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Sree Guru Charitra
Index
Chapter 22
Namadharaka said to Siddha: “Holy Sir, the more I listen to the
stories of the Guru, the more my appetite for them is whetted. It
is my good fortune that I could come into contact with such a one
like you who is not tired of my insatiable thirst for the stories
of the Guru.” Siddha replied, ‘Namadharaka, how long can you go on
drinking thus of the nectar of the divine acts of Sree Guru who is
the manifestation of the Supreme Spirit and is of the nature of
Reality-Awareness-Bliss? And who can ever recount to you the
unfathomable and infinite glories of the Lord? In the vastness of
immense space, from the smallest moth to the biggest of birds, so
many creatures fly. But each of them can cover only a little of
it, in proportion to its own might. So too, I shall narrate the
divine deeds of the Lord to the best of my ability.
Sree Nrisimha Saraswathi is very kind and loving to his devotees
and he conducts himself in accordance with their attitude to him.
The Lord is originally formless and of the nature of pure
Satthva, free from all cravings and unborn. However, by
manifesting buddhi or intellect as one of his attributes,
he became the Self of the universe. Though He is all pervading, He
manifested Himself as Lord Brahma in the Satyaloka, as Vishnu in
the Vaikuntha and as Maheswara in the Kailasa, so that sages might
be blessed with his sight. As there are many devout souls on earth
who take refuge in Him only, He wished to manifest Himself to
them. To this end, he has been manifesting himself on earth in
every epoch and uplifting those who serve Him, by His grace. Who
can ever capture in speech, the boundless love of the Lord for his
devotees? For, though by Himself, in Spirit, He is ever complete
and fulfilled, in his human manifestation, He wanders to the
houses of His devotees for bhiksha. All these, His divine
acts, but demonstrate His love for His devotees. He, who cannot be
reached in other Yugas even through severe austerities, responds
readily to us in this Yuga by our mere thought of Him, with a
heart full of love. Therefore it is our good fortune that we are
living in this age of Kali. The Lord, who is slave of His
devotees, moves about like a begging sannyasi in this place.
Once several devotees coming from seven different villages visited
Sree Guru on the eve of holy Diwali or the festival of
lights. Every one of them came to him with a wish to take him to
his house on the holy day. Accordingly, one from each of the
villages, by turns, had put forth the same request: ‘May you be
pleased to grace our house and stay with me for at least five
days’. Sree Guru replied: ‘you are seven and I am one! How can I
attend the celebrations, which go on simultaneously in all the
seven places? I can only stay for one day with each of you. If all
of you can agree on this, it will be nice.’ But the next moment,
he added, “I am a slave of my devotees. I will accompany those who
could take me with them!” there naturally ensued much argument and
wrangling among the devotees as to who should take him. One of
them appealed to the Lord, ‘Oh Sir, pray, do not ignore my
invitation, simply because I am not as rich as the others.’
Another interrupted him saying, ‘My Master, I may be rich, but I
will be a pauper without your grace.’ Every one of them finally
bowed to him praying that his own invitation be honoured above the
rest. Finally, the Guru said, ‘I shall visit all your houses. All
of you may go home happily.’ When they were about to take leave of
him, all of them had a doubt whether they can take his word for a
promise. Sree Guru who knew their hearts called every one of them
separately and told him, ‘I shall visit only your house. But do
not reveal this to the others!’ every one of them thought that the
Master really meant to visit his house only. Thus all of them
departed happily. Later, however, the devotees at the muth
sadly said, ‘Lord, if you leave us and go away to another village
on the holy day, how unhappy do we feel!’ the Master said, ‘I
shall not go anywhere! Do not be anxious on that account.’
Indeed, during the celebration of Diwali, the Guru assumed seven
identical forms and graced the houses of all the devotees in the
seven places simultaneously, with his presence in his eight forms,
he stayed at his muth. The omnipresent Lord stayed for five
long days in all the eight places! The seven devotees again
visited the muth in the holy month of Kaarthik and they
were telling one another that Sree Guru had graced their
respective houses during the festivities of Diwali. The
disciples at the muth intervened and said, ‘in fact the
Lord had not left the muth at all during the five days
celebration. He graced us all by his presence here. Consequently
every one of them accused every other of telling lies. When the
argument drew the attention of Sree Guru, he said, ‘Do not dispute
among yourselves. I am everywhere!’ everyone was struck dumb with
amazement and joy. Together, they all sang his glory: ‘Thus,
Supreme Lord, unable to fathom your mystery, we wrangle and
dispute about you. How could our common language ever acknowledge
thy glory adequately, when even the Vedas have failed to do so?
Verily, you are the in-dweller of the heart-cave of every
creature. Oh Thou all pervading one, your divine birth and acts
aim only at blessing thy devotees. Be pleased to bless us that we
are not deluded by thy power of cosmic illusion. Ay, may we not be
deluded by all that is seen and heard (by our illusory senses)’.
