An incident around Akkalkot Maharaj.

[Guest guest]

Namah Shivaya.

 

Writing about Akkalkot Maharaj in my previous post reminded me of

this story.

 

One day, the Maharaj was sitting in a Vittala temple when a Vittal

devotee came by. He was shocked to find what the Maharaj was doing -

Maharaj's feet was on the head of the idol of Vittala.

 

The devotee shouted, "Maharaj, you are incurring a sin!"

Maharaj (innocently): "How so?"

Devotee: "By stamping on the Lord!"

Maharaj: "Is that so? I was only trying to rest my legs and it felt

good this way. Now as I am feeling lazy, please help me correct it,

can you take my legs away from the idol so that I don't add to my

sins?"

 

Devotee obliged and put Maharaj's legs in the opposite direction,

but what was his surprise to see that the idol moved from its place

to come under Maharaj's feet!

 

He did that a few more times, with the same result.

 

Maharaj was similing at the devotee's confusion. The devotee

realized he was in the presence of God himself.

 

Manoj's comments:

I think Maharaj was trying to "charge up" the idol using this

unusual technique; the Vittala devotee must have been a great

devotee to be fortunate to witness this leela, and speed up his

union.

 

Great saints sometimes are given the job of charging up temples when

the idol's "battery runs low". The idol's power weakens because of

the thousands of devotees praying there and asking for benefits. The

daily pujas done by temple priests may not be enough; the idol then

needs a "jump-start" in the form of a saint's sankalpa which is said

to then make it 'run' for hundreds of years (coupled with daily

abhishekhams and pujas by temple priests etc).

 

The PRANA PRATISHTA done in the installation of an idol is the first

charging-up.

 

Jai Ma!