Uthanga Gita teaching that all the creations of God are one

Uthanga Gita teaching  that  all  the creations of God are one.

Rewritten by

P.R.Ramachander

(The  incident narrated below   is supposed to have taken place  in Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram  Located in the Nagapatinam district of Tamil Nadu is the charming temple of Arimeya Vinnagaram. This serene temple is home to the Deity of Vishnu as Gopala, the cowherd. You can   read  this story  in  the web site  https://itihaskaar.wordpress.com .

Please   also   Read  the Maneesha Panchakam of  Adhi Sankara   to know  more   about   what has been told here-http://stotrarathna.blogspot.nl/2013/04/maneesha-panchakam-meanings-given-by.html )

Sage  Uthanga was   a  great  devotee of Lord   Krishna,

And he knew   that Lord Krishna    would come   anywhere,

If the devotee   calls  , like   he went   to save  Draupadhi  from disrespect,

And he   rushed  to the aid   of Elephant  Gajendra   when he was in  distress.

When Krishna   was  returning   after  the great   mahabharatha   war ,

He met Sage Uthanga    who had   just woken from a great penance ,

And to the questions of the   sage Lord   Krishna   informed him,

That  among the males   who participated in the war only seven were alive

The sage  who knew   the powers  of the great lord  who was god himself ,

Got   extremely angry   and  took some water in his palm   and   was about to curse  him,

The lord hit at his hand and   the  water  meant for cursing   fell down on earth,

And the  Lord told him, “my incarnation  is meant   for destroying Adharma and I had to do it.”

Then Lord  Krishna  showed   him his Viswa roopa    and requested     the sage to ask any boon,

But the sage  told him “” except devotion to  you Lord  Krishna  , I do not need  any thing “

But the Lord  insisted  and then the sage   said, “suppose  I get thirst   somewhere,

Do please  come    and give  me  a pot of water    so that my thirst  is quenched.”

Long ,long  afterwards  one day  the sage   was trying   to cross a great desert,

And he felt   extremely thirsty   and then he said , “Oh Govinda , give me water.”

And  then one poorly dressed   hunter , obviously   not belonging  to a  high caste,

Carrying a pot on his head, with four dogs  with him   came before him    and   told him as   follows.

“Oh sage, this is a middle of the desert and even if   you walk  several days,

You would not see  any source   of water, but fortunately  I  do have some ,

And shall I give some     water  to you from that,” but sage   became angry,

And told him,  “Move away   and get  lost   from here, before  I push you out.”

The hunter laughed , “Whom are  you asking   to move away , my body or my soul,

I know my body does not have any caste   and as for soul, it does  not have even  sex.
I thought   as a sage   you knew   all this  “  and before   the sage  could   ask him,

Who you are , That hunter  along with his pot as well as   the four dogs  vanished.

Then he   heard a music of the flute   and saw   the mischievous  Lord  Krishna  with a smile,

And the lord told him,”I did  give you a boon that  I would give   you water when you are  thirsty,

But did I ever tell you  that I would bring it? The hunter   was Lord Devendra  who  came ,

Along with a  pot of nectar but he told  me  that  he would offer it to you  as a hunter.

The four dogs   were four Vedas  who have   followed  him, but you seemed ,

Not  to  like   him because   you thought  that   he was  of a low caste ,

And I am now wondering   about  your  maturity  as a great sage,

Have you  not heard the  Vedic teaching  “You are that” and did you feel that it is applicable  only to you?

The sage Uthanga   realized     his great pride  as well as error  committed by him,

But  the Lord continued “I have created several animals, insects, plants  , trees and castes,

So that  this earth   would be properly  looked after   and also nurtured , and so please know,

No one  is low or high in this world ‘Sage Uthanga   returned  as a very   wise sage ,

Who was devoid of pride   and ego  and this is the Uthanga  Gita.

It seems the sage requested the Lord to quench the thirst   of all creatures in desert ,

And the Lord said , “so be it”    and to this day  the clouds  in desert in north are  called Uthanka clouds