The lord blessed them all saying, ‘Amen!’ (Thathaasthu!)
In this manner, the Lord who is the nature of
Reality-Awareness-Bliss had sported his divine acts, which are
inconceivable to us. The Lord is pleased only by our faith and he
never cares for our race, ritual conduct, age, beauty, learning,
wealth and resourcefulness. I shall illustrate what I mean:
There was a peasant who, by adhering to the occupation of farm
labour that is enjoined on him by Sastras (swadharma),
enjoyed worldly prosperity and finally attained liberation.
Everyday, he attended to his labours and as Sree Guru passed that
way towards the Sangama for his daily bath, bowed to him. In order
to make the passage comfortable to the Guru, he removed stones and
thorns on the path and leveled it. One day, as the Guru passed
that way, the man bowed to him as usual and again resumed his
work. Sree Guru then asked him, ‘Why do you bow to me every day?
What do you hope to gain thereby? Tell me your heart’s wish!’ The
man replied, ‘my lord, I hope to enjoy worldly pleasures and
prosperity. By your grace, my farm looks luscious. Even though I
am a Sudra I am your devotee and hence I hope I will not be
ignored by you.’
Sree Nrisimha Saraswathi saw that the whole field was rich with
ears of grain, though not yet ripe for harvesting. He turned to
the labourer and said, ‘My son, if you have faith in me my word,
harvest the field completely by the time I return from the
Sangama.’ As soon as Sree Guru went away, the farmer went to the
landlord and requested him to fix the terms of payment in grain,
so that he could at once reap the corn. The landlord said in
surprise, ‘But it is not yet time for harvesting!’ and refused to
spell out the terms. The farmer said, ‘Sir, I promise to give
twice the amount of grain I have given you last year’. He
persisted and somehow extracted the needed document in writing.
Immediately, he called the labourers and started reaping the corn.
His wife was shocked to know that he had started harvesting the
field much in advance of the proper season. She at once ran, along
with her children, to the field and tried to dissuade him.
However, he put her off by threats and went ahead with his work.
Such indeed, is true faith and devotion. For the love of the Lord,
Bharata had sacrificed his attachment to his mother; Prahalada had
left his father and Vibheeshana forsook his brother. The farmer’s
wife ran to the landlord and complained to him saying, ‘Oh sir, in
foolish obedience to the words of a sannyasi, my husband has
started harvesting the crop before it is fully ripe. Pray, stop
him!’ the landlord sent word through his man, commanding the
farmer not to go ahead with his foolish plan. The farmer stood his
ground saying, ‘You cannot frighten me out of my work as long as I
have the record of terms of agreement!’ the messenger had to
return to the landlord and conveyed his reply to him. The landlord
was helpless. He said to the farmer’s wife, ‘Woman, how can I go
back on my word? I cannot command him now, as he too has grown
rich of late. The woman returned to her husband waiting. The man
did not budge but finished his job. He calmly stood in wait for
the master to return.
In a short while, Sree Guru came there, looked at the field and
asked the farmer why he acted in such an odd manner. ‘You have
done what no one else would ever dream of doing! Alas, I was only
joking when I told you to do so. What is to become of your living,
and how are you going to pay the landlord’s share now that the
fruits of a year’s labour have gone a waste? Why did you harvest
the field before it was ripe?’ unperturbed, the farmer said, ‘My
Guru’s word is law unto me. Nothing else can bestow the like
rewards on me. I am not worried about my living. For he who has
blessed me with this birth shall Himself sustain me!’ then Sree
Guru said, ‘If, indeed your faith is so great, it shall be so!’
and went his way to the muth. The farmer, with no other
thought in his mind than the holy form of Sree Guru, carted the
grain home. Shortly after, when the sun entered the constellation
of moola, there was heavy rain and the whole field was full
with corn, ripe for harvest! Everyone, including the farmer’s
wife, marveled at the miracle. The woman touched her husband’s
feet in reverence saying, ‘my good Lord, you are a true devotee of
Sree Guru. Pardon me my ignorance.’ The farmer happily proceeded
to the field and performed ritual worship to it. They saw Sree
Guru returning from the Sangama and bowed to him.
The farmer addressed him, ‘My Lord, your holy feet are my wish
fulfilling gem, your word is the life-reviving force and your form
is of the nature of Divine Light. Just as the owl is not able to
see the light of the day, the ignorant ones cannot perceive your
true nature. By the fruit of my previous meritorious actions, I
shall seek your divine abode. I am indeed blessed. May your holy
self ever think of me lovingly’. Sree Guru said, ‘Even a man given
to wicked ways will be made holy by serving me with singleness of
mind. Such shall attain the same state of bliss as does the man of
virtue and faith. Therefore, your house shall ever be blessed with
plenty and your heart will ever be rooted in faith. You need not
harbour any doubt in this regard.’
