The lowly leper who used to utter loudly Lord Narayan’s Name Super
Since a long time ago I longed to write about two characters who were just beggars from material point of view. One of them was a leper and the other was a roller. By roller I mean a person who, wearing a mere loin cloth and carrying a vessel on his right hand, used to roll up the entire stretch of Baroda Street Chennai where my family resided during my school days ,on Saturdays calling loudly the name of Tirupathi Balaji. I used to look up on both with awe and a kind of veneration.
Every Sunday those days in late sixties I woke up to the distant but strong boom of a voice of the leper. The only word he uttered was “Narayana”. He would yell this holy Name of Lord Narayana from the bottom of his soul in such a way that you would think that the sound vibration would reach Vaikunta the abode of Vishnu. Even though I was ignorant of greatness of Lord and His names that time the voice of this leper stirred my hearts’ heart. I could not help liking it. What amazed me was the faith and devotion which he put into the Name of Lord Narayana. He was a leper. His fingers and toes were all worn out. Nose was almost eaten away . There were hardly any lashes on his eyes. He must have been undergoing a great deal of pain and discomfort. Still he was calling out to Narayan. It was definitely touching. The picture of him dragging himself along the street clutching a lota (metal mug ) between his elbow and chest surface in my mind whenever I think of my days in Baroda Street. Though he was a beggar the dhoti he wore was clean and white. He was wearing thick white and red vaishnav thilak on his fore head. Since his hands were almost fingerless I used to wonder as to who might have applied the vaishnav mark on his forehead . It was my grandfather who first made me realise the benefit which the residents of Baroda Street were getting from this poor leper. “ He appears to be a beggar. But actually he is a giver. You may throw into his lota ten or twenty paisa. But what he gives you is the transcendental vibrations of Vishu’s name. After his death he goes back to Vaikuntha. He is more dear to Lord Narayan than those archakas in the temples who commit all kinds of nonsense under the very nose of deities ” he told me one day. From the commission I made from purchase of grocery I kept aside some coins for this leper devotee of Narayan. As soon as I heard his voice I used to go up to the gate and wait for him. When I droped the coin in to his aluminum lota he would say Narayan with a smile showing a glimpse of his white teeth bringing his fingerless palms together in a gesture of salutation and gratitude. He was neither a leper nor a beggar. He was someone from planetary system upper who fell on earth and suffered due to some curse or offence.
Next comes Govinda. He had matted hair reaching his shoulders. Five inch beard. Half an inch thick vaishnav thilak. Only cloth on his body was a loin cloth full of mud. I never saw him standing or sitting. Carrying a brass vessel in his hand he used to roll in the street calling loud “Govinda”. Saturday was his day. Baroda Street those days was not a smooth tar road. It was dirty strewn with stones. There were litter everywhere. But Govinda never bothered. He just rolled and rolled. Even during summer days Govinda performed this act. You could not stand barefoot for a second but Govinda rolled bare bodied . The residents of Baroda Street who were mostly Brahmins did not offer this guy even a mug of water to drink. Myself and my friend Ramakrishna used to fetch water and pour into his mouth straight much to the displeasure of on looking elders. Like the leper, Govinda filled our ears with Balaji’s name on Saturdays. For this priceless act he used to get hardly a rupee or two . He would stop in front of each and every house and call out the names of Balaji. “Yedu kondalavada venkataramana Govinda Govinda “ even after so many years his voice echo in my mind. Since I came to realise the nature and value of Lord Vishu’s names and the benefit of hearing them later on in my life after coming into contact with devotees of ISKCON and started reading books of its founder Acharya Srila Prabhupada, I feel grateful to them. Things are not what they seem to be and persons are not what they appear to be. I am sure the leper and the roller should be by now in Vaikunta. The so called proud brahmins who looked down up on them should be screaming with pain in some dark corner of hell
Anandgopaldas (JPS)
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