Hare krsna
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Once upon a time, sage Narada came into the presence of the Lord. The Lord asked him, "Narada, in all your travels through the world have you been able to discover the principal secret of the universe? Have
you been able to understand the mystery behind this world? Everywhere you look you see the five great
elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether. Which do you think occupies the first place? Of everything that
is to be found in the universe what is the most important of all?"
Narada thought for awhile and then answered, "Lord, of the five elements the densest, biggest and most
important is surely the earth element."
The Lord answered, "How can the earth element be biggest when three-fourths of the earth is covered by
water and only one-fourth is land? Such a big earth is being swallowed by the water. What is bigger, the
thing that is being swallowed or that which is swallowing it?" Narada acknowledged that water must be
bigger because it had swallowed the Earth.
The Lord continued his questioning. He said, "But Narada, we have the ancient tale that when the demons
hid in the waters, then in order to find them, a great sage came and swallowed up the whole ocean in one
gulp. Do you think the sage is greater or the ocean is greater?"
Narada had to agree that without doubt the sage was certainly greater than the water he had swallowed.
"But," continued the Lord, "it is said that when he left his earthly body, this same sage became a star in
the heavens. Such a great sage is now appearing only as a small star in the vast expanse of the sky. Then
what do you think is bigger; is it the sage or is it the sky that is bigger?"
Narada answered, "Swami, the sky is surely bigger than the sage." Then the Lord asked, "Yet we know that one time when the Lord came as avatar and incarnated in a dwarf-body, he expanded himself so hugely that he was able to cover both the earth and the sky with his one foot. Do you think God's foot is bigger or the sky?"
"O, God's foot is certainly bigger," Narada replied. But, the Lord asked, "If God's foot is so big, then what about his infinite form?"
Now, Narada felt that he had come to the final conclusion. "Yes," he said exultantly, "the Lord is
the biggest of all. He is infinite beyond measure. In all the worlds there is nothing greater than he."
But the Lord had still one more question. "What about the devotee who has been able to imprison this
infinite Lord within his own heart? Now tell me, Narada, who is greater, the devotee who has the Lord
locked up or the Lord who is locked up by the devotee?"
Narada had to admit that the devotee was even greater than the Lord, and that, therefore, the devotee must rank first in importance over everything, surpassing even the Lord.
Reflection
A true devotee of the Lord has a devotion which is unintermittent, uninterrupted, like the flow of oil
from one vessel to another. His devotion is not dispirited; nor elated or satisfied with lesser gains;
it always fights against failure, loss, calumny, calamity, ridicule and against egoism and pride, impatience and cowardice.
To such a devotee, God Himself is at his service at all times as both of them cannot exist without each other. Such devotees never perish as Lord Krishna tells in Bhagavad Gita - " Na Me Bhaktaha Pranashyati"- Chap 9,verse 31 meaning- "My Devotees shall never perish"
But it should not be misunderstood that only those who worship a picture or image with pompous paraphernalia are devotees. Whoever walks straight along the moral path, whoever acts as he speaks and speaks as he has seen, whoever melts at another's woe and exults at another's joy.... is a devotee, perhaps a greater devotee.
So such a devotee should never consider himself weak, as God is a servant of such devotees. If we have God installed in our hearts through our love for Him, we can have the whole world. So we must develop devotion.
We should shape our hearts into purer more suitable dwelling places for God.
Once a devotee prayed, "Oh God, if you were a tree, I would climb around you like a creeper. It is my desire to never be separate from you. Oh God, if You were a fragrant flower, I would go around You like a bee making a humming sound until I finished drinking the nectar from You. If You were the ocean, I would be a river and merge into You. If You were the sky, I would be the star shining there in You. If You were a mountain, I would be the stream running over you."
God without the devotee and the devotee without God cannot exist. Some people think that God is
stone-hearted, but God is softer than butter. What must one do to melt this soft, sweet butter that is
God? One must apply Love; that is the heat. The more Love (heat) that is applied, the faster God will melt.
This heat is generated by repetition of the name and simultaneous remembrance of the form of God. When the name and form are rubbed together, the necessary heat is generated. Nothing melts the heart of God except the devotion of the devotee.
Comments