Small gesture .

 mukam karoti vacalam

pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande
sri gurum dina-taranam

It is possible if we become obedient student of guru, then even though we may be dumb, deaf and dumb, still, we can become good lecturer. Mukam karoti vacalam, talk very much about Krsna. This is Krsna’s grace, mukam karoti… Pangum langhayate girim, if one is lame man, he is made to cross over the hill, mountain. This is the mercy of guru.

So bhakti, or cultivation of spiritual knowledge, is never subjected by any material things. Ahaituky apratihata. No material thing can check us in our progress in Krsna consciousness. It is not possible. Simply follow the instruction of Krsna consciousness, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. Follow the rules and regulations and everything will be clear, very crystal clear. There will be no impediment.

There is this story of a Brahmin in the Skanda Purana, who undertook a pilgrimage tour of temples and Holy Rivers, after leasing his house to some Pravakthas who had come to his village for a Bhagavatha Sapthaham.

He managed to reach Kasi and went to take bath in River Ganga.

To his surprise he found the Ganga to be dry.

While he was wondering what is wrong, because his understanding was that Ganga will always have water in it, some punditas were coming after their bath in Ganga.

He asked them where they took bath.

They replied that Ganga is flowing with full majesty and they took their bath.

Then our poor brahmin realised that he might have done some sin because of which he is not able to see Gangaji.

He wanted to clarify it and went to one realized soul, who was calling for Ganga and the River goddess Ganga came for his service, all the Holy River and Devatas were serving him in his Ashrama.

Wondered, our brahmin asked him what he had done to get the services of these River Goddesses.

That Punya Atma replied that he did not know anything, my father used to read Srimad Bhagavatham regularly and after he passed away, as I do not know how to read Bhagavatham, all I did was placing the Holy Book in the Pooja room and offer few flowers and Tulasi leaves to it every day.

The brahmin realised his mistake, the Bhagavatha Sapthaham was going on in his village and he set out to see the Punya Theerthas ,not knowing that where Bhagawan’s stuthies are chanted, all the Divya Kshetras and Divya Theerthas assemble to give their blessings.

Same chapter every day.

 Once there lived an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna by name Poonthaanam.

He worshipped Guruvayoorappan (Lord Krishna) with all his heart and soul.

People loved him for his beautiful Bhagavatam discourses.

There is a temple in North Kerala called Kottiyoor. The significant deity in the temple is Lord Siva. The temple was kept open only for a few days during a year.

There were no human activities in that place for the rest of the year.

Once Poonthaanam reached the Kottiyoor temple and had a bath in the holy river.

He worshiped the compassionate Lord Siva, felt happy, and stayed there for a few days.

He recited Bhagavatam everyday in front of the deity and several hundreds of people listened to his sweet discourse on the wonderful pastime in the 10th Canto 60th of Srimad Bhagavatam named “Lord Krishna Teases Queen Rukmini.”

The Lord decides to play with His beloved wife Queen Rukmini and wanted to listen to Her.

He playfully asks Her why She wanted to marry the Lord when She had better choices like King Sisupala, Salva, Jarasandha, etc.

Hearing this Queen Rukmini faints and Lord consoles Her.

This is the gist of the chapter.

Poonthaanam finished reading this part of the chapter and kept the bookmark at the end of the chapter so that he can continue reciting from the next chapter.

Next day, to his surprise, he found the bookmark at beginning of the same chapter.

So Poonthaanam read the same part for the second time.

This was repeated for the rest of the days.

It was the last day to close the temple for the year.

Poonthanam finished the discourse and was returning from the temple with the other devotees, but somehow left the Bhagavatam in the temple itself.

Having walked some distance suddenly he remembered that he forgot to bring the Bhagavatam with him.

He hurried back; crossed the river and reached the entrance to the temple, which was closed. He was all alone.

He could hear somebody reciting the same part of the chapter from Bhagavatam inside the temple.

As he looked through the keyhole he saw Lord Siva himself reading from Poonthanam’s Bhagavatam.

Mother Parvati and his other Bhoothaganas were listening.

Their eyes were filled with tears out of devotion.

Poonthaanam stood there motionless and heard the whole recitation.

At the end Lord Siva asked Parvati devi, “Did you like the Bhagavatam recitation”?

Parvathi replied,”Yes, it was nice, but was not as good as Poonthaanam’s”.

