mani/mantra/& the garuda-legend-5

From the Bhakti List Archives

• March 27, 1997


srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha
sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",

Let's see what happened to our poor brahmin boy in the story related by
Sri.U.Ve.Mukkur Swami :
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After obtaining "mantrOpadEsam" from his village-guru, for several decades
thereafter, the little boy retired to a forest for meditation. There the boy
chose a secluded spot on a hillock and seated himself there. 

Then fixing his "inward eye of concentration" on a huge boulder that stood
before him at that spot, the poor little boy began meditating on the great
"mantrA" taught him by his great "guru" : "ingEnthu angae!angEnthu-ingae!"!!
                     ******************************
The years rolled on, the seasons changed, and the landscape too underwent
transformation.....

But our little boy, seated before the boulder on the hillock, continued his
"mantra-dhyAnam" with a fervour and passion that was truly and amazingly
divine. 

He continued incanting "ingEnthu angae ! angEnthu-ingae !" for several years
and many millions of times... unmindful of time, hunger, food, clothing
shelter, personal comfort .....

There was nothing else but undistracted, single-minded pursuit .... of the
"mantrA" taught him by his "guru"!
                     **********************************

After many, many years ..... one day, the boy finally snapped out of his
deep "mantra-dhyAna" ! 

He opened his eyes and witnessed the whole world around him !! 

He marvelled at all the changes that had been wrought through the period he
had been in deep meditation. The rains had washed away trees, animals had
grazed away some pastures, forest-fires had decimated vast tracts of land,
the winds had changed the face of mountain peaks ......

The only thing that had remained immutable, the boy noticed, was the great
boulder that still stood before him.

Looking at that great piece of rock, the boy could not help reflecting loudly:

"Dear Great Rock ! In the time that I went into "mantrA-dhyAna" until this
very moment everything in this world seems to have changed ! Except two
things ! One is yourself, Oh Great Boulder, you who have been constant and
my only companion these many years! I am deeply grateful to you !

"And the other unchanging thing, Oh Great Boulder" the boy continued
ruminating," is the "mantrA" itself which I have been meditating on
:"ingEnthu angae! angEnthu-ingae!" !!"

Now, no sooner had the lad uttered the words "ingEnthu angae!" than he
witnessed a most incredible sight that left him aghast !

At the very instant he uttered "ingEnthu angae !" (go thither) the boy saw
the great awesome boulder rise above the spot it stood, all by itself ! and
hurl itself about a few 100 feet away like a tiny pebble, as it were !!

The boy was astounded !

Unable to believe his eyes, the boy suspected he was dreaming and pinched
himself in the arm !!

He realized he was living very much in cold reality !

Then out of sheer curiosity and awe, he looked again at the boulder in the
distance and this time the boy gently and nervously uttered :
"angEnthu-ingae !" (come hither)! 

Lo ! Behold ! The boy watched the boulder fly through the air like a leaf
and drop down at his feet !!

The boy was simply mesmerised !!

It suddenly then dawned on him that the great "mantrA" of his guru,
"ingEnthu angae!"angEnthu-ingae!" (go-thither, come-hither) was really
working for him !! 

It suddenly struck the the boy that he had somehow acquired a mysterious and
paranormal ability to move objects of the world "hither-and-thither" by
merely chanting "ingEnthu angae!"angEnthu-ingae!".

Dumb-struck by the discovery he sat down, his knees shaking and his heart
pounding !

It took a while for him to recover too !!

The boy eventually came to his senses and immediately felt an extraordinary
sense of gratitude to his guru who had taught him the great "mantrA" !! The
boy exulted, too, in the happy knowledge that now he could easily go back to
the Master and proclaim his eligibility for further Vedic studies !!

However,before setting out on his journey back to home after so many years
and just to make sure he had truly mastered the "mantrA", the boy tried the
same incantation "ingEnthu angae!angEnthu-ingae!" several times !!

And each time, Behold ! the great boulder was tossed about "hither and
thither" like a mere play-ball and with the same intensity and force with
which the boy articulated the "mantrA"!! 

                  ***************************************

We shall continue the story in the next post.

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha
sudarshan