One of the tales Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to tell is about a holy man who had given up all his possessions.

His teacher had advised him to make a little hut thatched with palm leaves, in a solitary place away from the public. This he did. 1/n

He began to live there, meditating long hours and going out only to beg his one meal of the day.

But there was one problem.

After his morning bath, the sadhu (holy man) would hang his loincloth on the limb of a tree close to the hut. 2/n

When he returned from the village it would be dry. It would also have some holes in it!

It turned out that rats were running up the tree and chewing holes in the cloth.

Rats will munch on almost anything.3/n

One day he decided to dry it on the roof of his hut.

That was worse.

The rats tore it into shreds, and he had to go and beg a new one in the village. 4/n

When the villagers heard of his predicament, they said, “Who is going to supply you with cloth all the time? Why not keep a cat; that will chase rats away.”

Someone in the village gave him a kitten, and sure enough, the rats disappeared and the trouble stopped. 5/n