Lord Siva replied, “Yes. That is true. I also like to hear Bhagavatam from Poonthaanam. That is why I placed the bookmark again and again at the beginning of the same topic every day.”

Hearing this Poonthaanam who stood outside was shaken up and uttered the holy name of Krishna loudly.

When he watched again, Lord Siva and Mother Parvati had disappeared from his sight.

Chanting.

 ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaḿ

śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaḿ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaḿ prati-padaḿ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaḿ
sarvātma-snapanaḿ paraḿ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam

Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.

Conquered by the naked.

 It was in India that Alexander met the only men on earth he couldn’t conquer.

The yogis. Greek historians traveling with the feisty commander brought back  a record of what they encountered:

In the woods, lying on a bed of leaves, Greek soldiers stumbled across a  Brahmin sage named Dandamis.

Alexander was intensely curious about the fabled  wisdom of the Holy men of India.

He sent Dandamis a message:

“Alexander, Son of God and Lord of the Earth, invites you into his presence. If you come, you will be richly rewarded. If you don’t you will die.”

Dandamis was not impressed. “There is only one King”, he answered,”The one  who created light and life. He’s the only King I obey, and He abhors war.”

Dandamis continued:

How can this Alexander be the King of Earth as long as he remains subject to the King of Death ?

And what can he offer me when my mother the Earth already  supplies and provides everything I need ?

I have no possessions I need to protect, so I sleep peacefully at night. Alexander may kill my body, but he  can’t touch my soul.

Tell Your King that at the time of death each one of us will be asked to account four our actions in this life.

Ask him how he’s going to explain the  agony of all those he has so painfully murdered and oppressed.

Your King can tempt those who crave gold. He can terrify those who fear death.

But we Brahmins care for neither. Go tell Alexander he has nothing I want and that I cannot see him.

When Alexander’s men brought back the sages reply, and he herd Dandamis’s  answer, he admitted that he, the conquer of the great world, had been
conquered by a naked old man.

Giridhari.

 In Brindavan lived once a Brahmin called Giridharlal.

He was known for his Bhakti, Vairagya kindness and respect for the Sadhus.

Everyday he prayed to the Sadhus.

He wore anklets and danced and sang playing ‘Tumbura’.

He sang Kirthanas of God and stole the hearts of young and old alike.

One day, when he was praying to Gopalakrishna in the temple some Sadhus who had come there asked him to sing and dance the Rasaleela of Krishna.

Giridharlal was in a fix. He couldn’t say no to such great Sadhus. Their anger would drive him to hell.

But his anklets and Tumbura were at home.

It would take some time for him to go and fetch them.

How best should he react? God showed him a way out.

As everybody was watching, he got from the sky shining anklets, Tumbura Tala and Pithambaram. He accepted them with utmost reverence and devotion. The Sadhus wondered at his Bhakti. They praised him for the blessings showered on him by God.

Then Giridharlal wore the silk dhoti tied the anklets to his feet, held the Tumbura in his hand and sang and danced Rasaleela.

The Sadhus were watching with deep interest. Giridharlal also sang the Rasaleela and was engrossed in it.

Then the Lord saw to it that the people gathered there witnessed his Rasaleela in Krishnavatar time. The Sadhus and Giridharlal were filled with joy. Then God put an end to his leela and vanished.

The Sadhus were so thrilled there prayed to him in many ways and then prayed to the Lord too.

Oh God Nobody can praise your leela.

Not even Adisesha or Saraswathi or Brahma.

In such a case how can we after all ordinary human beings praise you? You should bless us with your great kindness. Then Giridharlal took them to his math, offered them food and ate after them and spent time in listening to stories of God.

One day, a Viragi came there. Giridharlal gave him a warm welcome offered Pranams to him and washed his feet and drank that tirdham.

The people in the town objected to it.

They said Giridharlal could not be a true Brahmin since he served a Viragi from a cemetery.

Giridharlal said that that Sanyasi was a devotee of the Lord Vishnu.

Moreover it doesn’t befit them to insult a great man.

Then they challenged Giridharlal, If you have powers to identify him as a great man, then you provide life to a dead body. Giridharlal accepted the challenge.

One day they took him to a dead body, Giridharlal prayed to Krishna in various ways and then looked at the dead body. He woke up as if from deep sleep and went round Giridharlal.

Then the people pleaded to Giridharlal to forgive them. He took it as the leela of God.

The people prostrated before God and asked him to teach them how to be blessed, by God and how to be liberated from life. Giridharlal taught them Krishna mantra and asked them to recite it.

