He came !!...Bhakti

[Guest guest]

Dear SilentSoulji, it was wonderful reading your

post on Krishna and the hunchback. It reminded me of

the story of Sarvamangala, as told by Sri

Ramakrishna. <br><br>In a village there once lived a poor

brahmin whose name was Devicharan.<br><br> Devicharan was

a very good man and he loved the Mother of the

universe with all his heart. He worshipped the Mother in

the form of Durga.<br><br> Very often people asked

Devicharan to go and read to them about the Mother from a

book called the Chandi. In return they gave him gifts

of food or clothing. In this way, Devicharan was

able to get enough to eat. He lived happily with his

wife and daughter, and although they were so poor they

never felt sad.<br><br> Devicharan's daughter was very

beautiful and she was also very good. Her name was

Sarvamangala. Her parents taught her all they knew and she

learned everything very quickly. She worked hard and

whatever she did, she did well.<br><br> The time came when

Sarvamangala was old enough to be married. 'You must look for

a husband for your daughter,' <br><br>

Sarvamangala's mother said to Devicharan. 'But who will marry

such a poor girl? We have nothing to give

her.'<br><br> 'Do not be anxious, my dear,' Devicharan

replied.' 'Our daughter is as beautiful as. Lakshmi and as

gifted as Saraswati. Where is there a girl as lovely and

as brilliant as Sarvamangala?' 'You are right,'

agreed his wife. 'She is good and beautiful, and

skillful in everything she does. Her cooking is excellent.

Above all she loves to make people happy by serving

them.' 'So we must not worry, about her marriage,'

Devicharan said. 'Mother Durga will do everything."<br><br>

A few weeks later a good man who was a landlord

paid a visit to the village, and he happened to see

Sarvamangala. When he found that she was as good as she was

beautiful he wanted her to be married to his son.<br><br>

Devicharan agreed to this and Sarvamangala was married. She

went away to her father-in-law's house in the next

village.<br><br> Devicharan and his wife felt sad and lonely,

without their daughter, but they were happy that she was

no longer poor and had a good husband.<br><br> Soon

it was the month of the Durga puja festival.<br><br>

'Wife,' said Devicharan,' 'Mother Durga has blessed our

daughter with a good and wealthy husband. This year we

must perform Durga puja in our own house.'<br><br>

'But -we are so poor' his wife replied. 'We have

barely enough to eat ourselves, how can we think

of-doing the puja here?'<br><br> 'What?' cried Devicharan.

'Is Durga the Mother of the rich and not 'of the

poor? Will she not accept our humble offerings? We

shall offer her whatever we can afford.'<br><br> The

time of the festival drew near.<br><br> 'We must bring

home the image of the Mother,' Devicharan said to his

wife.<br><br> 'I wish Sarvamangala could come home, too,' his

wife replied.<br><br> Devicharan took a fifty-paise

coin and went to the imagemaker.<br><br> 'I am going

to perform Durga puja in my house,' Devicharan said.

'Please make me a small image of Durga. 1 shall pay you

fifty paise.'<br><br> 'Have you lost your senses,

Devicharan Babu?' the imagemaker replied. 'It costs a great

deal of money to perform Durga puja, and even the

smallest image costs more than fifty paise.' 'I have no

money,' Devicharan explained, 'but I love the Mother and

I am grateful to her. I shall perform Durga puja

even if I worship her with nothing but

flowers.'<br><br> The image-maker looked very surprised, and he

became thoughtful.<br><br> 'I understand your feelings,'

he said. 'Very well, I shall make an image for you,

and you need not pay me for it.'<br><br> 'I must pay

you whatever I can afford,' Devicharan answered, and

he made the man accept the fifty paise.