[Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Yoga-Kshemam-Vahamyaham

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Dear Vinod, It is a very lovely article on Bhakthy and His Grace. Hare Krishna."PS, Vinod K (GE Infra, Energy)" <vinod.ps wrote: !! 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 KrishnaHare Rama

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