The Lord Vishnu is the naughtiest and the strictest teacher world has ever seen. I’m back with another story of the Lord and his dearest devotee Narad Muni. One-day the Lord was spending quality time with his disciple. Suddenly, Narad started boasting about his austerity and his capacity to restrain his senses. The Compassionate Lord could not tolerate this. He thought,” enough is enough; I must do some thing for this fool.” He thought of something and smiled. The next day when Narad was going somewhere, he came across a city on the way. The city was decorated beautifully and great celebrations were going on. Narad’s curiosity started mounting and he went straight to the king’s palace and summoned the king. The King was a very humble person. He welcomed Narad and told him that celebrations were going on for his daughter’s marriage. She would choose the groom of her choice from amongst numerous handsome, brave and rich young men the next day. The princess too came to take the blessings of Narad Muni.

The princess was beauty personified. The moment Narad saw her; he was enchanted. He forgot all about his vow of austerity. His mind started racing, he was thinking hard on the plan to get the princess as his wife. Then he decided to attend the ceremony as a potential suitor. To ensure his victory, he went to The Lord Vishnu and asked for his form. He said that to win the princess he must look extremely handsome. As there is nobody more handsome than the Lord is, it would be best to have his form. He requested,” O Hari, Please give me your form and beauty.”(Hari is another name for The Lord Vishnu.) The Lord agreed happily and said,” Narad, I can do anything for your welfare. Tomorrow, everything will turn in your favour.” Elated, Narad went back to the city and waited eagerly for the moment. Next day, he got up early and got ready. Then he went straight to the royal palace. There was great fervor. Princes and many other handsome young men were sitting in the area assigned for potential suitors. Another area was demarcated for the Brahmins, priests and Rishis. Royal servants ushered Narad to that area. But he refused to sit there and proudly took his seat in the area reserved for the suitors. For some unknown reason, people were smiling while looking at him. Narad was sure that this way they were showing their appreciation for his beauty. Finally, the much-awaited moment came. The princess stepped into the hall, surrounded by other beautiful girls. Nard was so sure of his success. But when the princess came in front of him, she closed her eyes disgustedly and walked away. Narad was shocked. There was one more shock awaiting him. The Lord Vishnu himself was sitting in the next row. The princess went straight to him, put the garland around his neck, and thus she chose him as her husband. 

Narad was furious. He came out of the town and looked at his reflection in the water. He was looking like a monkey. He was terribly angry, sad and devastated. He never expected that his the Lord would deceive him like this. He was trying to figure out if the Lord himself was interested in the princess, why did he play with the emotions of Narad. Why didn’t he tell him everything straight?

Then he saw the Lord coming happily with the princess. Fuming Narad couldn’t control his rage and cursed him. But the Lord……he was still smiling unaffected. When Narad’s emotions settled, he saw that the princess was goddess Laxmi, the consort of the Lord Vishnu. He was overwhelmed and asked what the matter was. The Lord explained that the city, the king and the princess, everything was a creation of his Maya. He did it to teach Narad a lesson of humility as he had developed an ego for his austerity. But defiant Narad was not satisfied with this explanation. He further asked,” What was the secret of giving me the form of a monkey and making me a laughing stock.” The Lord replied with a beaming smile, “I gave you what you asked for. Don’t you remember? It was you who wanted the form of Hari.” (Hari is a synonym for monkey in Sanskrit.)
We are like Narad, committing same mistake. We keep on asking different things without knowing whether these things are good or bad for us. We ask for something from god and when we get it, we are never satisfied with it. 

May the Lord not teach us our lessons in the way as he teaches Narad.

Sudama and Krishna, both were disciples and students of Acharya Sandipani. They were very good friends, partners in every mischief. Time passed, both graduated from Sandipani’s Gurukul and parted their ways to pursue their respective lives. In the due course of time, Krishna became Dwarkadhish (The Lord of Dwarika), whilst financial health of Sudama was as weak as his physical health. Narrating numerous anecdotes of his student life was his favourite pastime. As Sudama was very fond of Krishna, it was natural that the hero of all his stories was Krishna. One day, Sudama’s wife, fed up of poverty, suggested that Sudama went to his dear friend and asked for some monetary help. Obviously, the self-righteous Sudama did not agree with her suggestion. However, her wife was persistent enough to convince him to go.

