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Re: Story: How a Bhakta should thirst for Narayana

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swamy swarna • February 15, 2002 


Hari Om. I too heard the story and it certainly made
me feel that I am still far from reaching that state.
And yes, the sage is Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

S.V.Swamy

--- Mohan T L  wrote:
> 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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           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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