King and the Priest : True Story

Lord Krishna in Bhagwat Geeta says"Madhbhaktva bhav" Be my true bhakt, Surrender to me I will absolve you from all sins and lead you to salvation.
Surrendering unconditionally to the Almighty is one way of expressing our confidence in the Divine. For faith works wonders. Faith is not just hoping and waiting for things to happens, rather it is working hard to make things happen and realizing that there are no failures just disappointments. When you have done your best Angels can do no better. God comes to the rescue of all those who surrender to him with full faith and belief in him. God does not differentiate between friends and foes, man and animal, caste and creed. He comes to the rescue of all those who surrender to him.

In Udaipur there is Chaturbhuj Swamiji's temple. In that temple a priest named Devaji used to stay. Everyday he used to do Aarti and prayers in the temple. He had become quite old. Once night time he cleaned the temple, completed Shayan Aarti and put God to rest and closed the temple door and went to sleep in his room.

After a few minutes he heard the sound of the King of Udaipur's carriage. The priest realized that the King of the city has come to pray in the temple. There were no malas(garland) left to put on the King as Thakurji's mala he had worn. Now he felt nervous, the priest did not know what to offer the king. He had become old and had grey hair. His hair got stuck in the mala. He could not decide what to do. Anyway he immediately removed mala from his neck as there were no other mala left and kept it aside for the king. The king knocked at the door of the temple. He opened the door for the King and offered him the mala which he had worn.

The King looked at the mala and said "why there are grey hair on the mala, has Thakurji grown old?" He replied "Yes" and did not know what to do. He was nervous.

The King gave a loud laugh and said"Oh! so now at this age you are telling lies. I will come tomorrow morning to see whether God has grey hair or black hair." Saying this king left the temple.

The priest had never faced this situation in his life. He had no intention to tell lies but since he had to offer something to King he offered him the garland which he had worn and this he did in a haste and due to nervousness.

Full night the priest prayed to God. He totally bowed and surrendered to Lord and wept bitterly in front of God's idol. He told God "I do your pooja very honestly. I do this to take care of my family as I have to feed many people in my family. I am your true bhakt. You know I have never spoken lies in my life. In the morning when the king comes what will be my condition, people will not respect me, they will make fun of me. The king will disown me and insult me. He may throw me out of the temple services. Whole Udaipur city people will collect,even people from nearby village who come to pray in this temple, will humiliate me. Please help me. Do something to save me from this humiliation." His whole body was trembling of fear of insult he would have to bear from the king in the morning.. He went on talking and begging mercy from God.

Morning when he opened the God's idol's door, he was shocked to see that idol's all the hair had turned grey. He could not believe his eyes, how can hair of a statue turn grey overnight.

The king entered the temple and said "Oh! so you have painted Thakurji hair into grey colour or brought from outside a wig or something of grey colour and put it on the God's idol. The priest was quiet. As per ritual the King washed Thakurji's feet and then tried to pull the hair from the idol to prove that the priest had spoken lie and to insult him for that and to see how the hair can turn grey. The king could not believe his eyes that when he tried to pull the hair, the face of God became little stiff and few blood stains fell on his clothes. The King became unconscious and fell on the ground.

The priest sprinkled water on the King, he got up. The king apologised to the priest and said "I came in haste and at wrong time, you had cleaned the temple and put God to rest and I disturbed you at this old age. I am extremely sorry for my mistake." The king appreciated the priest true bhakti and ordered that from now onwards anybody from king's palace would not visit the temple at night, specially when the door is closed and it is rest time for God and the priest. They have to inform in advance about their visits in the temple. Today also you will find in that temple Lord's hair is grey.

Faith and Surrender " A true story"

In Brindavan there used to be a saint of Sant Haridas's follower. He was very kind and helpful Mahatma. Once a young cowboy(Gwala) came to him. He told him that he has left his house and come to him so please accept me as your disciple. The boy said he would do anything for him. The saint replied "I will make you my disciple but you first have to take care of my cowshed. There are many cows and you have to take them to jungle to feed grass to them." He asked "what will I eat there? The Mahatma then ordered his another disciple to give him some potatoes, rice, wheat, salt and pepper etc. and told him to make chappatis and cook potatoes over there. But before eating you must first offer little food to God. The boy cooked food and offered some food to God as said by his Guruji. He waited for long but God did not come to taste his food. He was very hungry so he went on screaming and crying and calling bitterly to God to first come and have his food. But God did not come. Again he called and wept and said "God please come and have my food, I am so hungry but if you don't eat then I will have to remain hungry".