After several days’ long, tiring journey, Sudama reached Dwarika and at last, he found Krishna’s palace. Sudama told the guards that he was an old friend of Krishna. Reluctantly, they went inside and informed Krishna that a man called Sudama, in a very poor physical condition, was waiting to see him. The name Sudama cast a magical spell on Krishna. The next moment, Dwarikadhish was at the gate of his palace, embracing poor Sudama lovingly. He took him inside, call his queens and instructed them to wash Sudama’s feet and to feed him. He arranged Sudama’s stay at his own palace. Several days passed, Sudama was enjoying his stay at the royal palace. He was overwhelmed with his friend’s affection and generosity. However, one thing was bothering him. His dear friend was not at all bothered about his financial condition. He never mentioned that he was keen to help him in any way. Neither could Proud Sudama ask for any such thing. After a month or so, Sudama asked for leave and Krishna sent him off happily. None of them mentioned matters related to money.

Sudama was cursing his wife on his way back home for it was she who had made him go to Dwarika. He was very disappointed. When he reached his village, his fury doubled. Instead of his humble house, there was a huge palace. When he enquired about his house, a rich lady clad in an expensive sari and ornaments, resembling his wife came out. Poor Sudama, according to the custom, bowed his eyes and asked for his house and family. A great surprise was in store for him. That rich lady was his wife and the palace was his house. Dwarikadhish Krishna had sent his men to build the palace and a big farm was given to his family by Krishna while he was staying in Dwarika. His friend Krishna gave him everything that he needed, but he did it in a discreet way to save him embarrassment.

God helps in strange ways. He knows our desires, needs, and fulfills them silently at the right time and in the correct manner. We don’t understand his planning and crib.  

Lord Vishnu and his mischievous ways of teaching…..It’s my favourite topic. I’m back with one more story. This story relates to Dwaper Yuga, when the Lord had incarnated as Krishna. Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas had a very beautiful relationship with him. Very affectionately, He used to call her “Sakhi” (female friend). For Pandavas, he was elder brother, mentor, Guru all rolled in one. But, for Draupadi, he was “Sakha” or friend, with whom she could share anything and ask for anything. So, when Dushshasan was disrobing Draupadi, the wife of valorous Pandavas, the sister of the great warrior Dhrishtdyumn, and the daughter of the great king Drupad, she couldn’t think of anybody for her rescue but her Sakha. Poor Draupadi, face wet with tears, trying desperately to save her honour cried,” O Krishna, King of Dwarika! Please come and save me!” For a moment, nothing happened as if Krishna was not responding to her prayer. Then, suddenly, a miracle occurred…..

After several days, when Krishna came to meet Pandavas, Draupadi confronted Him for his delay on that fateful day. Her Sakha flashed His sweetest disarming smile and said, “Sakhi, I was always beside you. But, when you called on me for help, you addressed me as the King of Dwarika. Therefore, first I went to Dwarika and then I came back to you. What could have I done, it was you who confined me to the boundaries of Dwarika. Only if you had summoned the omnipresent Krishna, I would have been there for you immediately.”

The mistake that Draupadi committed, we keep on repeating again and again. We keep on trying to confine the Lord to man made boundaries. There is One God for Palestine, another for Israel. There is one God residing in Vatican and another God residing in Mecca. The Hindu God and the Muslim God are staring at each other suspiciously. We have imposed our pettiness on that omnipresent, omnipotent, all pervading entity that is beyond the limitations of time and space. If only we could understand the depth of the message that the Lord gave to Draupadi, we can make our world a better place.

There is a very interesting game called Kabutarbazi that was popular in the Awadh region of India. It is a game like the Derby race. People who indulged in this game used to   keep pigeons and organize their races. Kabutarbazi was considered a hobby of the elite class. There were so many self proclaimed Ustaad, the specialists of this game who used to boast about the finer details of the art of capturing and training pigeons. On the other hand, there were so many rich youngsters, having nothing worthwhile to do, who were always busy collecting tips of Kabutarbazi. One such Shagird (aspirant) went to an Ustaad to learn the great art of capturing pigeon. After much cajoling and coaxing, the Ustaad agreed to impart such precious knowledge. He decided to give a practical lesson to his pupil and showered him with several instructions. He told his disciple to hold a metal vessel full of wax and stand quietly where the pigeons were sitting. Then he said,” go quietly to the nearest pigeon and put the wax on its head. Now, wait until the warmth of the sun melts the wax and it comes on its eyes. When the wax will cover the eyes of pigeon completely, the poor creature will become temporarily blind, and then you can catch it easily without doing any harm to it.” Shagird, bewildered with that entire hullabaloo and so many tedious instructions, asked,” Ustaadji, should I had not capture the pigeon while I had been putting wax on its head? It would have been easier.” Ustaadji answered nonchalantly, “Then who will call me an Ustaad?” Poor Shagird !!!

Ustaadji and his Shagird are not isolated examples. Lifestyle Gurus and so many self-help books flooding the bookstores, always remind me of the duo. So many people speaking so much about peace and contentment in highly technical jargon…sometimes it makes me dizzy. Scriptures declare repeatedly that the peace is our essential basic nature. Simplicity is an indispensable virtue required for peace. Do we need anything other than surrender in the lotus feet of almighty to know him and attain peace?

