Judgmental

Once upon the time there lived a saadhu(hermit). Everyday at day break he would go to the river to take a dip. On the way he had to pass by a prostitute's house.

One day when he was returning from the river, the prostitute, to tease him asked, " Baba, Khare ho ya Khote?"-(are you pure or impure) The Saadhu(hermit) does not answer.

This question became a ritual between the two and continued for umpteen number of years. One day the Saadhu did not return from the river. As the prostitute waited anxiously for his return, a man came and told her that the saadhu had slipped on the steps of the ghat(bank) and was dying. He was waiting for her.

The prostitute went running to the river. On seeing her, the saadhu tells her to repeat her question. When she repeated the question, the saadhu said that he was Khara(pure).

He had not said so before because he was not sure that he would remain the same. Since he was dying, there was no time for him to change. The saadhu then closed his eyes.