1.
Vinayaka - The Leader of all
On
one occasion, a competition was arranged among
the gods for selecting the leader of the
ganas (troops of demigods who are
attendants of S'iva). Participants had to
go round the world quick and come back to the
feet of Lord S'iva. The gods started off
on their own vehicles; the elder son of
S'iva also enthusiastically entered the
competition.
He
had an elephantine head; his vehicle was a
mouse! Therefore, his progress was severely
handicapped: He had not proceeded far, when
Nârada appeared before him and
asked him, "Whither are you bound?" The son was
very much annoyed; he fell into a rage. For,
what happened was a bad omen, doubly
unpropitious for those going on a journey. It is
inauspicious if the first person you come across
when you are on a journey is a lone
brahmin. Though the foremost among the
brahmins (he was the son of Brahmâ
Himself), Nârada was a bad omen!
Again it is a bad omen if you are going
somewhere and someone asked, "Whither are you
bound?" Nârada put him that very
question!
Nevertheless,
Nârada was able to assuage his
anger. He drew forth from S'iva's son the
cause of his predicament and his desire to win.
Nârada consoled him, exhorted him
not to yield to despair, and advised him thus:
"Râma -the name- is the seed from
which the gigantic tree called the universe has
emanated. So, write the name on the ground, go
round it once, and hurry back to S'iva,
claiming the prize." He did so and returned to
his father. When asked how he returned so soon,
he related the story of Nârada and
his advice. S'iva appreciated the
validity of Nârada's counsel; the
prize was awarded to the son, who was acclaimed
as Ganapati. (Master of the Ganas)
and Vinayaka (leader of all).
2.
Guru's grace brings eternal glory
S'ankara,
the great âcârya, had four
chief pupils: Throtaka, Hastamalaka, Sureswara
and Padmapada. Of these, Padmapada was intent
only on service to the guru; he could not pay
attention to the lessons. The others used to
sneer at him for his backwardness in studies.
But his deep reverence for the guru made up for
it. One day, he washed the clothes of his guru
and dried them on a rock in the middle of the
river; but, even as he was folding them, the
river rose fast in a swirling flood; and he had
scarce a foot-hold on the top of the rock. It
was getting late; the guru would need the washed
clothes soon; so Padmapada resolved to walk
across, over the raging waters. He knew that the
blessing of his guru would rescue him. It did.
Wherever his foot was planted, a sturdy lotus
bloomed and bore him on its petals. That is why
he came to be called, lotus-footed Padmapada!
The grace of the guru enabled him to master all
knowledge and shine as a brilliant exponent of
the ancient wisdom.
3.
Lighting the lamp of wisdom
Once
a sadhaka, who had great ambition to know
something about the divine, wanted his eye of
wisdom to be opened. He entered a cave where a
guru was residing. While entering the cave he
saw a small light. As he moved forward even that
little light got extinguished. In darkness one
feels frightened, and in fear, we think of God
very intensively. Thus he uttered loudly the
word 'Namah S'ivaya' and on hearing this,
the saint asked him who he was. He said that he
had come to seek his grace. The great saint, who
was sustaining himself in the cave only by
breathing the air around him, had the competence
to know the mind of his visitor. He said that he
will answer his question later but asked him
first to go and light the lamp, which had been
extinguished. The visitor took a matchbox and
tried to light the lamp but did not succeed. He
told the guru that he had finished all the
matchsticks and yet he had not succeeded in
lighting the lamp.
The
guru then asked him to open he lamp, put out all
the water and pour oil in it, and then try to
light it. The person did this but the lamp would
not light even then. The guru then said that the
wick was probably wet with water and asked him
to dry it nicely in the open and then attempt to
light the lamp. He did this and succeeded. Then
the person ventured to mention his need and
sought it to the guru. The surprised guru said
that the appropriate answer was being given all
the while. The visitor pleaded that, being an
ignorant man he was not able to understand the
significance of the teaching and requested the
guru to explain to him in clearer terms. The
guru said:
"In
the vessel of your heart, there is the wick of
your jîva. The wick has been immersed all
these days in the water of your sensuous desire.
