The Devotee and Devotion

- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 1, Dasara 1953.

Once, Krishna and Arjuna were walking together, along a beautiful path.

Seeing a bird in the sky, Krishna asked Arjuna, “Is that a dove?”

Arjuna replied instantly, “Yes, it is a dove.”

A few seconds later, Krishna asked, “Arjuna, is that bird an eagle?”

Arjuna responded, “Yes Krishna, it is an eagle.”

A few seconds later, Krishna asked, “Arjuna, this does not look like an eagle – it looks like a crow to me. Is it not?”

Arjuna replied, “Yes Krishna, it is a crow beyond doubt!”

Krishna laughed and chided him for agreeing with whatever suggestions He gave.

Arjuna responded, “Krishna, for me, your words are far more trustworthy than the evidence of my eyes. When you say something, you have the power to make it so – be it a crow, dove or eagle. Hence, if you said it is a crow, it must be so!”

Implicit Faith is the secret to spiritual success.

Always remember that the Lord loves not the devotee but the devotion.

Humility

It’s been said that life is a long lesson in humility.

The true and everlasting strength of mankind is found in humility. 

“The ex factor of great leadership is not personality, it’s humility,” says Management expert Jim Collins.

Leaders need to understand that being authentically humble humanizes them, allows them to build stronger trust bonds, and engenders confidence & loyalty from peers and subordinates alike.

A man received a promotion to the position of Vice President of the company he worked for. The promotion went to his head, and for weeks on end he bragged to anyone and everyone that he was now VP. 

His bragging came to an abrupt halt when his wife, so embarrassed by his behaviour, said, “Listen, it’s not that big a deal. These days everyone’s a vice president. Why they even have a "Vice president of peas" down at the supermarket!”

Somewhat disheartened, he rang the local supermarket to find out if this was true. 

“Can I speak to the Vice President of peas please?” he asked.

“Of fresh or frozen?”, came the reply.

A sharp and witty mind

Emperor Akbar was in the habit of putting riddles and puzzles to his courtiers. He often asked questions which were strange and witty. It took much wisdom to answer these questions.

Once he asked a very strange question. The courtiers were dumb folded by his question.

Akbar glanced at his courtiers. As he looked, one by one the heads began to hang low in search of an answer. 

It was at this moment that Birbal entered the courtyard. Birbal who knew the nature of the emperor quickly grasped the situation and asked, "May I know the question so that I can try for an answer".

Akbar said, "How many crows are there in this city?"

Without even a moment's thought, Birbal replied "There are fifty thousand five hundred and eighty nine crows, my lord".

"How can you be so sure?” asked Akbar.

Birbal said, "Make your men count, My lord. If you find more crows it means some have come to visit their relatives here. If you find less number of crows it means some have gone to visit their relatives elsewhere".

Akbar was pleased very much by Birbal's wit.

The Stairs

The two Mice

A Town Mouse and a Country Mouse were friends. The Country Mouse one day invited his friend to come and see him at his home in the fields. The Town Mouse came and they sat down to a dinner of barley corns and roots the latter of which had a distinctly earthy flavour.

The flavour was not much to the taste of the Town Mouse and presently he broke out with “My poor dear friend, you live here no better than the ants. Now, you should just see how I fare! My larder is a regular horn of plenty. You must come and stay with me and I promise you shall live on the fat of the land."

So when he returned to town he took the Country Mouse with him and showed him into a larder containing flour and oatmeal and figs and honey and dates.

The Country Mouse had never seen anything like it and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his friend provided. But before they had well begun, the door of the larder opened and some one came in.

The two Mice scampered off and hid themselves in a narrow and exceedingly uncomfortable hole. 

Sometime later, when all was quiet, they ventured out again. 

But some one else came in, and off they scuttled again. This kept happening repeatedly. 

This was too much for the Country Mouse. "Good bye," said he, "I'm off. You live in the lap of luxury, I can see, but you are surrounded by dangers whereas at home I can enjoy my simple dinner of roots and corn in peace."

"Be content in life."

E-value-tion

When I started this blog in 2012, I was looking for an appropriate name. My parameters being—it should be a single word, short, unique, based on values and reflect our own evolution. The only name that kept repeatedly ringing in my mind was "E-value-tion."

 A year later at the end of 2013, I received this picture in my mail box. 

The “E-value”! 

That was answer to my inner voice which prompted me repeatedly 2 years back. Looking at that pic, I was happy I listened to my inner voice.

Birbal's Khichri

On a cold winter day Akbar and Birbal took a walk along the lake. A thought came to Birbal that a man would do anything for money. He expressed his feelings to Akbar. Akbar then put his finger into the lake and immediately removed it because he shivered with cold.

Akbar said “I don’t think a man would spend an entire night in the cold water of this lake for money.”

Birbal replied “I am sure I can find such a person.”

Akbar then challenged Birbal into finding such a person and said that he would reward the person with a thousand gold coins.

Birbal searched far and wide until he found a poor man who was desperate enough to accept the challenge. The poor man entered the lake and Akbar had guards posted near him to make sure that he really did as promised.

