Shukanand Swami composed poems in Sanskrit. Once, he decided to please Maharaj by composing some poems. He wrote the poems and showed them to Maharaj. As soon as Maharaj took those poems in his hands, he threw them in water. Other poets would feel insulted by Maharaja’s act, but Shuk Muni was not offended. He then wrote other poems. Maharaj threw them into water without even reading them. This continued for some time.
Maharaj asked him, “Don’t you feel I am unappreciative?” Shuk Muni replied, “Not the least Maharaj. I was writing poems only to please you. You took pleasure in throwing all my poems into water. Your pleasure was my pleasure. My pleasure consisted of your pleasure, hence why should I feel insulted?”
Hence, Shreeji Maharaj was very pleased with Shuk Muni. Shuk Muni belonged to the village of Dabhan so Maharaj very fondly called him `Dabhanio Sadhu’. Maharaj used to say, “This Dabhanio sadhu is very useful to me.” Whoever finds pleasure in the pleasure of Shriji Maharaj is a very useful person.
Moral
A poet loves his poems as parents love their children, thus if anyone neglects their poem, the poet feels offended. Although Shuk Muni was a poet, he considered Maharaj’s wishes as his own. That’s why even though Maharaj neglected the poems, Shuk Muni never felt insulted. This is called true devotion.