NAradA became proud of his incessant Bhakti towards Lord Vishnu. The Lord always punctures the bloated pride in his own subtle ways.
He told NAradA to visit one His best bhaktAs in the world. That man was a farmer. He would work all day long like a dog. He would utter the name of Hari just twice a day – once when he woke up from his sleep and again when he retired at night.
NAradA was amused that this man could be one of the best bhaktAs of Lord Vishnu.
Lord handed over to NAradAa cup filled with oil to its brim and told him to go round the world once, without spilling even a drop of the oil.
When he returned after a while, the Lord asked him, how many times he chanted the name of Hari. NAradA spoke the truth that his mind was so much preoccupied with oil cup that he did not utter the name of God even once.
Lord posed a question to him. “If you can’t remember me for an instance when entrusted with a tiny chore, how great is the man who in spite of living in the world with all the burden of samsArA remembers me at least twice day?”
NAradA admitted that the ‘samsAri’ farmer was indeed a better baktA than the ‘sanchAri’ nAradA.
Everything in the world can be divided into three types – the Uththamam, the Madhymam and the Adhamam. Men can also be divided into these three types.
The honey bees spend their entire lives looking for nectar. They will settle for nothing less than the best – the nectar. If they can not find enough nectar, they would rather die than eat anything else. These form the Uththamam among the various insects.
The house fly will drink honey. It will also go and eat the garbage strewn on the road. It has no discretion between the good and the bad and will accept anything it finds. It forms the Madhyamam among the insects.
The maggots found in the rotting cow-dung can survive only there! If offered honey, they will die! These form the Adhamam among the insects.
Men are also of these three types. Those who like the honey bee always go in search of the best are the Uththmam. Those who accept the good and the bad without any discretion are the Madhyamam and the men who always go in pursuit of the bad things are the Adhamam.
Human life is a precious gift of God. We should not waste it in lowly things and pursuits. We should always aim for the good things which will help us both in worldly matters and spiritual matters.
Do you know the purpose of our being born as human beings? It is to help us realize God in this birth itself and not for any other purpose besides this.
The eyes of a man which do not find pleasure in looking at the lovely form of the glowing Shiva and praise Him are no better than the colorful but useless eyes found on the feathers of a peacock.
Th ears which do not find happiness in listening to the great stories of Lord Narayana and Lakshmi Devi are useful only for wearing the various ear ornaments – as if they were jewel stands!
The nose which has never once smelled the fragrance of the Thulasi nirmaaylam of Sri Krishna is nothing better than the bellows of a blacksmith – drawing in fresh air for melting iron.
The tongue that does not praise and sing the glory of the Lakshmi Devi seated on a lovely red lotus is nothing better than the tongue of a croaking frog – sitting amidst the lotus leaves.
The head which has never bent or touched the ground in a sashtaanga namaskaaram in front of a God is only a turban stand in a human form. It does not contain any brain inside .
The hands which never did anjali to the most handsome and delightful form of Lord Shanmukha are nothing better than the clay hands of the dolls made by a potter – devoid of blood circulation and the sense of touch.
The feet of a man who never went on a theertha yaatra are none better than the roots of the tall trees found in the forests.
The heart which does not melt with bakthi is but made of iron. The mind that does not spill over through the eyes as tears is none better than the mind of an animal.
Being born as a human being is a rare opportunity. Let us not waste this precious janma in vain.
Now that we know the real purpose of our janma and our existence, let us strive for the real purpose and not waste one minute of our lives in other useless pursuits.
There are three types of men…The uththama, the madhyama and the adama.
The first two types of men are aware of the fact that they are prisoners of samsara-usually compared to a crocodile. The crocodile never loosens its grip and it never lets its prey escape!
The Adama type of people are not even aware of the fact that they are in the jaws of a giant crocodile called Samsara! Most of the people are happy to lead a life filled with sensual pleasures and comforts.
Those who want to escape the misery of samsaara may be less than one in ten thousand. The person who achieves it may be less than one in a million of such seekers.
Three dolls fell in water. They all sank to the bottom immediately. The first doll was made of salt. It got dissolved in the water and disappeared completely.
The second doll absorbed water since it was made of cotton. It became very heavy and huge!
The third doll was made of stone. It settled at the bottom instantly. It neither disappeared nor grew in size. It remained the same.
The doll which disappeared completely is the Mukthan who merges with God leaving no trace behind.
The second doll is the Mumukshu who listens to the words of wisdom of the Acharyaas ans Guru and tries for mukthi.
The third doll is the loukeekan. He neither knows about Mukthi nor strives for it. He is happy to be what he is.
We know the secret of escaping from the crocodile called samsaara. Let us try for liberation.
A traveler was walking all by himself in a dense forest. He was carrying all his treasures bundled up along with him. Three thieves stopped him and seized his precious bundle. They wanted to kill him before making their escape.
