The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna 21

In this regard there is the story of a thief who
went on a pilgrimage to a holy town, and on route
he and the other pilgrims stopped to rest overnight at
an inn. Being addicted to stealing, the thief began
making plans to steal the other pilgrims’ baggage,
but he thought, “I’m going on a pilgrimage, so it
doesn’t seem appropriate that I should steal this bag-
gage. No, I shall not do it.” Nonetheless, due to his
habit, he could not keep his hands off the baggage.
So he picked up one person’s_ bag and placed it in
another place, and then another person’s bag and
placed it elsewhere. He spent all night placing differ-
ent bags in different places, but his conscience
bothered him so that he could not take anything
from them. In the morning, when the other pilgrims
awoke, they looked around for their bags and
couldn’t find them. There was a great row, and
eventually, one by one, they began to find the bags
in various places. After they were all found, the
thief explained: ‘“‘Gentlemen, I am a thief by occu-
pation. Being that I am habituated to stealing at
night, I wanted to steal something from your bags,
but I thought that since I am going to this holy
place, it is not possible to steal. So I may have re-
arranged the baggage, but please excuse me.” This
is the characteristic of a bad habit. He does not want
to commit theft anymore, but because he is habitu-
ated, sometimes he does. Thus Krsna says that one
who has decided to refrain from his immoral habits
and make progress in Krsna consciousness is to be
considered a sadhu, even if out of past habit or by
chance he yields to his fault. In the next verse we find
that Sri Krsna says:
