Yoga-Kshemam-Vahamyaham

[Guest guest]

!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

 

This is a very touching episode of how Sri Guruvayurappan directly & personally

takes care of his dependants as he promises in Bhagavad Gita. Hope all of us

might have realized this at some point of time in our lives.

 

 

Once there was a brahmana devotee of Krishna, who had read many scriptures and

many commentaries on the Gita and Bhagavatam. from the beginning he never took

any employment. Every day, he would beg for just one hour in the early

afternoon, when most people take their main meal. His wife would prepare

whatever he collected, and the couple would subsist solely on that. The rest of

the time he would study the scriptures, and hear and chant Krishna's holy names,

glories and pastimes. The brahmana and his wife were very content together,

living on whatever Bhagavan gave them. They had no material desires at all. They

only read the Gita and contemplated spiritual topics. While he was reading the

Gita every day, he would have many spiritual realisations, and he wrote them

down so that he could publish them for ordinary people to understand. That is

how he was engaged in bhajan.

 

 

One day, he read verse (9.22) in Bhagavad-gita, and he began to analyse it as

follows: 'Devotees become situated very close to Krishna when their minds are

fully self-controlled, when they meditate exclusively on Krishna and worship Him

in every way (especially through the medium of hearing and chanting His names,

glories, qualities and pastimes) for Krishna's happiness, and not for

themselves. Even if a person of bad conduct engages in this type of exclusive

bhajan, then Krishna will accept him. And if that exclusive sentiment is not

there, then Krishna will never reveal Himself. This verse is related to

devotional service in practice [sadhana], and not to the stage of perfection.

Krishna protects and maintains those who have taken exclusive shelter of Him. "

This brahmana was very humble and surrendered by nature, and many nice

sentiments arose in his heart as he was studying this verse. Then he came to the

last line, which says, yoga-kshemam vahamy aham: " When My devotees engage in

worship [bhajan] like this, I will supply all of their requirements such as food

and water, and even collect them and carry them (vahamy) Myself. " The brahmana

stopped reading and thought, " How can this be right? I am more than seventy

years old now, and so far Bhagavan has never looked after us directly like this.

We have been engaged in exclusive bhajan, yet today there is not a single mouse

in our home. Why? 5ecause there is no food in the house, not even any foodstuffs

for today's meal! We don't even have any earthen pots to catch the rainwater.

We just take whatever comes when I go out to beg. Doesn't Bhagavan see this?

Isn't He in every soul witnessing everything? He certainly hasn't taken care of

us as He is saying in this verse. Maybe if we require something, He would

inspire someone else to come and help us, but He would never carry a burden for

us on His own head. I can't accept this. Krishna cannot possibly have spoken

this verse. Someone else must have inserted it. " Thinking like this, he

scratched this line out with a red pen.

 

 

That day, he had to tear a piece from his wife's cloth to cover himself when he

went out to beg. As he went out, he thought, " Krishna will carry what we require

on His own body? Perhaps He would inspire a king or some wealthy person to come

and help us, but would the all-knowing and all-powerful Prabhu carry anything on

His own head? I don't think so. I have heard that he made the poor brahmana

Sudama into a king, but He didn't physically carry any burden for him. I have

never heard this. " He put it out of his mind and went begging, but he was

unsuccessful. He wandered here and there, but by three o'clock he still hadn't

collected a single thing. One man said to him, " Baba, I am sorry, but our house

is impure. One of our family members has just died, so we cannot give anything

for the next three days. " It was the same wherever he went, and he started for

home empty-handed.

 

 

Meanwhile, what was happening at his home? A beautiful young boy arrived at the

gate. He had a dark complexion and wore bright yellow cloth, and on his

shoulders he carried a long stick with a bag of goods on each end. The bag on

one end contained rice, dahl, ghee, and spices, and the bag on the other end

contained sugar, vegetables, and different things. The boy did not appear to be

strong enough to carry the load. He was quite young - perhaps only fourteen

years old - and His limbs were very delicate. He was perspiring heavily. When

the boy came to the gate, He called out, " O Mother! O wife of My guru! Please

open the door! " The brahmana's wife replied, " What are you saying? My husband

has no disciples. " The boy replied, " gut I am a disciple of your husband. " She

thought, " Who is this? Where has He come from? " She could not open the door

because she didn't even have enough clothing to cover herself properly, but

Krishna understood everything, and He handed His own shawl through the door for

her to wear. He said, " Mother, Guruji has sent Me. We have collected all of

these things today. He caught hold of Me and sent Me here, saying that he will

be coming soon. I asked him to please wait a minute so that I could get a drink

of water, but he said, 'No, You can drink water later. Go to my home

immediately.' He could see that I am such a young boy, but he still loaded all

of this on Me and sent Me here. " When the brahmana's wife heard this, she began

to weep, thinking, " Such a tender young boy, and He is perspiring as well!

Doesn't this brahmana have any mercy? He himself will come empty-handed, after

loading everything on this poor boy? He has no mercy. " Then the boy showed her

His back and said, " Mother, he has also scratched Me with his nails. " " Oh! It

looks as if it will bleed! " exclaimed the brahmana's wife, and she took Him on

her lap. " My son, when he comes, I will give him a good talking to! He poses as

a great, selfcontrolled devotee, but he can't even show mercy to a child! My

dear son, please come inside. " She brought Him inside and said, " Sit here and I

will prepare something for You to eat. You won't leave here until I have fed

You. "

 

 

She went to the kitchen and began to prepare the rice and dahl and vegetables

that He had brought. While she was engaged in this way, there was a knock at the

door; her husband had arrived. " Open the door! " he said. The brahmana's wife

went to the door in a very angry mood, and said, " Have you come empty-handed,

without bringing anything yourself? You loaded everything on that poor boy, and

then scratched Him with your nails? Don't you have even a little mercy? " " What?

What are you talking about? " the brahmana asked. " You know very well. I'm

talking about that boy you sent here loaded up with everything you collected. "

" Who? I don't know anything about all this! " " You loaded it all on that poor

child and you have brought nothing yourself! " " Where is He then? " " Come inside

and see for Yourself! " They went inside the house, but the boy was nowhere to be

seen. They searched the entire house, and all they found was a thread of yellow

cloth where He had been sitting. After they had searched for the boy and found

that He was not there, the brahmana took his Gita in his hands and opened it. To

his amazement, he discovered that the red ink with which he had crossed out the

verse was no longer there. He began to weep bitterly, and said, " Just see how

Shri Bhagavan has carried our burden for us today! This is our evidence. My

doubt is now dispelled. "

 

 

This is bhakti, and it is an example of the practice [sadhana] that produces

bhakti.

 

 

Hare Krishna

Hare Rama