Once upon a time, there was a devout and saintly old man. Every morning he used to sit on the banks of river Yamuna for several hours to perform devotion to Lord Krishna. One morning, as the old man opened his eyes, after his daily prayer, he saw a scorpion struggling to remain afloat in water. Seeing the helplessness of the poor creature, the kind old man's heart was filled with mercy. With an intention to rescue the scorpion, the old man quickly extended his hand inside the water. As soon as his hand touched the scorpion, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively, the man pulled back his hand. Minutes later, after the old man settled down, he again extended his hand to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him very hard with its poisonous tail. His hand became swollen and started bleeding profusely. The poor old man was in great pain. The second poisonous sting however could not deter the old man's spirit. He extended his hand yet again to get the scorpion out of the water. A passerby, who was witnessing this incident, could not stop himself and shouted out aloud, “Hey, Stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Do you want to kill yourself for an ungrateful scorpion?"The old man turned his head and looking straight into the stranger's eyes replied calmly - "My friend! If this insignificant creature does not give up its habit of stinging, then why should I give up the habit of mercy? This is the true nature of real saints. They naturally focus on the welfare of the sinners without a reason; likewise wicked people love to infest others without any cause.
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