A thief had robbed the Vishnu temple, removing all the jewels from the image of the god.
The villagers wept when they saw what had happened. "Oh Lord," they said, "the thief has taken all your jewels. Why didn't you stop him? Was there nothing you could do?"
But one of the villagers laughed and said, "Those jewels are nothing but bits of rock. Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and fortune. Do you think Vishnu cares if some poor thief took these baubles? He is Vishnu; the baubles don't matter to him. They shouldn't matter to you."
Inspired by: Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna
Notes: This is story 138 in the book. This is a story that Ramakrishna tells about himself, rebuking Mathur Babu for bewailing the theft.
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