He waited and finally Lord Krishna appeared in front of him, shared food with him. Radha Rani was waiting for Krishna to have food with her but Lord said that he is not hungry as he has eaten his food with a gwala at Brindavan. She said how could you eat alone, tomorrow I will also join you to have food with him. Next day again after cooking food the boy waited for God to come. Now Lord Krishna and Radhaji came in front him and ate with him. Now the boy was running short of food because his Guruji had given him foodstuff for one person only. He went to his Swamiji and said "you told me to first offer cooked food to God and then eat. But God came with Radhaji and finished all my food. Now please give me more food grains and vegetables for me, God and Radhaji."

The saint was surprised that he had given him enough of foodstuff, more than what is required. How could he finish it so fast. He did not believe his story that God and Radha Rani have shared food with him. He thought he being an innocent boy must have dropped it somewhere.

Anyway the Mahatma gave him more stock of food. The third day when he waited for God to come, he saw Lord Krishna has come with Radhaji and so many gawal bal. They finished the entire stock of food. Nothing was left for the next day. The boy innocently approached his Guru and said "Everyday I offer food to God but he brings many people with him and they finish everything. Now tell me what to do. You have to give me more".

The Mahatma knew that boy is innocent and not making stories, there must be something happening in jungle that the food gets finished so fast. Anyway he gave him more food to cook for few more days. He then slowly followed him and hid behind the bushes to see what is happening. The saint could not believe his eyes that Lord Krishna along with Radhaji and gawal bal were enjoying his food and finished everything. He felt very amused and elated and then did namaskar to God. He then thought that so many years he has been praying and never could see God but this boy innocence and dedication impressed God so much that he sat and had food with him. This boy is great, his faith has done wonders, he is so dedicated. he touched that boy's feet and said that your true faith in God has given me opportunity to do darshan of Lord Krishna. You are true believer of God. What you did in few days, I could not have imagined in my life time. You are pure disciple of Lord. There is no cunning feeling in you, you are so pure.

The saint then told the boy that now onwards you become the priest of the temple and take care of God's idol and see that nobody steals or spoils anything from the temple. The boy agreed to sit inside the temple and take care of it. Now he was on temple duty. When it was 10 p.m. God came out of temple door. The boy asked him "where are going?". God replied "for raas leela".
He said "Go back inside the temple, I am the caretaker and nobody can go out after 10 p.m.". God answered "see I go everyday for raas leela at this time."
The boy said I don't know anything about other days, my duty is from today. Please go inside. Lord smiled and said "If you don't believe then you can also join me, but let me go. God had dressed up and it was sharad poornima. He told the boy to sit under a tree and enjoy the dance. Full night raas leela was going on with Radha Rani and so many gopis. The boy was surprised to see Lord Krishna dancing with so many gopis. Then one gunghroo fell on the ground. The boy picked it up and tied in a handkerchief. Then raas leela got over in the morning. It was time for Lord to return. The boy told the Lord "you look so tired and you are sweating, please sit on my shoulders I will carry you till the temple." God said that there is no need I go for raas leela everyday and come back on my own.

In the morning when the Mahatma entered the temple and was making preparations for Mangal Aarti, the boy stopped him. He said "wait, ten minutes back Thakurji has gone to sleep, do not disturb him with your aarti. The Mahatma lost his temper and said "you have gone mad, gone crazy. This aarti I do everyday in the morning, how can you stop me. This is just an idol of Lord. How can it sleep in the early hours of morning." The boy innocently showed him the ghungaroo and said that during night at 10 p.m. he had gone with Lord and saw raas leela. There Lord's ghungaroo fell down which he has tied and kept in a handkerchief . Mahatma was stunned to see the ghungaroo as he know they were thakurji's ghungaroo. They were not there on God's ankle. The Mahatma was deeply impressed by the boy bhakti and innocence. His unconditional dedication for the Lord. From then onwards it was decided to pray and do aarti at 8 a.m i.e in the morning at eight 'O' clock. Now also at other temples aarti is offered at 4 a.m.. but in Bihariji's mandir at Brindavan it is offered at 8 a.m..