When Sree Guru went away, the farmer went to the landlord and
said, ‘Sir, I shall give you twice the quantity of grain mentioned
in our agreement. For the yield is twice as plentiful as every
year.’ The landlord said, ‘No I shall not accept even a grain more
than we have agreed upon. I do not want any grain earned in
transgression of my word. What you have obtained is by the grace
of Sree Guru belongs to you. It is enough if you give me what is
my due.’ The farmer too took for himself what was his due and
distributed the surplus to the needy. By the grace of Sree Guru,
he grew rich and continued to serve his Master. I believe that the
place where this miracle took place is hallowed.”
On hearing the words of Siddha, Namadharaka had a question to ask:
“Oh Mahatma, leaving aside such holy places as Kasi, why did the
Lord choose to live in this place?”
Siddha replied: “The Lord saw that the holy places in Gangapur are
surrounded in all directions by deities and so he chose this as
his abode. Once, some people of this place wished to go to Kasi.
Then Sree Guru told them, ‘in this age of Kali, the holiness of
all places of pilgrimage gets hidden from public access. I shall
show you some such here itself.’ So saying, he showed them the
holy spots at Gangapur and explained thus:
`This is Sangama. This verily is (as holy as) Prayag. These are
the Shatkula teerthas. This Sangama is the confluence of
the three rivers, the Triveni. This is the river Amaraja. Whoever
takes a dip in it shall be freed from his sins and will achieve
immense religious merit and his wishes will be fulfilled. Once
Lord Shiva gifted nectar to god Indra to revive all those gods in
his army who were killed by the demon Jalandhara in war. A little
of it spilled in this place and it took the shape of a holy river.
The same is this river Amaraja, which can destroy the fear of
death. The peepul tree here is as holy as the famous Wish
fulfilling Tree. The streamlet near it is what is known as
Manoratha (lit. aspiration) teerthas. In front of it is the
famous Santosha (beautitude) teerthas. The Shivalinga there
(known as Rudra) is Vishweshwara, the Lord of the Universe.
Whoever goes round the Shivalinga in the proper manner and,
touching the genitals of the Nandeeswara with his left hand and
keeping the thumb and fore finger of the right hand on the two
horns, look at the Linga through the intervening space (between
the two fingers and the two horns of Nandi) will attain status of
a God. For the uplift of the souls on earth, Shiva had sanctified
Kasi. A devotee of Lord Shiva who attained liberation while in
body lived in this place, like one stupefied. He considered inner
contact (identification) with the body as venomous as a snake,
sensual pleasures as poison and women as corpses.
One day, he summoned all his kinsfolk and said, ‘Look here is
Kasi!’ They requested him to show him the same, more clearly. Then
he prayed to Lord Shiva. The Lord appeared before them along with
the whole city of Kasi about him. Similarly the jeevanmukta
showed them the Shivalinga of Lord Vishweshawara in the sacred
water tank called the uttama kundah (lit., the excellent
lake). He then told his people, ‘this is the city of Kasi.
Everyone should undertake the holy pilgrimage here in a proper
manner every year. Our family deity is Lord Vithal. Yet the
pilgrimage to Kasi which is performed here will wash away our sins
and grant us our wishes.’
As Sree Guru went on with his account, his sister by birth, a lady
named Ratna, came there and bowed to him. At once he said to her,
‘Do you remember what I have told you?’ Then she recollected the
former incident and noticed leprosy on certain parts of her body.
When she was sorry for it, the Lord said, ‘if you are prepared to
reap this consequence of a previous sin in your next life, you
shall now be made clean’. Ratnadevi replied, ‘Lord, bless me that
I have no more births. I do not want anything else.’ Then the Guru
said, ‘If anyone takes bath is this Papanasa Teertha for three
days, he shall be freed from all the sins of seven previous
births, what to speak of freedom from leprosy?’ She did
accordingly and the disease vanished. Then the Guru showed them
Koti Teertha (the lake of crore holy lakes). Those who take the
holy dip here on auspicious days, practice such devotion, as japa
and religious charity will be blessed with infinite reward. He
then showed them the Rudrapada Teertha and said that the ritual
acts that are to be performed there are the same as for Gaya. He
also said that the Chakra Teertha, which is at the end of river
Krishna is equal in holiness to holy Dwaravati and even four times
as holy. “Even a sinner who takes bath here will be blessed. To
the east of this village is Gokarna, where abides Lord Shiva in
the form of Kalleshwara and is also known as Mahabaleshwara. The
Manmatha Teertha there is as sacred as the sea. By performing
abhisheka to Shiva in the month of Shraavana and by
celebrating the festival of lights in the month of Kaarthik, one’s
wishes are fulfilled and much good accrues.’ Henceforth, the
people started following Sree Guru’s instructions. Knowing that
the place is so sacred, Sree Nrisimha Saraswathi had opted to live
there. He is indeed the fulfiller of his devotee’s wishes. He
uplifted a Muslim king spiritually. Even though such a holy one
dwells amidst us, the ignorant masses cannot recognize him, just
as the born-blind cannot see the sun.”
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