Therefore you are not able to light the lamp of
wisdom. Pour out all the water of desires from
the vessel of your heart, and fill it with
Namasmarana of God. Take the wick of jîva
and dry it in the sunshine of vairagya; squeeze
out of it all the water present in the form of
desire and put into the heart the oil of
devotion of Namasmarana. It will be possible for
you to light the lamp of wisdom".
4.
The Lord has no fixed form
There
was an artist who had traveled far and wide and
had built up for himself an extensive
reputation. But so far he had not achieved
access to Krishna! As much he was anxious
to seek approbation from Lord Krishna as
well. With his view, one day he got an
appointment with Krishna, met Him and
requested Him to stay still, so that he could
paint His picture. He prepared the outline and
told Krishna that he would get ready the
final painting in a week's time. Krishna
knew the ego of the painter. After a week, the
painter brought a finished portrait, covered
with a white cloth. In Krishna's
presence, when he uncovered the painting, the
painter himself was shocked at the lack of
similarity between Krishna and the
painting. The painter was completely surprised
and asked for a week's time to get the job done:
The painter tried several times but every time
the result was equally disappointing. In
complete frustration and total dejection, he
wanted to leave the city and go away. When he
was going away, sage Nârada met him.
Nârada told him that it was silly to
attempt to paint the picture of Lord
Krishna. The Lord has no fixed form and
He can change His face every second.
Nârada advised, "If you do want to paint
Him, I will tell you a method which will enable
you to do so." Nârada whispered something
into the ear of the artist.
Following the advice given by Nârada, the
painter came back, with a white cloth covering
something and again approached Krishna
and told Him that this time, He is welcome to
change in any manner but the painting will look
exactly like Him. When the cloth was removed,
Krishna saw only a mirror and this mirror
reproduced an exact replica of Krishna.
If therefore, you are imaging that God is like
this or like that, it is not correct. You cannot
describe God and your attempts will fail. Make
your mind clear and clean; fill it with love and
devotion; that will enable you to have the true
vision of God.
5.
The sacred fruit of action
On
Saturday, a father was involved in worshipping
the Lord and he called his son and told him to
get some plantains for one rupee. This son was a
good boy; he purchased the plantains, but on his
way he saw a mother and son, who were very
hungry, standing on the road. When the hungry
boy saw the plantains, he ran towards him. The
hungry mother, who saw the boy running, ran
after him and caught him but both of them
collapsed of hunger. When this young man found
these people suffering so much from hunger, he
thought that it was much better to feed hungry
people than take the bananas home. He gave the
bananas to this mother and son and later brought
water and gave it to them. These people were so
relieved of their hunger and thirst that they
expressed their gratitude in many different ways
and shed tears of joy. This young student went
home empty handed and when the father asked him
if he had brought the bananas, he replied in the
affirmative. When asked where the bananas were,
the son replied that the bananas were sacred,
would not rot and could not be seen. The son
explained that he fed two hungry souls with the
bananas and the fruits, which he brought home,
are only the sacred fruits of the action. The
father then felt that his son was worthy of him
and he felt that all his prayers had been
answered that day. The father developed great
affection for the son that day and they came
much closer to each other.
6.
Double the price
An
individual took a watch, which was out of order
to a watch-repairer. The watch-repairer said
that the watch was very old and that it would
cost a lot of money to repair the watch. He said
that repair would cost at least two times the
original price of the watch. The owner said that
he would like the watch to be repaired even if
it costs so much. The watch repairer thought
that, since the owner was insisting on this old
and worn-out watch being repaired, the watch was
probably a lucky one. He replaced the old parts
by new parts, repaired the watch and gave it
back to the owner. When asked to pay the price
of repair, the owner gave two slaps to the watch
repairer. The persons standing by handed him
over to the police and when the police asked him
to explain why he beat the watch repairer, he
said that he was asked to pay for the repair of
the watch twice the price he paid originally
when he acquired the watch and since he did not
purchase it but got it by giving one slap to a
person, he gave two slaps to the watch
repairer.
