The Greatness of Swati

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The Greatness of Swati

 

One day, God invited the Nava Grahas to His kingdom.

 

" Tell me, " he said, " which among the 27 nakshatras is

the greatest? "

 

All the Nava Grahas preferred their stars of

exaltation, because it was here that they felt most

comfortable. Therefore, Surya voted for Ashwini,

Chandra for Kritika, Budha for Hasta, Sukra for

Revati, Kuja for Dhanista, Guru for Pushya, and Sani

for Swati.

 

Since there was no consensus, God wanted Rahu and Ketu

to vote for one of the stars already mentioned above.

 

This irked Surya and Chandra, who complained and said

that demons were not fit to vote on such divine

matters.

 

But God waved aside their protests and said that, in

His kingdom, all were equal, and so both Rahu and Ketu

had as much a right to vote as any of the other Nava

Grahas.

 

Both of them agreed with Sani and said that Swati was

the greatest of the nakshatras.

 

Once again, Surya and Chandra protested, but God

ignored them and said, " Swati it is, then! But first,

I think that we should know why exactly it is Swati. "

 

Sani, who had first said that Swati was the greatest,

stood up, bowed low before the Lord, and said, " My

Lord, I did not vote for Swati merely because it is

the star of my exaltation. Neither did I vote for it

because it is owned by my good friend Rahu, who owns

Kumbha along with me. "

 

God knew this, and He also knew what was coming next.

But He pretended to be surprised. " Why then, pray tell

me, did you vote for Swati, Sani? "

 

" Because, my Lord, this star signifies a desire to

attain Your kingdom more than any other star. "

 

" Liar! " screamed Surya, rebuking his son. " How can a

star owned by hedonistic Rahu signify Godliness? " He

then turned to God and said, " My Lord, I request that

you turn my son Sani out of Your kingdom. "

 

" Silence! " thundered God, " You may be Sani's father,

Surya, but remember, that I am everybody's father,

including you. Keep quite now, or I shall tell Rahu to

eat you! "

 

Surya sat down, trembling with fear.

 

" Continue, Sani, " said God in a calmer tone. " In what

way does Swati signify desire to attain My kingdom?

Who taught you this? "

 

" My Lord, I learnt this from a bird called the common

hawk cuckoo, which is also called chatak or papiha. "

 

" Pray, my son, please enlighten us. What is so special

about this bird? " asked Surya, keen on getting into

God's good books once again by showing affection to

his son.

 

" Father, the special thing about the chatak is that it

will drink only rain water that falls when the star

Swati is rising. "

 

" Hah! " said Surya, reverting to his customary

arrogance. " Is that all? Is this the only thing great

about the chatak? "

 

" Father! You are so proud of your kingdom that you

fail to realize the greatness of small things. The

chatak will refuse water from even holy rivers like

the Ganga and the Yamuna. Even if it is offered water

from a sacred temple tank, it will not drink it. In

fact, I will not be surprised if it holds even the

nectar of immortality in contempt, preferring instead

the rain water that falls on a Swati. "

 

" Son, " said Surya, " Being at the outer edge of the

solar system, so far away from me, has no doubt

confused your brains. Why else would you confuse

silliness with greatness? "

 

" This is not silliness, but greatness, father, " said

Sani. " And being away from your blinding light, I have

savoured the darkness and contemplated long upon

things dear to me, like Vairagya and Viveka. To me,

the chatak is an exemplary example of both. "

 

" In what way? " demanded Surya.

 

" Thanks to the Viveka possessed by the chatak, it is

able to discriminate and realize that the water that

falls on a Swati is the greatest. Because it practices

Vairagya, it is able to give up its desire for all

other sources of water. "

 

Before Surya could interrupt him, Sani continued,

" This is what man has to do. He should shun

everything--especially the power that you can offer,

father--and choose only God. Only then will he attain

Moksha. "

 

Surya was quite keen on rebuking his son again, but a

quick glance at God's smiling countenance convinced

him that if he spoke now, then God would surely set

Rahu upon him.

 

Sani continued, " The chatak also shows us that the

path to God is not easy. God, though pleased with the

chatak for shunning all other water bodies, still

tests the chatak to see if its resolve to taste only

the rain water of Swati is strong. The chatak, by

being firm, shows devotees that they must be willing

to put up with hardships in order to realize Him. "

 

When Sani finished, God was immensely pleased with

him. " Sani, your explanation is wonderful. From now

on, you shall be called Swati Ucchan not just because

you are exalted in Swati, but because you have grasped

the inner meaning so beautifully. "

 

As Sani bowed low before God, the other Nava Grahas

applauded him.

 

Budha, ever keen on depicting his poetic wit, and on

having the last word, said, " Excellent, friend Sani!

From now on, may Swati be to Sani what Swaha is to

Agni! "

 

* * *

 

~~~~~~~~~

Balaji Narasimhan

Author & Editor

http://www.balaji.ind.in/

~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

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