Om Shanti …Shanti …. Shanti..

There is a story about an old lady, perhaps from China. It is said that in those times each devotee of Buddha in China used to worship their own form of Buddha. The protagonist in our story, that old lady was also a great, great devotee of Buddha. Obviously, she too had her own Buddha, in the form of a small beautiful statue. Like any other devotee, she was also very possessive of her Buddha. Once she was traveling through a jungle. On the way, she had to stay in a Buddhist temple. There were hundreds of statues of Buddha in that temple. The lady slept there peacefully. When dawn broke, being a very religious person, she started her morning rituals. All was going well till she burnt an incense to please her OWN Buddha. Suddenly she realized….what a shame….all other Buddhas were enjoying the fragrance of the incense meant for HER Buddha. She tried to fan away the fragrant air from the direction of OTHER Buddhas. But nothing worked. All other Buddhas were having a jolly good time, enjoying the fragrance meant for HER Buddha. She tried everything, but all in vain. Then an idea struck her. She took a sheet of paper and made a cone out of it. Then she covered the face of HER Buddha with that cone and inserted the burning incense from the other end. Viola!!! Now, all the divine and sweet smelling smoke was going directly into the nose of HER Buddha. Satisfied, she finished her remaining rituals peacefully. But when she finished all that worship business and removed the cone from Buddha’s face, she was shocked. The face of her Buddha was blackened. There was a wise Buddhist monk in that temple. When he came to know about this incident, he nodded solemnly and said,” This is the destiny of all great masters; their followers blacken their face with their foolishness.”

This is not just the story of that old lady. This is a story that narrates   a fact, which is beyond the realm of time and location. Since time immemorial, we have been behaving like her, some of us in direct and crude ways and some of us in a subtle, sophisticated, and intellectual manner. Spreading hatred and violence in the name of God, we are doing nothing other than blackening the face of our God, faces of our masters. Is it not enough? Has the time not come when we should start behaving in a more mature way?

Once Narad muni went out for an evening walk with Lord Vishnu. Suddenly, he asked Vishnuji,”Prabhu, can you please explain to me the secret of Maya?”The Lord hesitated, then he thought,”Is there anybody more deserving than Narad to understand Maya?” Then he made up his mind and told Narad to take bath before recieving the knowledge of Maya, as it is a highly sacred act. The weather was very hot and the river was far away. Soon, Narad started feeling unbearably hot and his throat became parched too. He located a village and ran to the nearest house. He knocked the door. The door opened..and there stood the most beautiful girl he could ever imgine….
Narad was totally flabbergasted. He felt what he had never felt before. He did what he had never done before. He proposed her instantaneously. There was another surprise waiting for him. She accepted his proposal without any hesitation or inquiry. Soon, the family of Narad Muni started to expand. They had several kids. He was blissfully engrossed in his conjugal life. Time flew; kids grew up, got married, and had their own children. There was no limit to his satisfaction and joy. Then there came a great flood. The immensity of the flood was unimaginable. Narad couldn’t save a thing or a soul he loved and longed for. Every one and everything was immersed in water before his eyes. Narad couldn’t bear the loss and agony and cried like a helpless child. He called the name of his Prabhu,Vishnu. At once there was nothing - no flood, no river, no village. It  was the same place where he had left Prabhu before going for his bath. Prabhu was asking smilingly,”have you taken your bath?”
Now Narad understood very well, what Maya is!!!!!

The other day, someone asked me why spiritual people are always supposed to be so serious, or we should say, gloomy. Some childhood memories came rushing in. I remember very vividly that whenever there would be any religious occasion at home, the extended family would gather, and we kids would be elated at the prospect of all of us being together. We would be playing around, laughing, talking, exchanging news…but very soon the grown-ups would come and inquire if we thought the whole occasion to be some kind of a joke. And we would be told to keep quiet, and keep our faces straight.

Anyhow, after this short digression, let’s come back to the subject. Why are spiritual people so gloomy? Or rather, as I would like to put it, are spiritual people gloomy at all? For a truly spiritual person resides in Sat-chit-ananda (truth-eternal-bliss). Now, indeed, how can one residing in bliss be gloomy? Is there even room for gloominess when one resides in sheer bliss? Gloominess is caused by frustration, jealousy and suppressed desires. A truly spiritual person would have none of these. So we are compelled to conclude that truly spiritual people are never gloomy; they are forever brimming with bliss, joy. Acharya Shankar has in fact said ‘childlikeness’ to be an important attribute of the true spiritual people.