| For studying
the sastras, one has to become a brahmachari. And the teacher has to be paid in kind like
samid for his service. The boy brought the samid, and
the guru made him a brahmachari by giving him the sacred thread and the Gayatri Mantra.
This mantra says: "O God, give me intelligence!"
After a few days, the rishi gave the boy four hundred lean and ill fed cows and said:
"Child, take these to the forest and graze them."
The boy said: "Sire, I shall return when these cows
multiply into a thousand."
Satyakama built an ashrama for himself in the forest and
looked after the cows. All the time he carefully practised the duties of a brahmachari.
Years went by. The number of cows increased to a thousand. |
