DUTY IS GOD

[Guest guest]

DUTY IS GOD

The following story is from Indian spiritual folklore and it illustrates the

importance God Himself attaches to duty.

The story revolves around one Pundalika, a great devotee of Krishna. Pundalika

lived many many centuries ago in a region of India that now forms a part of the

state of Maharashtra, where Bombay/Mumbai is located. One day, Pundalika was

busy massaging the feet of his elderly parents. While working, he was

constantly chanting, as was his habit, the name of Krishna. In those parts,

Krishna is worshipped with the name Vittala, and so Pundalika was chanting,

“Vittala, Vittala…” [Readers may recall that many feature the name of Vittala.

A good many of these Bhajans have been composed by Swami Himself!]

Krishna was pleased with Pundalika’s devotion, and decided to manifest Himself

before the devotee. For a Divine purpose, Krishna chose the moment when

Pundalika was engaged in discharging his duty towards his aged parents. When

Krishna manifested, Pundalika’s delight knew no bounds; at the same time, he

did not abandon the task he was engaged in. He said to Krishna, “Lord, I am so

happy You have come here to give in answer to my constant prayers. As You can

see, I am at present busy serving my parents. Please Lord, would You be so kind

as to wait for a few moments till I complete this duty? Lord, I place here two

bricks and pray that You kindly stand here while I wind up. I hope You will not

mind, will You Lord?”

Imagine that! After a lifetime of prayer, the Lord appears, and Pundalika says

‘Duty first’. Is this not blasphemy? No, for Pundalika considered Duty also as

God. To get back to the story, the Lord waited. And when Pundalika was through,

Krishna blessed him saying, “Pundalika, I am very pleased with you. You have set

a shining example to the world. You saw Me not only in this Form but also in

your parents. Seeing Me everywhere is the highest form of devotion. Doing your

duty seeing Me everywhere transforms your work into true worship. I wanted to

proclaim this message to humanity for all times. That is why I manifested

before you at this particular juncture. From this day, the word would go forth

that DUTY IS GOD, and this spot where you made Me wait would become a holy

shrine!”

The village where Pundalika lived has now become the holy shrine of Pandarpur,

and the around the bricks on which Krishna waited has grown up a temple. In

this temple, Krishna is worshipped as Vittala. Pandarpur and Vittala feature

several times in the story of the Shirdi. Many years ago, Swami visited

Pandarpur in the company of devotees.

The story does not quite end here for there is a modern appendix to it! When in

Puttaparthi, Swami sometimes visits the Super Speciality Hospital on what may

be called an inspection round. In the early days, wherever He went there,

doctors and nurses would crowd around Him and go with Him as He went round.

Baba was quite displeased and firmly declared, “I have NOT come here to give

Darshan. If you want My Darshan, come to the Mandir. Here, you are supposed to

be doing your duty. You therefore have no business to leave your respective

stations. Your duty is to your patient. If you really want My Darshan, see Me

in your patient!” Aided by firm warnings from the Hospital Director, Swami’s

admonition finally worked. These days, Swami’s visits to the Hospital are not

disturbed by Darshan seekers.

EVERYTHING IS SPIRITUAL

Once, Baba materialised a golden pen for a devotee. The recipient very

meticulously used the pen for taking notes of Bhagavan’s Divine Discourses. For

all other work, he used an ordinary ball pen. One afternoon, Swami called this

person into the Interview room for something. After speaking to the devotee for

a while, Swami suddenly asked, “Where is the pen I gave you?” The devotee looked

at his pocket and noticed that he was carrying a ball pen instead of the pen

given by Baba. He then said, “Swami, I use that pen for spiritual work while

for ordinary work I use this ball pen.” Baba then gazed steadily at him for a

few moments and slowly said, “Everything is spiritual!”

GOD IS PERFECTION AND PERFECTION IS GOD

Whatever it is that one is doing, it must be done perfectly, at least to the

best of one’s ability. To drive home this point, Swami often narrates to

students the story of Antonio Stradivarius, the famous violin-maker of Italy.

Swami says that Antonio used to take a long time to make a violin, sometimes

even two years or so. When asked why he took so long whereas others did it much

faster, Antonio replied, “I try to aim at perfection. God is perfect, and when

we try to do things perfectly, it would very much please God. That is why I

take so much time.”

One can see that in everything that Swami touches, there is the unmistakable

stamp of perfection. Excellence, as someone said, comes by paying the maximum

attention to the smallest of details. Incidentally, the violins made by

Stradivarius have become collector’s items, with each violin fetching a price

of over a million dollars. Over the years, many have tried to attain the high

standards set by Antonio but even with the help of modern technology, the

violins of Antonio remain unbeatable; they continue to reign supreme.

OFFERING TO GOD

This is a story about a famous musician named Tansen, who was a member of the

Court of the Moghul Emperor, Akbar the Great. [Akbar lived in the seventeenth

century.]

Akbar greatly admired Tansen’s music and one day said to him, “Listen, I want to

meet the Guru who made you into such a fine singer.” Tansen replied, “Your

Majesty, that is not possible.” Akbar wanted to know why and Tansen replied

that his master was a recluse who lived alone in a far off village. Akbar then

told Tansen, “Make arrangements for him to be brought here. Expense is no

problem.” Tansen shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, I have already told

you that he is a recluse and does not want to be disturbed.” Akbar then said,

“OK, in that case, I will go and see him.” Tansen was alarmed and quickly

observed, “But Your Majesty, he does not like to be disturbed!” Akbar replied,

“That is no problem; I will take a look at him from a distance.” Tansen was

very reluctant to agree to Akbar’s demand and so he posed a condition that, he

hoped, would make Akbar drop the idea. He said, “Your Majesty, I will lead you

to my master, provided you are prepared to go incognito and not as an Emperor

with all the fanfare.” Akbar agreed.

Akbar, Tansen, and the royal entourage went into the desert [surrounding Delhi

where Akbar held court] and after some days, the party approached the village

where Tansen’s Guru [named Haridas] lived. At this stage, Tansen made Akbar to

change from royal attire into ordinary clothes worn by villagers, and leaving

the entourage behind, the two trekked to the village of the Guru. Thereafter,

the two tip-toed to the house and when they reached it, they heard music coming

from within – the Guru was singing. The two stopped outside the hut, and Akbar

remained frozen, absorbed in enjoying the music. Tears were flowing from his

eyes, and it was obvious that he was at the height of ecstasy. After a while,

the music stopped. Akbar wanted to go in and meet the great singer, but Tansen

would not allow. Holding Akbar firmly by the hand, he led the Emperor away.

After they went some distance, Akbar said, “Tansen, don’t take offence. No

doubt you sing very well but your master is much better than you.” Tansen

laughed and said, “That is no surprise Your Majesty. I merely sing for you

whereas my master sings for HIM!”

Doing anything for God brings out the very best and also gives the greatest

satisfaction as well as joy. With Sai Love sent by Ram.ChuganiRadiosai Journal

- PSN 2004Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam protection

around