Shanidev's Way of Purification: A Story

There was a  old Head Priest at a temple. He had given up all the desires  long time ago, and the only thing he wanted to do was to serve the Lord. This Head Priest was supposed to start his third round of Sanidev's seven-and-a-half year period in the near future.  He prayed to Sanidev for giving not much pain this time. Sanidev then appeared in the Head Priest's dream and said:  “I shall not trouble you for seven-and-a-half years. Instead, I shall only trouble you for seven-and-a-half minutes. This period will start the moment I step into the 12th house from your Chandra Lagna." A few months later, Sanidev, on one fateful day, entered the Head Priest's 12th house. 

 
The next day, the manager of the temple opened the door leading to the inner part of the temple and got a rude shock--a gold vessel, studded with rare gems, was missing. This vessel was used to offer worship to the Lord. He accused the head priest for the theft as he was the last person to leave the sanctum sanctorum last night. The Head Priest was so shocked that he just sat down in a daze. He had served the Lord unflinchingly for several decades, and was praised by all for his knowledge, discipline, humility, and devotion to the Lord. Now, here he was, accused of theft! One of the junior priests, seeing the state of his Head Priest rushed to the temple to know the facts. He came back a short while later, full of joy. "There is no problem," he said, "yesterday night, apparently, when the door was locked, the vessel, falling from the table on which it had been placed, had rolled away and was lying behind the Idol of the Lord. The Head Priest is innocent!"

Head priest noted that, from the moment the manager had come to accuse him of theft to the moment his junior priest came with the message of his innocence, exactly 450 seconds—or seven-and-a-half minutes--had passed. 

That night, Sanidev manifested in front of the Head Priest, who at once fell at the feet of the one who can also be called Swati Ucchan because he, Sanidev, is  exalted in the star of Swati. "Great one!" said the Head Priest, "You have kept your word! For seven and a half minutes, when I was accused of theft, I was humbled and humiliated. But, the moment that period passed, my status was restored, nay, elevated by your kind glances!" Sanidev smiled and said, "Knowing your piousness, I could not hurt you. Still, while you are sinless, you still had some ego because of the praise you had received in the past because of your knowledge, discipline, humility, and devotion. These things would have ultimately prevented you from attaining Liberation, which is just around the corner. Therefore, I decided to humble you momentarily, so that there are no obstacles between you and final liberation."
The next day, the manager of the temple, who had spent a sleepless night, stressed by pangs of guilt and shame because he had insulted the Head Priest and falsely accused him of theft, once again fell at the Head Priest's feet and begged his pardon. "Forgive me," he pleaded, "you must have felt most insulted by what happened."
The Head Priest gave him a benevolent smile. "On the contrary," he said, "I felt purified."