By Arcana Siddhi Devi Dasi
Sanatana Goswami, a prominent disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, lived under a tree as a renunciant. Once, a poor brahmana heard that Sanatana possessed a stone that could turn anything it touched into gold. The brahmana eagerly went to ask Sanatana for the stone. Without the least hesitancy Sanatana told the brahmana he could have the stone; it was in a rubbish heap nearby. The elated brahmana found the stone but, being intelligent, began to consider the situation. Why would Sanatana discard something so valuable unless he had something better? When he asked Sanatana about it, Sanatana said that he would give him the most valuable thing but first the brahmana would have to throw the magical stone into the river. To discard the stone was a test for the brahmana, but after some deliberation he complied with Sanatana’s condition, and Sanatana gave him the Hare Krishna mantra.