Since his childhood, Shyam had a fondness for reading. He would read books like *Harivijay* and *Mahavijay*. Except for one or two hymns, he did not know Sanskrit. He was a devotee of Rama. There was a neighbor of his age, named Bhaskar. Bhaskar would recite the *Ramraksha* hymn, which was in Sanskrit. He had memorized the entire *Ramraksha*. Shyam could not do so. Though he too was a devotee of Rama, he felt ashamed that he could not recite it.

Bhaskar had a copy of the *Ramraksha*. Every evening, he would come to Shyam and recite the verses of the *Ramraksha* to him. Hearing this, Shyam would feel a surge of anger. Bhaskar could recite the *Ramraksha*, but he himself could not—this made him feel embarrassed. It seemed to him that Bhaskar was reciting the verses deliberately to tease him. This pained him. He would get angry at Bhaskar.

One day, as usual, Bhaskar came over. He said to Shyam, “Shyam, only ten verses remain for me to memorize. In five or six days, I will have memorized the entire *Ramraksha*.”

Hearing this, Shyam slapped him. He realized that he was telling on him. He ran straight to Bhaskar’s courtyard and blocked his way, saying, “Bhashya, don’t show off. Enough of your cleverness. If I had a book, I would have learned and shown you. Who are you to show off to? And if you come to our house and show off again, you’ll see what happens!”

Hearing the commotion outside, Mother came out. She asked, “Bhaskar, what’s all this noise? Shyam, did you hit him?” Bhaskar explained what had happened. Then she turned to Shyam and asked, “What is this, Shyam? Did you really say that? Is this how you behave with neighbors? Should you act like this with your friends?”

Shyam’s anger had not yet cooled. He replied angrily, “He teases me on purpose. He says I don’t know the Ramraksha, and he teases me on purpose. He’s always showing off.”

Mother tried to reason with Shyam, “If he said you don’t know the Ramraksha, what’s so wrong in that? Why get angry when someone points out a shortcoming in us? Instead, seeing that shortcoming, Bhaskar wants you to learn the Ramraksha by heart. Why don’t you memorize it?”

“My brother gets to study, but where do I have a book?” Shyam answered his mother’s question.

“Take Bhaskar’s book and memorize it. If not, take the book and make a copy of it,” Mother said.

Bhaskar went home. Shyam decided firmly in his heart that he would copy down the Ramraksha from the neighbor’s book and memorize it. He told no one. He got paper and pen ready. He waited for the evening light. Early in the morning, Shyam went to Bhaskar’s house. When Bhaskar was not at home, Shyam went straight to his mother. “Bhima-tai, may I have the book for a while?”

Did Bhaskara give you the Ramraksha book? I want to memorize the Ramraksha.