7.
The best gift to ask from
God
Our
faith diminishes because our ambitions are
limitless. There was a rich person who had a
daughter with a flat nose. The father wanted to
get this girl married. Every person who came and
looked at the girl used to go away, although
they were tempted by the wealth. In those days,
persons who could perform plastic surgery were
not available. In desperation, he announced that
he would give plenty of money to anyone who
would marry his daughter. The marriage was
performed, and thereafter the couple developed
considerable faith in God. They visited many
temples, went on many pilgrimages and bathed in
many sacred rivers. They met a saint who advised
them that he, who created the nose, alone, could
bring it back to normal. Although they had lot
of wealth, they were not happy at all. The girl
used to feel others were looking at her and
making fun. She suggested to her husband that
they should both go to the lonely Himalayas and
spend a month there in that manner. He agreed
and they did go. The girl had a great desire to
get back her nose, so she began to pray to God
in great earnestness. God appeared, due to her
good luck, and asked her what she wanted. As
soon as God appeared, she asked for the grant of
a good looking big nose. God said, so shall it
be and granted her the boon. As soon as God
disappeared, she looked at her face. She looked
at the big nose and felt that she had become
uglier than before. She prayed again more
earnestly and God appeared again and asked her
what she wanted. She said that she did not want
that big nose. God said, so shall it be and
granted her the boon. She immediately found that
her nose had completely disappeared. The
moral of this story is that although God is
present before you, playing with you and talking
with you, you do not know what to
ask.
8.
Every one must have faith in
himself
There
is no one who does not love himself, has no
belief in himself and has no ambition to rise
higher and higher. Even a man who does not have
faith in God has faith in himself and desires to
have strength by which to cultivate faith in
himself. There was once a guru communicating
wisdom to people who came for his darshan with
flowers and fruits. One day, as the offerings
were plenty, he called a disciple and asked him
to cut the fruits and arrange for its
distribution as prasâda(m) . The
disciple reported to the guru that all was ready
for distribution and asked him who would be
given first. The guru asked him to start with
the person in whom he has the greatest faith and
the highest confidence. All the people assembled
there thought that the disciple would first give
the fruit to the teacher and then distribute to
the others. But the disciple did not do so. He
took the first fruit himself. When the surprised
onlookers asked for an explanation he said that
since he had had the greatest confidence and
affection for himself, he took the first
fruit.
9.
Excess wealth can change one's
quality
There
is a small story, which tells us how the
possession of wealth will change the qualities
of some people. A mother had only one son and a
lot of money. The boy had lost his father early
in his life. As the boy grew older and older, he
got into bad company. If the tank is full, frogs
gather but once the tank has dried up, all the
frogs disappear. Many friends will gather round
you so long as you have wealth and the moment
wealth disappears, the friends will also
disappear without telling you. The son of that
wealthy person accumulated a large number of bad
friends. He used to go to the mother day after
day and demand large sums of money, with the
result that the mother's affection towards the
boy began diminishing and she developed positive
hatred towards the boy. As days went on, the boy
lost all attachment to the mother. She thought
that it's much better that such a son who brings
down the honor and reputation of the parents
dies rather than lives and therefore she worked
out a plan one day. At the same time, the son
had its own plan as he thought that it is better
that such a mother dies rather than lives. One
day the son was to kill his mother with an iron
rod as the mother came to serve him food. The
mother also decided to kill the son the same day
by poisoning his food. When the mother came to
serve him food, the son hit her with the iron
rod and killed her. A few minutes later, the boy
also died after eating the poisoned
food.
10.
Selfishness will never work in matters relating
to God
There
is a small story in the
Mahâbhârata. With a view to
get Krishna on her side,
Satyâbhama, (see also:
S.B.
