Real devotion is doing our duty- three different stories

Real devotion   is doing our duty-  three  different stories

Devotion or Bhakthi   has  been defined   in various ways by various savants    and sages. Here are  three   methods   to define devotion through stories. The first by a face book friend  in Tamil , the second from Upanishads    and third from a popular   folk tale of Tamil Nadu. I think all of them agree   that  doing  once duty and dharma   is real devotion.Has this not been told in  Bhagwad Gita-    Do your duty  without expecting  any results.

1,What makes one peaceful

By

P.R.Ramachander

There was   a very rich man in a city,

Who used to follow     all rituals ,

And worship God    daily   for,

More   than hour   but lead,

A life  without any peace,

In the same city   there was a cobbler,

Who used to keep a  small picture of God Narayana,

And salute   it daily   before  he began his work,

But he was leading   a peaceful happy life.

Sage Narada   was puzzled and met Lord Narayana,

And Asked him , “ I am not able   to understand ,

Why the rich man  who worships you does not have peace ,

And the Cobbler   who gives you one salute  has lot of peace.”

Lord  Narayana    requested   sage Narada   to meet both,

And ask them  one question, which he told  Narada,

The sage met   the rich man     and  told   him,

“I am coming   from Lord Narayana “ and .,

The rich man enquired “What is the lord doing now?”

Sage  Narada   replied,”He is trying  to send ,

An elephant   through  the nozzle of a small needle”

The rich man , laughed and told “An impossible task,

And even the    great God    cannot    do it”

Then the sage went    to the   cobbler   and told .

The same thing    and the cobbler    replied  ,

“He is the God who  kept a huge  banyan tree  in a small  seed,

He is the one who showed the entire  universe  in his mouth,

And this    is an extremely     simple   job for him,”

The sage went and reported   to the  God as to what Happened,

And  the Lord told him, “Devotion to me   is not doing rituals properly,

But having complete   faith in me , surrendering   to me,

And   do all the duties    of the  life in the world properly,

The rich man suffers  as his   life  is more  of a drama,

To convince the world that  he   is a great devotee ,

And Cobbler is at o peace   because  he follows what I told,”

2.Narada   wants to find out   greatest devotee

By

P.R.Ramachander

Sage  Narada    who   every second of his   life ,

Used to chant  “Narayana , Narayana  “

Once became very proud   and thought ,

That he  is the greatest  devotee of  the Lord.

He went to the Lord Asked him .” please ,

Tell me     as to who is  your  greatest devotee?”

The  Lord immediately replied  “Ofcourse,

It is Raikwa   the   cart man  without any doubt.”

Sage Narada felt disappointed    and wanted ,

To see that  Raikwa   who was greater than him.

He went   and observed   him very closely  ,

Raikwa  used  to wake  up and say , “Oh Narayana”

Then he was   busy all the day  in his jobs and duties.

And  after a tiresome day , before sleeping , he told , “Oh Narayana”

The sage Narada    who used   to chant  almost million times,

“Narayana , “Went back  to the lord   and said “You are unjust”

But the lord with a smile told   him  , “Please take this pot full of oil,

Keep it on your head and go round   the world ,

“Taking care   not to spill  , even  one drop of oil”

Sage Narada   agreed   and went round the world  without  spilling,

Went back and   told Lord Narayana , with great pride “I have done  it”

Lord Narayana   asked the sage , “How many times   you chanted my name?”

The sage  burst into laughter “Not even once during  this great job.”

Lord Narayana told him , “That Raikwa   is doing much    greater job,

Than you, but  in spite   of it , he tells  my name   twice a day.”

And you even with a much simpler  job   are not  ,

Able   to remember    me at least once in a complete day.

And that is why he  is a greater devotee   than you  .”

Sage Narada   understood it  and agreed to  it.

3.Devotee  who burnt a crane

By

P.R.Ramachander

There was  a devotee   in the olden times ,

Who left his family hungry    and uncared

And  went on doing   thapas , chanting ,

The name of Narayana  millions of times,

And one  day a crane dirtied   his head,

And the devotee  stared  at the crane,

And it became ash and fell down.

The devotee   became very proud   and thought,

That he was the greatest devotee  in the world,

And went for  requesting   for food  to a house,

The house lady said , “I am attending  on my husband ,

And as soon as   the job is over, I shall attend on you ,

The devotee  stared  at her   and she asked  him,

“Do you really  think that  I am yet another crane .

The devotee was disturbed    and simply did not understand ,

How the lady knew   and told her to direct him  ,

TO the greatest    devotee   whom she knew ,

And she told him  “approach    the butcher of the village”

The devotee was shocked   but with great   reluctance ,

Went to the butcher’s   home   and ordered  him,

To tell how    he was a great devotee   and the butcher said,

“I am busy with work  of supplying   meat to my customers,

And later I have to comfort   my old parents  and sick wife.

If you can wait    till   all these   are over ,I shall  talk to you,

The devotee  stared at the butcher  , who told  him,

“I too am not the   crane” and the devotee   decided to wait.

Late   at night after   all his daily    duties   were over,

The butcher came out    and told the waiting   devotee,

“The greatest devotion to God    is to attend to our Dhamra,

I had to  look after  my customers , parents and wife,

And the  dharma of the lady   whom you met,

Is to look after her husband. In between    we too,

Do chant   the name of God and that is great devotion”