The next morning the guards took the poor man to Akbar. Akbar asked the poor man if he had indeed spent the night in the lake.

The poor man replied that he had. 

Akbar then asked the poor man how he managed to spend the night in the lake.

The poor man replied that there was a street lamp near by and he kept his attention affixed on the lamp and away from the cold. 

Akbar then said that there would be no reward as the poor man had survived the night in the lake by the warmth of the street lamp. The poor man went to Birbal for help.

The next day, Birbal did not go to court. The king, wondering where he was, sent a messenger to his home. The messenger came back saying that Birbal would come once his Khichri was cooked. The king waited hours but Birbal did not come. Finally the king decided to go to Birbal’s house and see what he was upto.

He found Birbal sitting on the floor near some burning twigs and a bowl filled with Khichri hanging five feet above the fire. The king and his attendants couldn’t help but laugh.

Akbar then said to Birbal “How can the Khichri be cooked if it so far away from the fire?”

Birbal answered “The same way the poor man received heat from a street lamp that was more than a furlong away.”

The King understood his mistake and gave the poor man his reward.

The Spider web

A young soldier was battling for his country. His army was being defeated by the enemies. The soldier and his friends started running away from the enemies who were chasing them. Soon, he found himself separated from his friends. 

Full of fear and desperation, he chanced upon a cave. He decided to hide there. He crawled into the cave, fervently praying to God to save him. He vowed to God that he would serve Him for the rest of his life if He saved him.

As he was praying, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance of the cave. The fine threads from the spider’s mouth started to make a web soon. He prayed, “God I’m asking you to save me and you are showing me this insignificant spider? How is he going to help me?” The young soldier lost all his hopes thinking that the enemy would find him soon.

Soon he could hear the footsteps of the enemies near the entrance of the cave. His heart was in his mouth. He was waiting for the moment to be caught.

As the enemy came near the entrance, he saw the spider’s web which was by now complete. The young soldier heard the enemy telling his comrades, “There’s spider’s web here. If anyone has gone inside they would have had to break this web. Hence there can’t be any one here. Lets move on.”

The young soldier thanked God profusely for sending the spider to save him. 

And yes, as he promised God, he became a preacher to serve Him the rest of his life.

The frog that lived in a well

Contributed by Nandini Bala

This story is a very popular folk tale and has many versions. This version is what Swami Vivekananda told the world as part of one of his speeches at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago on 15th September, 1893.

Once upon a time, there lived a frog in a nice, deep well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there. This frog, every day fed on the worms and bacilli that lived in the water of the well, and became a fat frog with a lot of energy.

Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well. Our well frog asked the sea frog, "Where are you from?"

"I am from the sea," answered the sea frog

"The sea!" exclaimed the well frog, "How big is that? Is it as big as my well?", and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other.

"My friend", said the sea frog, "how do you compare the sea with your little well?"

Then the well frog took another leap and asked, "Is your sea so big?"

The shocked sea frog exclaimed, "What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!"

"Well, Well," said the well frog, "nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; He then shouted, "This fellow is a liar, turn him out."

Some of us think too small like a frog at the bottom of the well. This frog thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If only he surfaced he would have an entirely different view.

The Noble Deer

Contributed by Nandini Bala

Once upon a time there lived a noble deer. He walked with his head high, and his long antlers showed grace. He walked with a gait that made all the animals bow to him. He was the king of the deer. He treated all his subjects and other animals very well. Even the king of the Jungle--the lion respected him.

One day, a group of traders lost their way in the forest. Distressed, and afraid they wondered what to do. When they looked up they saw the deer standing by. It beckoned them to follow him. They had nothing to lose, and followed him. The deer led them to the outskirts of a city and bounded back into the forest. The leader of the traders was so impressed by the deer, that he felt the king ought to know about it.

The traders went to the king and told him about the wonderful deer and his noble deed. The king did not listen to the words praising the deer's noble deeds. He just heard that they had found a wonderful deer.

He decided to go and hunt the deer at once.

When he went into the forest with his soldiers, they saw the deer peacefully grazing in the meadow. The king looked at the stately form of the deer and the long antlers and said, "None of you should shoot at him, that animal is mine. His antlers will grace the walls of my palace."

Saying this, he shot at the deer, which evaded the arrow in time. The deer gave the king a long chase.

As the king chased the deer he went deep into the forest. Soon he was far away from his retinue. The deer gave him the slip and was walking away, when it heard a huge splash. It understood that the king had fallen into the watering hole while looking for him.

Without a thought, the deer went to the watering hole and saw the helpless king screaming for help. No one could hear him. The deer ran to him and lowered its strong antlers. The king held on to it while the deer pulled him out.

The king was thankful and fell at the deer's feet totally ashamed of himself. The deer let the king sit on his back and took him back to his city. The king asked him to stay on at the palace as his friend, but the deer refused saying that the forest was his home.

It is said that the deer was a Bodhisattava - an incarnation of the Buddha.

If we could learn to be noble like the deer, and help even our enemies when they are defenseless, we are sure to gain friends for life.