He said; treat everything as a manifestation of God. Develop Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya and control your Indriyas.

Use your Indriyas for the good of others do your duty sincerely and leave the result to God.

Pray to Sadhus and accept that Tirdham Prasadam.

Then you will be liberated from life and you will experience Sat Chit Ananda! They prayed to him and left.

Giridharlal continued his prayer of God and transformed many people into Bhaktas, visited many holy places and finally attained Moksha.

Giridharlal helped his disciples to attained Moksha.

Scorpion dharma

 One day a sadhu went to the river to bathe.

There he noticed scorpion struggling in the water.

Scorpions cannot swim and the sadhu knew that if he did not save the scorpion, it would drown, therefore carefully picking up the scorpion, the sadhu rescued it from drowning and was just about to set it down gently on land when the scorpion stung his finger.

In pain the sadhu instinctively flung his hand and the scorpion went flying back into the river.

As soon as the sadhu regained his composure from the sting he again lifted the scorpion out of the water.

Again before he could set the scorpion safely on land, the creature stung him. This drama went on several minutes.

A hunter watched as the saint carefully and gingerly lifted the creature out of the water, only to fling it back in as he convulsed in pain from each fresh sting.

Finally, the hunter said to the sadhu, “Forgive me for my frankness, but it is clear that the scorpion going to continue to sting you each and every time you carry it to safety.

Why don’t you give up and just let it drown?”

The sadhu replied, “My dear child the scorpion is not stinging me out of malice or evil intent. Just as it is water’s nature to make me wet, so its scorpion’s nature to sting. He doesn’t realize that I am carrying him to safety. That is a level of conscious comprehensions greater than what his brain can achieve.

But just as it is the scorpion’s nature to sting. So it is my nature to save. Just as he is not leaving his nature, why should I leave my nature?

My dharma is to help any creature of any kind-human or animal.

Why should I let a small scorpion rob me of the divine nature which I cultivated through years of sadhana?

Srimad Bhagavatam following 2 verses 3.1.15 and 16 teaches us how Vidura controlled his insult from Duryodhana without uttering a word in return, he just left the palace accepting it as Krishna’s
benediction. Duryodhana said,

ka enam atropajuhaava jihmam
dasyaah sutam yad-balinaiva pushtah
tasmin prateepah parakrtya aaste
nirvaasyataam aashu puraac chvasaanah

“Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown up. Toss him out of the palace immediately and leave him with only his breath.”

sa ittham atyulbana karna baanair
bhraatuh puro marmasu taadito ‘pi
svayam dhanur dvaari nidhaaya maayaam
gata-vyatho ‘yaad uru maanayaanah

“Thus being pierced by arrows through his ears and afflicted to the core of his heart, Vidura placed his bow on the door and quit his brother’s palace. He was not sorry, for he considered the acts of the external energy to be supreme.”

Chaliya.

 There used to be a Baba (saintly person) in Mathura who performed arcana of his shalagrama-shila with great love.

He did not have complete knowledge of the various limbs of arcana, but whatever arcana he performed, he did with love.

He had taken a vow to bathe in Yamuna every day during brahma-muhurta, and to worship his shalagrama with Yamuna water only.

Once, on the amavasya (new-moon day) in the month of Mägha, the cold winter month from mid-January to mid-February, it rained the entire night and a heavy cold wind blew.

On that pitch-dark morning he had no idea of the time because no stars were visible in the sky.

He woke long before the brahma-muhurta hour and set out to take his bath.

Although Yamunas waters were as cold as ice and he was shivering due to the extreme cold, he nevertheless took bath just to maintain his vow.

He then started back for his home, carrying the Yamuna water for his worship.

He faced severe difficulty because of the dense darkness, heavy rain and the weak condition of his shivering body.

He was anxiously wondering how it would be possible to return home to worship his Deity when, suddenly, he saw somebody holding a lantern coming towards him.

As the person came closer, he saw that it was a young boy carrying a blanket on His head to protect Him from the rain.

Coming close to the Baba the boy asked, Baba, where are you going?

When the man told Him where he lived, the boy said, I am also going that way. Come with Me and I will take you to your house.

He started walking with that boy and reached his house very quickly.

Just as he was about to enter, he thought,Let me ask this boy His name.

But what a wonder!

The Baba could not see Him anywhere.

He looked all around but there was no trace of Him.

Standing there like a stone, he lamented, Alas! That chaliya