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Story of the mango and man with a siddhi

A spiritual discourse using a parable to illustrate the nature of supernatural powers (siddhis) and true spirituality.

"My wife wanted to eat it. The duty of the husband is to fulfill all wishes of the wife; that was my dharma. And I have the siddhi; I used my supernatural power, and the mango came to me."

"And the biggest siddhi, which we all have, is that we are alive and healthy and we can eat and sleep. What can be more than these siddhis?"

The speaker narrates a parable about a man who uses a siddhi to steal a guarded mango for his wife, facing execution by the king. The story remains unresolved, transitioning into a commentary on spiritual life. The speaker explains that such powers exist but are not the goal, emphasizing that true spirituality is purity of action and thought, a slow development marked by humility and the appreciation of life's basic wonders as the greatest siddhis.

Recording location: Australia, Perth, World Peace Tour 2005

A king had planted a very beautiful orchard garden. In it, there was a beautiful mango tree. The first time that tree bore fruit, it was only a single, beautiful mango. The king and queen were walking through the park, and the queen saw this first mango of the tree. She told her husband, "I have one wish." He said, "What?" She said, "I want to eat this first fruit of this tree." The king said, "No problem. It is our garden, our tree." He called the gardener and told him to take care of this mango. Since the queen wanted to eat it, it was his prime duty to ensure no birds or animals could destroy it and that nobody should take it away. The gardener made a small tent near the tree and put a net over it so birds could not get in. The mango grew bigger and bigger, beautiful. It was green, and then slowly it began to turn yellow. In a day or two, it would be so ripe it would fall by itself. So he placed a basket underneath so the mango would fall onto it. Tree-ripened fruits have a different taste than fruits plucked green and ripened later. The park had a big fence about seven feet high with an iron net; no animals could come in. One day, a couple was passing by. The lady saw the mango and said to her husband, "I have one wish." You know, the husband should fulfill every wish of the wife. He said, "Yes, what?" She said, "It seems this is the first fruit of this tree; I wish to eat it." The poor man said, "My dear, no problem." He raised his hand; he had a siddhi to manifest things. He raised his hand, and the mango from the tree came whooping into his hand. He said, "Here you are." She took the mango, was very happy, and they went away. After fifteen minutes, the gardener looked up and saw no mango on the tree. My God! He looked everywhere on the ground, searching for an hour. It was a small tree; there was no mango. There were no birds, nothing. He was very sad. He went to the king and reported what had happened. The king said, "I want to know who took this mango. That person will be hanged, will be killed, for acting against my will and the queen's will. Who dared to do this?" The king ordered his successor, his son, to find and bring that person to him within one week. There was restlessness throughout the whole kingdom. The message somehow reached the man who had taken the mango, and he said, "I did it." They took him to the prince. He said to the prince, "I did it. My wife wanted to eat it. The duty of the husband is to fulfill all wishes of the wife; that was my dharma. And I have the siddhi; I used my supernatural power, and the mango came to me. I gave it to her; she ate it. That's all." The prince was a very intelligent person. He said, "Are you not afraid? Do you know what the punishment will be?" The man said, "Yes, I know. The king wants to hang me. Okay, if you want to do it, do it." The prince promised himself he would not let the man be hanged. He went to his father and said, "Father, I found the person." The father was so angry. He said, "Bring him to me immediately and hang him in front of me." The prince said, "Father, a moment, please wait, Your Highness." The king said, "Why? What should I wait for?" The prince said, "First, interview that man. How did he take the mango when there was a net around the tree and a guard sitting there twenty-four hours? It was guarded twenty-four hours. I want to know what kind of thief this is. How did he steal this mango?" The king was sitting there, and the man was brought before him. The king was angry. He said, "How did you steal my mango?" The man said, "Sir, I did not steal." The king said, "Then how did you take it? What do you mean you didn't steal?" He said, "No, it was the wish of my wife, and I fulfilled her wish. That's all." The king said, "Then how?" He said, "I have a siddhi. I wish for something and raise my hand, and it comes to my hand." The king became angry again and said, "Okay, that's all." The man said, "That's all. My wife ate it." So the king said, "We will hang him up." He called the soldiers: "Take him away and hang him." And he raised his hand like this, and a mango came into her hand. "Here you are, darling." She was happy to get the mango. Oh, she did not know which mango it was. And that, just see, these perfections are there, but they are not to be taught. So you will find in Mahāprabhujī's Līlā Amṛt, when you read it, many, many of these things. And that is a divine incarnation. So this is a blessing of those masters. It is their blessing that we are receiving something. Without their blessing, my talk would be very dry, a dry intellect. And a dry intellect is like a beautiful apple but made out of plastic. So without spirituality, yoga is a body without a soul, spiritual development. Do not think that spiritual development will come very soon, in one year or two years. No, slowly. It is a way of life. You cannot say, "Now I am spiritual." And when you say this, "Now I am spiritual," it means you went more backward than before. A great man never says that he is great, just as a diamond never praises itself. We say, "Oh, this is a diamond, very expensive." So spirituality means purity: pure action, pure thoughts, pure behavior. And when spirituality develops, you will gain more and more friends. This is the first sign, and everybody will be kind to you. That is the very beginning of spirituality. So it is said you have to die in order to live. "Die" means kill your ego, kill your expectations. Just simply be, that is all. And just simply be, that is not so easy. So siddhis will come, can come. And the biggest siddhi, which we all have, is that we are alive and healthy and we can eat and sleep. What can be more than these siddhis? We have a very good siddhi that though we eat as much as we like, after a few hours again we are hungry. Good siddhi. That is it. Recording location: Australia, Perth, World Peace Tour 2005

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt, what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

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