The first thief drew out his shining dagger while the second thief bound his legs and hands. The third thief intervened, argued with them and saved the traveler’s life.
The first two thieves ran away in haste. The third thief accompanied the man till he reached his home. But in spite of repeated requests he refused to come inside the house.
He left immediately after the traveler entered his house. The man was at peace at last since he had reached his final destination.
The world is the dense forest. The traveler is the Jeevaatmaa. The precious bundle he carries is the Atma Gnaanam. The three thieves are the three gunas – Raajasa, Thaamsa and Satva.
The thief who drew out his dagger is the Raajasan.
The thief who bound the traveler is the Thaamasan.
The thief who saved his life was the Satvan.
The home is the Paramapadam / Vaikuntam / Kailaasam / the final abode which every Jeeva wants to reach.
We can enter the final abode only after getting rid of all the three gunaas. Satvan is a good fellow and helps the jeevaa, but he too is a thief and can not accompany the Jeevaa is into the final abode.
Man does ‘bhakti’ to God seeking riches and many other blessings in return. May be one in a thousand persons worship God, just for the love of god, without seeking anything in return.
Every temple big or small, is flooded with the ‘bhakta janA’. PujAs are being performed continuously. Why then is the world so bad – in spite of all these bhaktAs?
KrishnA himself answer this question. He the creator, knows the nature of our mind and the bundles of desires stored in there- better than any one else!
KrishnA says that there are four grades of bhaktAs – divided according to their mental make up and attitudes.
The fourth and the lowest category of bhakttAs desire to enjoy all the pleasures of the world. The aim of their prayers and pujAs is to get every possible ‘bhogam’ in the world.
The third category of bhaktAs desire to amass great wealth and stick on to it. So they always pray for more and more wealth and that it should never leave them.
The second category of bhaktAs seek vivEkam – the ability to distinguish between the real and the unreal, the brahmam and mAyA. The desire only ‘gnAnam’ , ‘vivekam’, ‘vairAgyam’.
The first and the best category of bhaktas is the ‘gnAni’. He has conquered his mind and senses; he has destroyed his ‘ahankAram’ and ‘mamakAram’ and he is immersed in ‘Atma anubhavam’.
God is ready to give us anything we ask for. If we go to a multimillionaire and return with a worthless gift, it is our fault…not his!
Lord NArAyanA said to nAradA,” No one can recognize MAyA, while he was under its influence.” nAradA wanted to witness the power of mAyA.
They both went on a long journey. Lord NArAyanA became very thirsty and requested nAradA to fetch some water to drink.
nAradA went to a pond to fetch some water. He met an enchantingly beautiful girl there and fell in love with her. They got married and begot many children.
A strange disease started spreading in their country, killing everyone affected by it. nAradA and family tried to escape the disease by going off to a different city.
On the way a flash flood dragged away everyone except nAradA. He sat weeping bitter tears. At that point Lord Narayana asked him,”Why do you take such a long time to fetch water?
Only then nAradA realized that the entire drama has taken place in less than a minute! Such is the power of mAyA!
nAradA exclaimed to the Lord, ” The power of mAyA is really frightening! Poor humans live in mAyA all their lives. OH Lord! never ever subject me to your mAyA, I beg of you” .
A pujari who did puja in a rich man’s house had to go out of his village for a few days. He did not want to stop the daily puja. So his young son was entrusted with the daily puja.
The boy offered neivedhyam but the God did not eat.
God never came to eat the offerings. He waited for a long time. Finally he lost his patience and started crying, thinking that the God was angry with him and refused to eat food being offered by him.
Finally the God took up a human form and ate the neivedhyam. People were wonder struck by the bhakti and unshakable faith of the little boy.
He is deliciously sweet to think about,
The thoughts about Him are also sweet;
With His presence the Universe is built,
He who resides in everyone’s heart.
He ate the soil quite playfully,
He measured world equally playfully;
He saved pAnchAli from public shame,
His countless miracles sing His fame.
He lifted the mountain Govardhana,
And protected Gokulam from Indra;
He mesmerized the calves and cow,
Every pretty damsel was His Lady Love.
He is the God of Music divine,
A cowherd, walking by the ravine;
Giridhara is the great dharma dhAtA,
Through His gospel of The Bagavat Gita.
The learned men always praise Him,
The illiterate men always worship Him,
The Deva and others beings adore Him,
The God of all the Gods-it is always Him.
He becomes the kindest mother,
The guiding and protecting father;
The most dependable elder brother,
To Him who surrender do never bother.
He enjoys eating the stolen butter,
His mind is as soft as the butter;
Can there can be another like Him?
If there is one, I’m yet to find Him!
Seeking His blessings,
For ever and ever,
For everyone here,
Visalakshi Ramani.
Lord Muruga is as mischievous as Lord Krishna in His childhood. One day he scratches the face of a cat. Later He finds the same nail marks on the face of His mother PArvathi DEvi. He wonders who had scratched Her face and inflicted the nail marks.
