Narada and Narayana - A Little Story with a Subtle Message!

[Guest guest]

Narada and Narayana - A Little Story with a Subtle Message!

 

In Every Purana, Narada plays an important role and Narada is a great

devotee of Lord Narayana (Maha Vishnu or Brahman). Narada roams about

singing the glory of Narayana and utters his name day and night without

a break. Narada was very proud of his devotion to the Lord and he wants

to get an affirmation from the Lord about his Bhakti to Him. He went to

the Lord and asked Him, “Who is the greatest devotee of Narayana?” The

Lord wanted to teach Narada that true Bhakti should be expressed without

an iota of ego and He replied, “The Farmer Karman who lives near

Srirangam is the greatest devotee.”

 

Narada was rather angry and told the Lord that he wants to see Karman

and want to understand why he is the greatest Bhakta. Narada had a

special boon by which he can wander all over the world and watch all

happenings without anyone knowing his presence. He went to the village

of Karman and started observing for few days to check how Karman

worships Narayana. He found Karman’s life was just normal and he

conducted his work from the morning till going to bed. Karman’s job

was quite routine, taking care of his house, wife, children, the animals

and the farm. However, every day just before going to sleep, he uttered

the word ‘Narayana’ and went to sleep immediately instantaneously.

Narada observed this daily routine for few days and was quite furious

with the Lord for not recognizing the devotion of Narada who uttered

Narayana millions of times.

 

Narada went back to the Lord and asked him, “What is so special about

Karman?” The Lord smiled and asked Narada whether he will be agreeable

for a simple test to check Narada’s devotion. Narada was quite happy

that he got a chance to prove his devotion. The Lord gave him a

tablespoon filled with oil and asked Narada to take it in his hand and

go round the world without spilling a drop of oil. Narada thanked the

Lord and he went round the world with the spoon of oil with the fullest

attention on the spoon to make sure it doesn’t spill. Narada returned

back to the Lord after a month completing the task without a drop of oil

being spilled. Narada was quite happy and pleased that he was able to

prove that he is better than Karman. When he went before the Lord,

Narayana asked him, “How many times did you utter the word of Narayana

during the past one month?” Narada was stunned and shocked by the

question because he did not utter the word of Narayana anytime. While

carrying out this simple task, his entire focus was on the oil and not

on the Lord. The Lord smiled at Narada and told him the following:

Karman had much a greater burden of completing the multiple

responsibilities and even with all these burden, he remembered the Lord

regularly every day without failure.

 

Narada immediately understood the message and felt ashamed for his false

pride and ignorance. Narada was able to appreciate and understand the

True Bhakti expressed by Karman. Karman has demonstrated his devotion

to the Lord and he thanked the Lord was helping him to complete his

obligations at the end of the day without failure. Karman truly

believed (True Bhakti) he was an instrument of the Lord and the

completion of job was due to His Grace and he symbolically thanked Him.

 

--

Ram Chandran

Burke, VA

[Guest guest]

Dear Ramachandran,

I really enjoyed the story of Narada and Narayana. These stories give better

understanding of Vedanta in simple way for a man like me who has not studied

scriptures. Thank you very much.

 

Ram Bhat