10:58-32
etc.) one of his consorts, went to
Nârada and requested him to tell
her some way, a short-cut by which she can
achieve her objective. Nârada knew that
Satyâbhama was very selfish and
that selfishness will never work in matters
relating to God.
Nârada wanted to teach a lesson to
Satyâbhama and said he knew of a
method which would get Krishna on her
side, a ritual in which she gives away her
husband as a gift to someone and then buys him
back by paying money, equivalent in weight to
the weight of the Lord. Nârada said
that Krishna will belong solely to
Satyâbhama under all circumstances
if she went through this ritual.
Satyâbhama was lured into the plan.
Therefore, she did the ritual of gifting
Krishna to Nârada and then
getting Him back. In one pan of the balance, she
made Krishna sit and she put all her
jewels in the other pan but it was no match to
the weight of Krishna.
Nârada saw an excellent opportunity
in the situation and told
Satyâbhama that since she is not
able to give gold needed to equal her husband's
weight, he was taking away Krishna and
that from that day, Krishna would not
belong to her; He would belong to him.
In
that situation, Satyâbhama thought
of Rukminî and went in search of
her. She found her performing Tulasî
puja. Rukminî went with a few
Tulasî leaves in her hand. She was
astonished to find that Satyâbhama
was trying to outweigh the Lord himself with
gold. She knew that this would never be
possible. She said that gold will never outweigh
God and only God's Name can match Him in weight.
Nârada did not agree with this and
asked that since Krishna has a form which
can be seen, He must be weighed against
something which can also be seen.
Rukminî immediately grasped the
situation and she told herself that whether it
is fruit, a flower, or a leaf or even a spoon of
water, if given in full faith, God will surely
respond. If there is any truth in this, she
expected Krishna to respond to what she
was going to do and in full faith, she placed a
Tulasî leaf in the other pan of the
balance, uttering the name of Krishna. It
is only with affection, love and pure heart that
one can get God. She won. [see also:
B.G.
9:26]
11.
One steady disciple is better than thousand
wavering ones
We
know that King Janaka [see also
B.G.
3:20-21
& RRV-7a],
even while performing ordinary worldly duties
like ruling the kingdom and looking after the
needs of the kingdom, found it possible to turn
his thoughts completely towards the divine. The
great rishi S'uka was once teaching
several things to his disciples in a forest
quite close to Mithilapura. Janaka learnt
about this and wanted himself to become a
disciple of S'uka and listen to his teachings.
Janaka went to the forest, made obeisances to
S'uka and asked that he be accepted as one
amongst the numerous disciples S'uka had, and
requested for permission to attend the classes.
From that day, Janaka was conducting himself as
one of the disciples. One day when he did not
arrive in time, S'uka did not start his class
and waited till Janaka arrived. He further told
the other disciples that he was delaying the
class for that reason. When the sage told the
other disciples to wait till Janaka arrived,
they murmured amongst themselves and told each
other that they had joined this great sage only
because it was believed he attached no special
importance to kings and other powerful people.
From that day, their faith in the guru started
weakening. They also became envious of King
Janaka.
As soon as S'uka saw such envy and jealousy
among his disciples, he decided to teach them a
lesson. At an opportune moment, all the
disciples were made to feel that the entire city
of Mithilapura was in flames. Then each one of
them began to think of the consequences, of the
effect it would have on their houses, and ran to
the city to salvage what they can. But King
Janaka did not waver or move from his place.
S'uka told Janaka that the flames appeared to
have spread to the palace and he asked Janaka to
go and save the inmates of the palace. Janaka
was only smiling, thinking that God's will shall
be done and no one can change it. The envious
students who ran to the city found that there
were no flames at all and it was only a make
believe. They came back and reported this to
S'uka. They expressed surprise at the steady
mind of Janaka. S'uka looked at the disciples
who were envious and told them that it is better
to have one disciplined student rather than many
who have no stability of mind.
12.
The three best things
A
king used to ask three questions of all people
who came to him. The first question was: 1.
who is the best of persons? The second was: 2.
what is the best time and the third, 3. what is
the best of all actions? The king was very
anxious to know the answers to these questions.
