Sunday, August 28, 2011
COMPASSION OF THE LORD FOR DEVOTEES
God accepts the offering of the devotee of sin-less mind, and reciprocate the love of the devotee.
Patram Pushpam phalam Thoyam Yo mae Bakthya prayachathi
Tat aham bakthyupahrutha masnaami prayataatmana:
God says whomsoever offers to me with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I appear in person before that disinterested devotee of sin-less mind and delightfully partake of that article offered by him with love. Here the God’s only condition is that the sentiment of the devotee who offers any of these things should be absolutely pure and loving. The main ingredient required to the offerer are devotion , love, and gratitude.
To elucidate the above we may take the examples of “Draupathi of Mahabharatha”, “Indradyumna- the Gajendra”, “Devotee Sabari”, “Rantideva-the king”.
DRAUPATHI OF MAHABHARATA:- ( PATRAM- LEAF):-
During their exile in the forest, the Pandavas were passing their period of privation. Kaurava -Duryodhana and his associates known for devising means for their extirpation; on one occasion propitiated the sage Durvasa by his services and asked for a boon. The boon was to visit Pandavas in the forest and accept their hospitality with his all sishya ganas ( about ten thousand in numbers)He also specially requested the sage to go after Pandavas especially Draupathi has completed her meal for the day.
The plan Duryodhana thought was, that after Draupathi had taken her meal the special cooking vessel ( Granted to her by the Sun God -called Akshaya Patra ) would not yield any more food on that day. (The secret of the special cooking vessel is that it would yield food to any number of persons on a day till Draupathi complete her meal) Duryodhana thought that by not providing food to the guests, the same would invite the wrath of the short tempered ascetic; who would reduce the Pandavas to ashes, by his curse. The ulterior motive was thereby to finish off Pandavas. Sage Durvasa granted this boon without knowing the real motive behind this request.
He appeared in the “ Kamyaka” forest where Pandavas were living along with his ten thousand pupils. After honoring the sage with due respect- Pandavas invited the guests for meals. Accepting their invitation Durvasa went to the nearby river for bath.
The real situation was that all the Pandavas including Draupathi had completed their meals and the “ Akshaya Patra” was cleaned for the day. The much disturbed Draupathi to save her from any awkward predicament, prayed, invoking “Lord Krishna” and seeking His blessings to rescue her. Acknowledging the prayers of Draupathi – His devotee in distress-reached her place immediately. Greeting the Lord, she described to Him the predicament she was facing then.
Lord Krishna asked Draupathi to bring the cleaned Akshaya Patra Vessel. He found a vegetable Leaf sticking somewhere in the vessel. Telling her that this single leaf is enough to satisfy all the three worlds- Lord the enjoyer of all sacrifices and offering immediately took-out the leaf and putting it into His mouth by uttering: - “Let God who is the soul of the universe and enjoyer of sacrifices derive satisfaction from this leaf”. He then asked Sahadeva to go and fetch the sage and his pupils for the meals.
Meantime a strange thing happened on the riverside. The sage and his pupils felt that their stomach had become suddenly loaded and began to belch. Sage Durvasa coming to know of the situation stated as follows to his pupils. “Pandavas are extremely pious, learned, men of great moral stamina, and they are exclusively devoted to Lord Krishna. They can reduce us to ashes. My experience with Ambarisa is still fresh in my memory and I am terribly afraid of the devotees of Sri Krishna”. Hearing sage’s words all pupils dispersed in a haste and Sahadeva could find none in the river bank.
After that Lord Krishna left for Dwaraka by stating that “ you Pandavas are all virtuous souls and those who are constantly devoted to such conduct never suffer”.
INDRADYUMNAN- THE GAJENDRA (PUSHPAM- FLOWER):-
Once Oppressed by the heat the Gajendra, the head of the herd along with other elephants reached the lake in the garden of “Varuna Lord, the Lord of water” in the Trikuta Hill. The name of the lake was “Rtuman”.
In that lake lived an alligator. It immediately got hold of one of the feet of the Gajendra. Exerting all his strength the latter tried to dis-engage his foot from the alligator’s mortal grip; but without success. The tug of war continued for almost thousand years. Losing all hope on its strength’ the lord of the elephant at last sought refuge with the lord, calling Him as “ Aadi Moola” The Gajendra also offered a beautiful prayer to God – a very famous one called Gajendra Sthuti.
