga and what have I gained? A severe scolding for having committed the sin of teaching yoga to a new boy. If I had been a guru, I would have given every disciple a box full of sweets and some ice-cold bhang to follow. And thousands would enter transcendental states of consciousness in the twinkling of an eye. Here, all that I hear is work, work, work- as if there was nothing in the world except work. That is it, I have decided I am going to become the messiah of the modern age.
Guru Maharaj: (Roars) - Naveen! Hold him by the neck. (Naveen holds Nidrananda firmly)
Guru Maharaj: (Severely) - Bind him hand and foot and throw him into Ganga. I don't want to see his face.
Sw. Nidrananda: (Imploringly) - Guru Maharaj! You alone can save me from Naveen's grip now. Please excuse me for my chatter.
Guru Maharaj: (tone softening) - Well, you have spoken the truth for the first time. Now, may I know the message of the messiah of the modern age?
Sw. Nidrananda:- Karma yoga purifies the mind and body and prepares it for samadhi.
Guru Maharaj:- That is better. Anything more?
Sw. Nidrananda:- Ten years of service is a small period in the infinite existence of the soul.
Guru Maharaj:- Fine. Go on.
Sw. Nidrananda:- Khichari is a light and healthy diet but should not be over eaten.
Guru Maharaj:- Excellent.
Sw. Nidrananda:- We should respect all disciples of the guru irrespective of their intellectual, social or financial status.
Guru Maharaj: (Very kindly) - You are a very good boy, but sometimes you need a bit of shaking. Well, I do have a box full of sweets for you. They were brought by a kind devotee. But finish your cleaning first. Even khichari cannot be digested if you enter samadhi, your style. Hari Om.
Curtain drops