Feeling for others

Once there was a severe drought in a village. There was no water, people were dying of hunger and ailments. There was no money, no medicines etc. A Mahatma took his bag and went to each and every house to collect whatever little he could get from them to serve the needy and poor people who were severely affected by the drought. He collected lot of donation but that was not sufficient enough to help all the people.

He knew there was a very rich man near the village but he was extremely stingy. He would hesitate to spent money for his wife's treatment also. Only money would count for him. He was least affected by the drought. He knew that people are suffering but would not come out to help the needy. Mahatma tried to approach that rich businessman. People of that village alerted him and said that this businessman will not give a penny. He is very kanjoos(stingy). But Mahatma did not pay heed to all this. He marched ahead went to him and requested him by saying "My son, will you please give me ten thousand rupees. I will return back this money to you by evening. I will show to the people of village that, see, this rich businessman has donated ten thousand rupees to help those people affected by drought. Then other rich people will also start donating. Your name will appear in newspapers and all the villagers will talk about and appreciate you. As promised I will definitely return this money or more of it, if possible, to you and will not let anybody know about it. But your name will be taken by everybody, you will become very popular. People will come to greet you and praise you forever. Man was convinced by the Mahatma and offered him ten thousand rupees.

Mahatma then showed the people that this stingy man has donated ten thousand rupees and started praising him. People were all surprised and hearing this more and more people started donating money. This way Mahatma collected a lot of money which was enough to help all the needy villagers.

In the evening Mahatma went to the rich man's house to return his entire money with interest. The man refused the money by saying that please use this money for betterment of villagers. He said " I am feeling so happy and contented that I cannot believe. I have been receiving calls and people are visiting my house to thank me. Even media people have given me so much importance. I never felt so big in my life. My heartfelt thanks to you who encouraged me donate and help people. Now I feel how satisfying it is help others. I am feeling so jubilant."

The Mahatma smiled and answered "when we do something good our inner voice always appreciates us,we feel contented but when we do bad our conscious nags us. But we have killed our conscious, we have no time to listen to the God within us who is all the time with us, guiding us from within. If you pay little attention, you will know that God, the Almighty is within us and around us in the form of this beautiful universe."

Search of God and Soul

A saint was once sitting under a tree and was deeply immersed in his prayers concentration. A young boy came near him, bowed and did namaskar to him. He said "Maharaj! I have come from very far in search of you, I have been wondering around for days asking people about you and finally I have come to you. I am very tired and desperate to know about God and Atma. I have been to many religious places, met many priest and saints, but none could satisfy my this strong desire to know about the Almighty. I could not find God anywhere and I don't know what is Atma and Paramatma. Please do not disappoint me. Please quench my this thirst. Please help me to get darshan of Paramatma."

The saint looked at him from top to bottom and was observing him deeply to know whether he has the true desire or this is just a temporary wish. The saint replied "friend, it is very cold and winter time, the sun is also about to set and it is getting dark and the fire from this dhooni has extinguished and only the ashes are left. Now take these burnt wooden logs, search for any spark left in the ashes and with the help of the spark(angaar) lit the fire again. Our conversation will last for whole night, we will take the heat from the fire and I will go on answering your questions."

There was heap of ashes lying there and the young boy took a stick and went on searching for any spark left in the ashes. Then he told the saint that there no sparks left in this heap of ashes, the fire has been totally turned into ashes. The saint said "Pay more attention, concentrate more" The boy tried again still he could not find the spark. The saint said "Pay more attention on the fire, not on ashes. From here only you can lit fire".

The boy got frustrated and said "when there is no spark, how can I search it?"

The saint politely said "give me the stick" He then went on digging the ashes. The boy said that you are wasting your time. But after one hour the saint could find a dim spark and told the boy that now you can see a spark. With this spark I will lit the fire and feel the heat to protect from this cold winter.

The saint then made the youth understand and realize that "As you were in a haste to search a spark from the heap of ashes and did not pay much attention and was in a hurry, same way to find Atma and Paramatma you have to work hard and have patience. God is within you, in your HEART, but you have no patience or least bothered to find HIM. You are in a hurry. Have patience God will come to you if you truly love and search him. Like when you dig a well, at some places the water comes out after little effort, some place it takes hours to find water, some places days and some place like deserts sometimes you cannot find water because you become restless and stop taking pains and efforts.

