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outburst of a angry vaishnavite

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.K. Krishnaswamy • February 15, 2003 


Dear Devotees,
Narsi Mehta lived about five hundred years ago in Junagadh, a town in Gujarat.. He was a great devotee of God Krishna. He sang bhajans in honour of God. He is the author of the famous Vaishnava-jana-to song.

Narsi was a rich man. But he gave away all his money to the poor and needy. When the time came for his daughter's marriage, his wife requested him to ask some rich people for money for the marriage expenses. 

Narsi replied: "Last night my Lord Krishna of Dwaraka came to me in my dream. He said, 'Narsi. do not worry about your daughter's marriage. Send somebody to Dwaraka with a hundi for the amount of money you need. Address it to Seth Samaldas. He will give you the money, and you can have your daughter married."

Narsi wrote a hundi for Rs. 1500 and asked their cowherd to take it to Dwaraka. A hundi is a letter asking for money with a promise to pay within a certain period of time. Some merchants who were going to Dwaraka were staying in the cowherd's house. They said: "We have some money. We shall give you Rs. 1500 immediately and take your hundi. As we are ourselves going to Dwaraka, we shall collect the money from Seth Samaldas and give him the hundi." Narsi handed over the hundi accordingly. He celebrated the marriage of his daughter with the money that he borrowed on the hundi.

The merchants arrived in Dwaraka. They searched for Seth Samaldas. But in the whole of Dwaraka there was no Seth Samaldas. They were disappointed and also angry. They thought Narsi had deceived them. At last a man came to see the merchants. He said, "I am Seth Samaldas. What do you want?" The merchants replied, "We have a hundi for Rs. 1500 which Narsi Mehta of Juna- gadh gave to us."

"Yes, I have brought the money for Narsi, who is my dear friend. You may take this money and give me the hundi!" said Seth Samaldas. The merchants were pleased and greatly relieved; they also felt sorry for having doubted Narsi's honesty. They did not know that Lord Krishna himself had come as Seth Samaldas to help his devotee!

Narsi had complete faith in the Lord and his plans for him. That is why he distributed his wealth to the poor and himself lived a frugal life. Lessons and advice from such persons are a great treasure house of the rules of Dharma. In his Vaishnava-jana-to song, a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi, another friend of the poor and downtrodden, Narsi listed certain virtues that would identify a man/woman as a true Vaishnava. Below is a translation of the poem:

Call him a Vaishnava who feels for the suffering of another
And forgets the good he does to another, never taking pride in it.
He cares not for the praise and condemnation of the world 
nor himself indulges in it.
He is not attached to women and wealth;.
He is the same to all, is desire-less 
and the women of others, he considers like unto his mother.
He never speaks falsehood 
nor has he his eye on another one's wealth.
He is no slave of any passion or attachment, 
and the spirit of renunciation rules his mind.
His heart is fixed on the Lord, whom he is restless to meet, 
Truly , he himself has become like a holy place that pilgrims travel to visit.
He is neither avaricious, nor vile nor a victim to wrath and desire.
Says Narsi: 
Verily he and his family shall cross the cycle of rebirth.

It is significant and noteworthy that one who lived a frugal life dedicated wholly to Sri Krishna and considered himself a vaishnavite, laid emphasis on the inner traits of a saintly person, not the outer garb of dress or the rituals and other similar practices. A similar description may be found also in the Bhagawad Gita in the 2nd Chapter where Krishna explains to Arjuna how to recognize a sthitha pragnyan, a realized person.

Dasan
Krishnaswamy



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