To protect his devotee Lord reached the Trikuta Hill immediately. Seeing the Lord, Gajendra plucking a lotus flower from the lake presented to the Lord with following words. “ Narayana Akhila Guro Bhagavan Namaste” ( Lord Narayana O Supreme master offer my obeisance to you).
Lord accepting the Lotus offered by the devotee with love, severed the head of the alligator with His “ sudarsana chakra”. In fact the elephant and the alligator both were in their curse. The Gajendra was a king of Pandya Desa and devotee of Lord Hari- His previous birth name was Indradyumna. Sage Agastya’s curse made him an elephant. The alligator was a Gandarva in his previous birth by name Hoo Hoo. He became an alligator by the curse of the sage Devala. Gajendra Sthuti or hymn consists of 28 slokas, in the Srimad Bhagavadam. Very much pleased with the devotional prayer- Lord says as follows: “whoever glorifies me early in the morning, every-day, with this Sthuti sung by Gajendra, will be taken out of the mundane/dream existence and at the time of their death, I will give him the wisdom relating to my truth”.
DEVOTEE-SABARI- PHALAM ( FRUIT):- Sabari though low born was great devotee of the Lord. She spent large part of her life in the forest of Dandaka serving sages. Sage Mantanga took compassion on her and imparted Holy names of Lord to pray for. So much was her devotion to Lord that the sage while leaving this mortal world told her that one day Lord Rama would come to her cottage and the very sight of Him would fulfill the purpose of her life.
Awaiting His visit any time- any day, Sabari for many days swept the path, cleaned the court yard, prepared seats, and plucked fruits to be served to Him. One day the Lord Rama visited the cottage of Sabari. Overwhelmed with love, she found herself tongue tied, bowed her head at the lotus feet again and again. She then worshipped the Lord and placed fruits before Him, after testing and tasting each one for its sweetness. Praising her devotion in highest terms, the Lord accepted her worship and conferred the highest blessing on her, by partaking the fruits offered by her with love.
KING RANTIDEVA- THOYAM ( WATER):- He was the son of King Samkruti. He was very compassionate, observing the woes and sufferings of the poor- he gave away all he possessed as charity. He was great devotee of Lord and found Him in every person. Later deprived of all wealth and reduced to utter destitution, the king led a life of extreme misery along with his family. On one occasion the king had to go without food for 48 days. On the morning of 49th day he got some ghee, rice, boiled milk, porridge and a pot of water. Prolonged complete fast has rendered the king and his family extremely weak. All their limbs were shaking.
When king Rantideva was about to partake the food, a brahmana unknown to him approached him for food. The great devotee of Lord, Rantideva, who saw God’s presence everywhere, gave away a share of his food. After providing food to the brahmana, he was about to consume part of the food, when another unknown person approached him for food. He gave him a portion of the balance food. Meanwhile a third stranger along with dogs appeared before him to seek the left-over food. After giving all the food by way of alms, the king was left with only with a small pot of water. When the king was about to drink the same an out-caste appeared before him and sought for that water. Moved by compassion, the king uttered the following words: - “ I crave not from God the highest form of destiny with eight super human siddhis-faculties; nor even final beatitude. My only prayer is that dwelling in the heart of all beings I would rather undergo their sufferings of all embodied beings so that they may be relieved of misery”.
He continued: “By offering the life giving water to this humble person, who is anxious to live, my hunger thirst, exhaustion, bodily sufferings, lowness of spirit, grief, depression, have disappeared”: Uttering the above words the king cheerfully gave the whole of remaining water to the out-caste.
Quote: This story appears in Srimad Bhagavatham SkandaIX Chapter XXI Slokas12-13.
The above strangers were none other than Lords Brahma , Vishnu, and Siva. They were supremely delighted to observe the power of endurance and depth of devotion exhibited by the king and appeared before him in their actual forms. Though called upon to seek any boon, the king who had renounced all forms of worldly attachment and desires, did not ask for anything. Maya had no more – any power on Rantideva and he became one with the Self.
