Once Adi Shankaracharya went to a house for alms. There was a poor lady all alone in the house and with no food in the house to be given to him in alms. She frantically searched the house and found a Gooseberry(Amla/Nellika). and she gave it to him. Adi Shankaracharya was very pleased at the lady’s willingness to donate the only piece of food she had. Adi Shankaracharya immediately recited the KanakaDhara Stotram and invoked Devi Mahalakshmi. Devi Mahalakshmi was pleased and she showered the lady’s house with Golden Gooseberries. This incident is supposed to have happened on Akshaya Tritiya Day.
It is thus said that little acts of charity/donation done on the day of Akshaya Tritiya will bring in manifold returns.
The story is purely a legend. And the legends are always filled with belief systems. We don’t have to question the scientific rationale or logical reasoning in them. We have to take out the core essence of the story.
When you become an Administrative officer, you will be empowered with resources, executive power, and staff to implement your projects. Distressed and needy people will be lined up to seek help from you. But many officers forget the way they came from and get the hangover of POWER into their head. It happens due to lack of empathy and compassion in them. And these traits can’t be developed in a single day. They have to become a part of your core personality. They have to be embraced and practiced on a daily basis. Yes, Existential force will not shower the returns immediately as it happened to that poor lady in the story. But you and your family will be rewarded in many indirect ways. The Success of your journey is not just in attaining a rank in UPSC CSE, but when you bring smile on the face of the last person standing in the line for your help.
