The Painter

ONCE a great painter was asked by a king to execute a huge fresco on the wall of his Durbar Hall, a scene from the Mahabharatha battle.

Another painter came and asked for permission to execute a fresco on the opposite wall. He said he would within the same period prepare on his wall an equally grand fresco, in fact an exact replica of the other in spite of a curtain being hung in between the walls.

On the date fixed for the opening of the frescoes to be seen by the king the curtain was removed. The king was amazed to find an exact copy of the same scene from the Mahabharatha battle down to the minutest detail of lines and curves, tints and tilts, light and shade. The king questioned him as to how he could do it.

The artist said that he had not used any brush or paint. What he did was thoroughly polish the wall assigned to him. He polished the wall in such a way that it shone like a mirror. So the duplicate fresco was only a reflection of the original.

Similarly we have to cleanse our mind and make it pure so that God’s sublime grandeur and beauty may be reflected in our heart.

-Baba