Note: Information taken from Tattvavivecani commentary – of Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Gorakhpur. 27th August, 2011.
Patram Pushpam phalam Thoyam Yo mae Bakthya prayachathi
Tat aham bakthyupahrutha masnaami prayataatmana:
God says whomsoever offers to me with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I appear in person before that disinterested devotee of sin-less mind and delightfully partake of that article offered by him with love. Here the God’s only condition is that the sentiment of the devotee who offers any of these things should be absolutely pure and loving. The main ingredient required to the offerer are devotion , love, and gratitude.
To elucidate the above we may take the examples of “Draupathi of Mahabharatha”, “Indradyumna- the Gajendra”, “Devotee Sabari”, “Rantideva-the king”.
DRAUPATHI OF MAHABHARATA:- ( PATRAM- LEAF):-
During their exile in the forest, the Pandavas were passing their period of privation. Kaurava -Duryodhana and his associates known for devising means for their extirpation; on one occasion propitiated the sage Durvasa by his services and asked for a boon. The boon was to visit Pandavas in the forest and accept their hospitality with his all sishya ganas ( about ten thousand in numbers)He also specially requested the sage to go after Pandavas especially Draupathi has completed her meal for the day.
The plan Duryodhana thought was, that after Draupathi had taken her meal the special cooking vessel ( Granted to her by the Sun God -called Akshaya Patra ) would not yield any more food on that day. (The secret of the special cooking vessel is that it would yield food to any number of persons on a day till Draupathi complete her meal) Duryodhana thought that by not providing food to the guests, the same would invite the wrath of the short tempered ascetic; who would reduce the Pandavas to ashes, by his curse. The ulterior motive was thereby to finish off Pandavas. Sage Durvasa granted this boon without knowing the real motive behind this request.
He appeared in the “ Kamyaka” forest where Pandavas were living along with his ten thousand pupils. After honoring the sage with due respect- Pandavas invited the guests for meals. Accepting their invitation Durvasa went to the nearby river for bath.
The real situation was that all the Pandavas including Draupathi had completed their meals and the “ Akshaya Patra” was cleaned for the day. The much disturbed Draupathi to save her from any awkward predicament, prayed, invoking “Lord Krishna” and seeking His blessings to rescue her. Acknowledging the prayers of Draupathi – His devotee in distress-reached her place immediately. Greeting the Lord, she described to Him the predicament she was facing then.
Lord Krishna asked Draupathi to bring the cleaned Akshaya Patra Vessel. He found a vegetable Leaf sticking somewhere in the vessel. Telling her that this single leaf is enough to satisfy all the three worlds- Lord the enjoyer of all sacrifices and offering immediately took-out the leaf and putting it into His mouth by uttering: - “Let God who is the soul of the universe and enjoyer of sacrifices derive satisfaction from this leaf”. He then asked Sahadeva to go and fetch the sage and his pupils for the meals.
Meantime a strange thing happened on the riverside. The sage and his pupils felt that their stomach had become suddenly loaded and began to belch. Sage Durvasa coming to know of the situation stated as follows to his pupils. “Pandavas are extremely pious, learned, men of great moral stamina, and they are exclusively devoted to Lord Krishna. They can reduce us to ashes. My experience with Ambarisa is still fresh in my memory and I am terribly afraid of the devotees of Sri Krishna”. Hearing sage’s words all pupils dispersed in a haste and Sahadeva could find none in the river bank.
After that Lord Krishna left for Dwaraka by stating that “ you Pandavas are all virtuous souls and those who are constantly devoted to such conduct never suffer”.
INDRADYUMNAN- THE GAJENDRA (PUSHPAM- FLOWER):-
Once Oppressed by the heat the Gajendra, the head of the herd along with other elephants reached the lake in the garden of “Varuna Lord, the Lord of water” in the Trikuta Hill. The name of the lake was “Rtuman”.
In that lake lived an alligator. It immediately got hold of one of the feet of the Gajendra. Exerting all his strength the latter tried to dis-engage his foot from the alligator’s mortal grip; but without success. The tug of war continued for almost thousand years. Losing all hope on its strength’ the lord of the elephant at last sought refuge with the lord, calling Him as “ Aadi Moola” The Gajendra also offered a beautiful prayer to God – a very famous one called Gajendra Sthuti.