The saint then told the boy "Atma is definitely with us ,it is there within us and even God(Paramatma) is certainly within us. It is only the effort that counts. Some get is with little effort, some people have to struggle very hard to find him. But if you determined and strongly desire, you will definitely find HIM.

Friends and Foes

A Saint had some disciples. They used to always sit together and pray. Once the saint sat alone and was praying peacefully, the disciples followed him and quietly sat next to him. He closed his eyes, lifted his hands up and said "Oh! God, I can defend myself from my enemies but please help me from my friends, I cannot fight with them". The disciples heard this and then questioned him what are you praying to God for that "There is always fear and danger from friends, why from friends." Friends are always helpful when in need. They said "you were in dhyan while praying so may be by mistake you must have said to God to help you from friends and you can fight against your enemies instead you should have prayed to help from enemies".

The saint replied"NO, I was fully aware of what I was praying, there is no mistake.

He said "My Friend is this "I" and ME, MY EGO. My friend is this feeling of being a doer(karta ka bhav), of being myself. These friend they don't leave me, they are stuck to me. I am afraid of these friends. My enemies are anger, lust and desires, greediness, possessiveness (Kama, Krodh, lobh and Moha). I can fight with them. I can make them my slaves. They cannot dictate me. But, Oh! this I, Me ,Myself whom I love so much, they also love me so much, I cannot fight with them. Only God can help me to get rid of them. If my Ego is hurt, I feel like taking revenge, if somebody says I am egoistic, I get wild because I cannot hear anything against my friend.

You know in the last chapter of Gita i,e eighteenth chapter Lord Krishna told Arjun about Ego. If God had told him in the beginning Arjun would not be able to hear anything from Krishna.

Once a Fakir went to a state capital and was sleeping under a tree. It was dark night. When he woke up he saw some light. He looked around and saw a jugnu sitting in front of him. He had spread his wings and told the fakir "see it is because of me you can see light otherwise there is all darkness. The fakir told the jugnu insect "you are very nice, very sweet, this whole city is lit with your light, even sun and moon derive light from you." Jugnu's ego got bloated up, he jumped and sat on fakir's hand. He said "you are such a nice Maharaj, nobody has ever praised me so much." They became good friends and full night they went on talking. Slowly, slowly the fakirs love changed the jugnu's thoughts and he started behaving and talking like the Mahatma.

Same way Lord Krishna with his praises, love and affection changed Arjun, who being a warrior, had ego and Lord also with sweet words helped him to overcome depression.
Very few are lucky to have such friends who help them to get rid of ego and eradicate their depressive thoughts

Firm Behaviour and Strong Determination

Lord Krishna once told Arjun that you should have firm behaviour and strong determination. You being a warrior at one time don't want to fight against your near and dear ones, another time you look depressive and want to become a saint. You are born a prince and your nature is that of a warrior, you cannot escape that so you should have a strong behaviour and face all odds to prove you are a prince.

Do we have a firm behaviour, do we stick to one point. There are certain people who have firm belief and strong determination.

Once a saint reached the capital of a state. He was alone and did not know anybody there. It was winter season with heavy rains and almost it was getting dark. He thought of going to temple to take shelter there. But the priest of the temple did not allow him. He told him that without any acquaintance he cannot allow him spent a night in the temple as anybody can disguise as a saint and cheat us. We are sorry about it. He went to Church, then he approached mosque but he got the same reply. He asked many people but none helped him and it became very late at night. He walked further and finally saw a man standing near a big building. He requested him to tell people that you know me so that I can spent one night peacefully due to cold and rain. The man looked at him, he saw that he was some Mahatma. He said "My acquaintance will not serve your purpose as I a am famous thief. I steal from people's houses and that is my earning. Since you want to spend one night you can stay in my small house.

The saint became hesitant, got scared that how could he stay in a thief's house. Here the thief is showing his honesty and he is firm , but the saint is reluctant and worried about what would people think about him. The thief said "decide fast because this is my business time and I don't stay in my house during night". Here the thief should get scared that in the saint's company he will not be able to steal but on the contrary saint is scared of the thief. Anyway the saint agreed to stay in the thief's house. The thief told him that "In the morning I will ring the bell, you open the door for me, foodstuff and other thing are kept, you can have them".

