Story of an Ant

An ant clutched half a grain of rice in its jaws and was running along the first enclosure to the mandir in Prasanthi Nilayam.

“I want to offer it to the Lord,” she had proudly exclaimed before starting the adventure.

“Are you sure He will accept?” her astonished friend had questioned.

“Why not? A rice grain, a leaf—God accepts everything that is offered with a sincere heart. Do you not know even that much? How silly.”

So off she went strutting in the pleasant morning sun. Half way along the wall she confronted a senior ant. “What brought you here sweetheart?” The older ant was more than interested in the early guest. “Oh! Sai Ram, today is my birthday, so I brought this.”

“Give it to me; I’ll offer it on your behalf.”

“No, please,” was the astonished reply, “it is my birthday.”

“No, you cannot; you do not know the procedure. Swami likes people to be disciplined,” said the senior ant.

In the tussle [that followed] the new black ant was thrown into a crevice. The older ant bit off a part of the rice and disappeared.

Moaning and limping the younger ant picked up her share. It looked so miserably small and dirty. She could have cried out loud but there was no time for personal sorrow. Six inches more and she was almost strangled by a scurrying foot that hurried towards darshan. Now dusty and tired she dragged her body forward, hiding under the sand or in a slit between two slabs of stones.

She no longer cared for her appearance or her offering. Her only desire was to have a glimpse of the Lord, may it be just a flutter of His robe. The wall between her and the door seemed unending and the entrance was still a long, long way off. “Oh Lord of creations,” she looked ahead and sighed, “Oh Lord of creations, how many more tests to reach you?”

~Dr. Zeba Bashiruddin
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, July 1996