To protect his devotee Lord reached the Trikuta Hill immediately. Seeing the Lord, Gajendra plucking a lotus flower from the lake presented to the Lord with following words. “ Narayana Akhila Guro Bhagavan Namaste” ( Lord Narayana O Supreme master offer my obeisance to you).
Lord accepting the Lotus offered by the devotee with love, severed the head of the alligator with His “ sudarsana chakra”. In fact the elephant and the alligator both were in their curse. The Gajendra was a king of Pandya Desa and devotee of Lord Hari- His previous birth name was Indradyumna. Sage Agastya’s curse made him an elephant. The alligator was a Gandarva in his previous birth by name Hoo Hoo. He became an alligator by the curse of the sage Devala. Gajendra Sthuti or hymn consists of 28 slokas, in the Srimad Bhagavadam. Very much pleased with the devotional prayer- Lord says as follows: “whoever glorifies me early in the morning, every-day, with this Sthuti sung by Gajendra, will be taken out of the mundane/dream existence and at the time of their death, I will give him the wisdom relating to my truth”.
DEVOTEE-SABARI- PHALAM ( FRUIT):- Sabari though low born was great devotee of the Lord. She spent large part of her life in the forest of Dandaka serving sages. Sage Mantanga took compassion on her and imparted Holy names of Lord to pray for. So much was her devotion to Lord that the sage while leaving this mortal world told her that one day Lord Rama would come to her cottage and the very sight of Him would fulfill the purpose of her life.
Awaiting His visit any time- any day, Sabari for many days swept the path, cleaned the court yard, prepared seats, and plucked fruits to be served to Him. One day the Lord Rama visited the cottage of Sabari. Overwhelmed with love, she found herself tongue tied, bowed her head at the lotus feet again and again. She then worshipped the Lord and placed fruits before Him, after testing and tasting each one for its sweetness. Praising her devotion in highest terms, the Lord accepted her worship and conferred the highest blessing on her, by partaking the fruits offered by her with love.
KING RANTIDEVA- THOYAM ( WATER):- He was the son of King Samkruti. He was very compassionate, observing the woes and sufferings of the poor- he gave away all he possessed as charity. He was great devotee of Lord and found Him in every person. Later deprived of all wealth and reduced to utter destitution, the king led a life of extreme misery along with his family. On one occasion the king had to go without food for 48 days. On the morning of 49th day he got some ghee, rice, boiled milk, porridge and a pot of water. Prolonged complete fast has rendered the king and his family extremely weak. All their limbs were shaking.
When king Rantideva was about to partake the food, a brahmana unknown to him approached him for food. The great devotee of Lord, Rantideva, who saw God’s presence everywhere, gave away a share of his food. After providing food to the brahmana, he was about to consume part of the food, when another unknown person approached him for food. He gave him a portion of the balance food. Meanwhile a third stranger along with dogs appeared before him to seek the left-over food. After giving all the food by way of alms, the king was left with only with a small pot of water. When the king was about to drink the same an out-caste appeared before him and sought for that water. Moved by compassion, the king uttered the following words: - “ I crave not from God the highest form of destiny with eight super human siddhis-faculties; nor even final beatitude. My only prayer is that dwelling in the heart of all beings I would rather undergo their sufferings of all embodied beings so that they may be relieved of misery”.
He continued: “By offering the life giving water to this humble person, who is anxious to live, my hunger thirst, exhaustion, bodily sufferings, lowness of spirit, grief, depression, have disappeared”: Uttering the above words the king cheerfully gave the whole of remaining water to the out-caste.
Quote: This story appears in Srimad Bhagavatham SkandaIX Chapter XXI Slokas12-13.
The above strangers were none other than Lords Brahma , Vishnu, and Siva. They were supremely delighted to observe the power of endurance and depth of devotion exhibited by the king and appeared before him in their actual forms. Though called upon to seek any boon, the king who had renounced all forms of worldly attachment and desires, did not ask for anything. Maya had no more – any power on Rantideva and he became one with the Self.
Note: Information taken from Tattvavivecani commentary – of Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Gorakhpur. 27th August, 2011.
# posted by sapthagiri. @ 2:18 PM 
