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Re: Story: How a Bhakta should thirst for Narayana

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Mohan T L • February 14, 2002 


Hari Hari,

A very nice and perfectly true story by Shree.
Srinivasan. Adiyen has heard that the sage was "Shree
Raamakrishna Paramahamsa". Is Adiyen right ?

Hari Hari

--- psrinivasan99  wrote:
> This story illustrates how a Bhakta should aspire
> for the feet of 
> Vishnu.
> -----
> Once a person, on listening to the stories of
> Haribhaktas, got a 
> desire to have a direct dharsanam of Mahavishnu.
> Though his desire 
> was noble, it was not supported by a commensurate
> level of sincerity 
> and commitment to Narayana, due to his predominantly
> materialistic 
> outlook. He then visited a sage and implored him to
> `reveal'
> Vishnu to him. The sage, being a knower of the
> hearts of all, knew 
> the lukewarm devotion of the person. But due to his
> innate kindness 
> natural to those who cherish Mukunda in their
> hearts, the sage 
> said "Dear son, even though all beings are
> perpetually seeing
> Vishnu alone on account of Hari being the inner self
> of all, they do 
> not know this truth and therefore they suffer. But
> to have a direct 
> perception of Narayana is the highest attainment in
> the universe, 
> attaining which all the joys of the world pale into
> insignificance. 
> Such being the case, it is difficult to attain
> Mahavishnu's
> vision unless one bathes oneself in the dust of the
> feet of sages 
> who possess nothing other than Haribhakti. Therefore
> I advise you to 
> constantly serve the Prapannas of Govinda. I assure
> you that this 
> alone will be adequate to fulfill your desire." 
> 
> Even though the sage gave him the best advise, the
> devotee could not 
> digest it due to his own impatience. He left the
> sage dissatisfied, 
> only to come back a few days later with the same
> request. The sage 
> advised again that the attainment of the lotus feet
> of Vasudeva is 
> not a child's play and one need enormous kshama
> (patience) for
> that great attainment. The devotee again left the
> sage, dissatisfied 
> with the sage's advice and thinking that the sage
> was
> unnecessarily 
> denying him his desire. This routine happened a few
> more times and 
> the devotee was becoming more and more impatient. 
> 
> On one occasion, when the devotee started speaking
> in the same vein 
> to the sage, the sage thought that it was high time
> to prove to the 
> devotee, in physical terms, what it means to aspire
> for Krishna. He 
> asked the person to accompany him to a nearby lake.
> The person 
> gladly accepted the idea thinking that the sage
> would teach an 
> esoteric mantra that will reveal Mahavishnu. On
> reaching the lake, 
> the sage suddenly grabbed the neck of the devotee
> and forcibly 
> drowned him in the waters of the lake. Astounded by
> this unexpected 
> action of the sage and gasping for breath, the
> devotee struggled to 
> get out of the clutches of the sage. A few seconds
> passed by but the 
> sage did not relax his hold on the devotee.
> Suffering greatly, the 
> devotee struggled to get out of the water. After
> some time, the sage 
> pulled the devotee out of the waters. Thirsting for
> a breath of air, 
> the devotee sprung out of the water and breathed air
> like never 
> before. Being confused as well as angry, the devotee
> shouted "May
> I know why your holiness has done this to me. I
> sought from you a 
> vision of Vishnu and in return you almost killed
> me." The sage 
> asked "Dear son, when you were inside the water
> gasping for
> breath, what is the one thing that you wanted?" 
> 
> "Air, one breath of air, that is the only thing I
> wanted in the 
> world; I sought nothing else, I swear" said the
> devotee. 
> 
> The sage replied "DEAR, WHEN YOU CHERISH THE SAME
> KIND OF SINGLE-
> MINDED DESIRE FOR HARI, WHEN YOU WANT NARAYANA JUST
> AS BADLY AS YOU 
> WANTED A BREATH OF AIR, WHEN YOU GASP FOR ONE VISION
> OF VASUDEVA, 
> WHEN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE BECOMES MEANINGLESS WITHOUT
> GOVINDA, THEN 
> WILL VISHNU MANIFEST BEFORE YOUR EYES, I SWEAR."


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