PArvathi DEvi says it was the mark of the scratch inflicted by Murugan, on the cat, in the morning.
She says that She dwells in every single thing seen in the cosmos and the good or bad done to any living being will invariably be transferred to Her.
Let us realize that the World and God are not two different entities.
Whether or not worshiping God has beneficial effects, is the question that has been asked for thousands of years.
Two friends were passing by a temple. One of them wanted to worship the deity and the other wanted to stay out and wait for him.
The friend who went into the temple got bitten by a venomous scorpion. The friend who had waited outside found a new shining silver coin!
The first man went to his guru and asked angrily,”Why I who worshiped the God got bitten by a scorpion and my friend who did not worship God a gift of a silver coin?”
Guru used his gnAna dhrushti and told him these startling truths.The first man was destined to be bitten by a cobra on that day! God with His infinite mercy had changed it to a mere scorpion bite.
His friend was destined to find a buried treasure. Since he did not worship God, he got merely a single silver coin.”
Who are we to understand or comment on the actions of God? As long as we never lose our faith and trust in Him, nothing bad will happen to us or trouble us!
A king’s barber was very happy and well to do. While walking through a forest he heard the voice of a yakshA offering to present him with seven pots of gold.
The barber accepted the offer of the yakshA and was overwhelmed to find the seven pots of gold coins in his house. Six pots were full but the seventh was only half full. He decided to fill it up at any cost.
He sold all his properties and jewels, bought gold coins and put them in the jar. He did everything he could think of, including begging, but he could not fill the seventh jar.
The king noticed the change in the barber’s behavior and asked him whether he had accepted seven pots of gold from a yakshA.
The barber was surprised by the king’s question. The king advised him to return the jars as those gold coins could never be spent by any one and will ruin the house where they are placed.
The barber told the yakshA to take back his pots of gold. The seven pots disappeared magically, but along with the gold coins deposited by the barber.
He is left penniless, defeated and tired because of his greed!
A poor brahmin is unable to find any job. He is made to walk around from office to office, but without any success.
Hos best friend suggests that he should put a word to the famous drama actress Roja Mani who has several influential contacts.
The man meets her and tells her his sad story. She tells him not to worry any more.
The very next day he is called from his home and is given a good job with a fat salary.
Kings, ministers and managers may come and go. But as long as we have
women like Roja Mani, we don’t to have really worry.
Krishna can assume a shape (uruvam) and he can also be without a form
(aruvam) as He wishes to do. He will appear in person – if we call out
with faith and trust.
Jadilan was a young boy who had to go his school through a forest –
since there were very few schools in ancient time.
He would get frightened by the various growls and sounds of animals on
his way. He wanted some one to take him to school safely.
His mother told him to call out for Krishna. The boy demanded to know
who that Krishna was. The mother said that he is Jadilan’s elder brother.
The next day the boy got frightened by the growl of a lion and called out
for Krishna, his elder bother.
A beautiful boy with a divine smile appeared before Jadilan and escorted
him to the school. He promised to come back in the evening to take
Jadilan back home.
Jadilan did not know who the new boy was, but we all know who He was!
Don't we???
God wanted to confer many boons on mArkandEya maharishi but he wanted to witness Lord’s mAyAvilAsam more than anything else.
There came a torrential rain resulting in a heavy flood. He alone survives the flood which had destroyed the entire world. He floated on the water for a hundred million years all by himself!
He saw a beautiful baby floating on a Bunyan leaf, at a distance, in the water. He wanted to embrace the divine baby. He went near it and got drawn in by the breath of the child.
He entered the baby’s body along with the flow of air, and witnessed the whole creation inside the baby. He was thrown out by the outgoing breath. He wanted to embrace the baby and want near it.
At that time he found himself in his ashram safe and dry as he was before. If such is the power of mAyA even on maharishis, what about us puny, powerless and ignorant mortals?
A young brahmachAri goes for bikshA from a remote area in a forest to a village for the very first time in his life. He has never seen any young women so far.
He receives bikshA from boys and menfolk till he reaches a house where a pretty girl offers him bikshA. He sees a young woman for the very first time in his life.
He learns that her breasts are given by God to feed her babies – which she will bear some time in the future, after getting married to a man. He jumps as though he has received an electric shock.
He vows that the same Goddess ParAshakthi, who makes arrangements for food for even the unborn babies, will also feed him and that he will never again beg for food.
When certain temple priests were bachelors, they refused to go to the palace to meet the King.They always made the king come to them, for anything he or they might need.They were rich in Aatma Balam and so the King did not mind visiting them.
But once they got married and begot children, they started making a bee line to the palace for any puny reason – so that they will get extra DhakshinA from the king to meet their ever growing expenditure.
The King felt amused to watch them, wondering how much the grahastAs differed from the brahmachAris!
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