Morning when the thief returned, the saint asked him that did he get anything. He replied and said "No, "why to worry,why get scared, so many days, so many years are left, so many night to go, some or the other day I will get it." But there was absolute peace and a feeling of contentment on the thief's face.

Mahatma said "You are great, Least bothered."

Mahatma stayed for one month with that thief but he did not get anything. There was no bitterness, no disappointment. Always smiling. The Mahatma in his mind said to himself that I appreciated his firm determination and not losing hopes, always trying, I do pranaam to his strong behaviour. He said to the thief "I will pray for you that this bad habit of your dies and with your strong will power you can make money through fair means". The saint's prayer for the thief was heard and he started small business of selling fruits, vegetables and being satisfied with whatever he earned.

How about us? If we face any problem we fight with God, stop praying and going to temples. We are never firm and satisfied, always craving for more and in the end stressed out or face depression. Be firm, never lose hope or courage, your will power will bring out fruitful results. All your negative thoughts will disappear and you will definitely find your path.

Body and Soul (Shareer aur Atma)

In our day to day life we mostly talk of satsang , knowledge about God, hear from others and discuss about soul i.e our Atma, but we truely don't know what is Atma. These are just talks. But frankly speaking we are stuck and bonded with only our body, our physical needs and looks. We want to look beautiful and attractive or impress others with our good behaviour or talk politely etc or for any matter like for eating, drinking, sleeping, we are restricted to only our body and mind. There is something far beyond where we don't want reach and understand.

Once Sant Kabir's neighbourhood somebody passed away. The relatives started crying and screaming bitterly. Kabir heard the noise and asked people around what was the matter. He was told that a man of the family has died and family members are crying. He thens went to sympathize with his neighbour. When he went there he was surprised to hear a man giving lecture to family members by saying that not to cry. He was telling that if you are crying for body than see it is lying motionless in front of you and if you are crying for Atma then Atma does not die, it is amar and ajar. Kabir was thinking that such a Knowledgeable man is residing near my house and I am not aware of it and this man knows that soul is forever, never dies. He thought he should attend his satsang and make friendship with him.

After two to three months Kabir saw that the person who was giving knowledge about soul to the family where death had occurred, was crying and weeping bitterly. The family members of the family where death had taken place before were trying to console him by repeating the same words that Atma is amar and ajar, the soul never dies. This shows that we have no knowledge about death and the feelings, we just talk, we are not interested in going deep into somebody' sorrow, we just console and talk but when the same thing happens with us we cannot take those talks easily, we cannot swallow or understand the other person's superfluous knowledge about Soul and Body.

March Ahead with your duty,Do Not look Back For Results

You must do your duty honestly and leave the rest to God. Lord Krishna told Arjun Do your Karam and Results leave it to me. If you wish to ask something from God then ask him to accept you as your are, good or bad, paapi or dharmatma, khara or khota. Just surrender to him as you are.

If you beg something from God then tell him to become yours for ever. If he is with you then there is no need to ask anything from him as HE knows everything. Whatever is good and in your favour he will definitely give you.

Once a very rich lady had faced severe depression, she had become mentally unstable.
She spent crores of rupees on her treatment. She went abroad for the treatment, but of no avail. Then she came back to her native place. Her friend suggested her to visit a small village where a vaidhya's home remedy will help her. She thought that since she has tried all means, why not try this also. She went to the vaidhya and explained to him about her problem. He gave her some Ayurvedic medicine. Within few days she became perfectly alright. She was so impressed by him that she offered him a bag full of money and some ornaments of diamonds and gold. The vaidhya was not happy with the bag, without opening he said that he does not want this bag, just give me my fees. The lady was surprised she took back the bag and asked him how much was the fees. He said only Rs.300 is my fees. She offered him Rs. 300 . She then opened the bag in front of him and showed him that there were lakhs of rupees and ornaments of gold and diamond. But still she gave one thousand rupees and left. Then his friends laughed at him and told him that you faced a major loss,the lady was giving lakhs of rupees and you did not accept it. Hearing this the vaidhya felt very bad and he went into depression.

So leave everything to God, He will give you more than you require. But don't loose heart if you happen to miss it. Just relax and be contented with whatever is rightfully yours.