One day, he went to the forest and was moving
about the hills and plains. He saw an
'âs'ram' and wanted to take some rest
there. By the time the king reached the
âs'ram, a sadhu was watering some
plants. The sadhu saw that the king was rather
tired, stopped watering the plants, ran up to
the king and gave him some fruits and cool
water. At that time, an individual wounded all
over the body was brought to the âs'ram by
another sadhu. As soon as the sadhu saw
this, he went to the individual, cleaned all his
wounds and gave him some herbs which could cure
the wounds. He was also telling him sweet words
which could console the person. The king wanted
to express his gratitude and take leave of him.
The sadhu blessed the king but the king was
still troubled by his three questions and wanted
to see if the sadhu could enlighten him on that
matter. The sadhu stated that the answers to the
three questions were contained in the actions
which the king had witnessed in the
âs'ram. The sadhu said that when the king
came to the âs'ram he was watering the
plants and that was his duty. At that time, on
seeing the king the sadhu had given up his duty
and come to the king and gave him water and
fruit. This was in accordance with correct
traditions, as the king was his guest. While
relieving the king of his thirst and suffering,
another injured individual had come to the
âs'ram and therefore the sadhu had
given up the duty of serving the king and went
to the other individual and began serving
him. Whoever comes seeking service from
you is the best individual at that time.
Whatever satisfaction you can give him by
serving him will be the best work you can
do. The present, when you can do
something, is the most sacred of all
times.
13.
How to deal with a bad habit
One
got into the habit of eating opium. It was not
possible for him to control this habit. He was
always in a kind of coma. A saintly person
visited his city and was offering advice and
comfort to many. The opium-eater also sought the
advice of the saint. The saint said that his
health was deteriorating and that he should give
up eating opium. At this, the opium addict said
that it was not possible for him to give it up.
He requested the saint to give him some advice.
The saint asked him how much of opium he used to
take every day and was shown a certain lump as
the quantity being taken every day. The saint
got a piece of chalk, equal to the lump of opium
and told him that he may continue eating opium
but should not take more than the weight of the
chalk each day. The opium eater was quite happy
but he was also told that every day he should
write 'OM' three times on a blackboard with that
chalk. In this manner, the chalk was reduced in
size every day and so the amount of opium which
the person was eating also got reduced gradually
and ultimately this habit was removed.
14.
Mathru bhakti must precede Îs'wara
bhakti
The
first and foremost of my directions is: Revere
your parents, especially the mother. There was
once a place, which was hit by a hurricane so
wild that all the houses were razed to the
ground, and people had nothing to eat and
nowhere to lay their heads. Among the worst hit
were a mother and her two sons. The elder bow
was a gem of virtue; he felt responsible for the
safety and care of the family; he loved his
mother, and sought to win her love and
blessings, more than anything else.
The mother with the younger child was going out
begging and keeping alive on the little they
could get from the famine-stricken land. Soon,
she found that she was too weak even to walk a
few steps and so, the elder son had to go
begging, all alone, to feed the family. He said,
falling at her feet, he would do what she was
doing and collect food for all. He wanted that
she should not over-exert, and worsen her
health. How could three live on mere handfulls?
The son too was rendered weak. With faint voice
and fainter steps, he moved towards a zamindar's
[mogol name for leaseholder in India to
collect taxes from peasants] house and
called out for a morsel. The lady of the house
called him in and led him to a plate whereon she
served some food. But he tottered into an
upright position, and fell plump on the floor.
The zamindar came running into the room and
placed her ear near the dying boy's mouth, so
that she could catch the last words that emerged
from his lips. He was saying: 'No, no! First
she must be given food. My turn comes next'.
You may be able to pay back any debt; but, the
debt you owe your mother, you never can repay.
Those who claim to be devotees of God must have
this credential; they must revere the
mother!
15.
Selfcondemnation is Egoism
Once,
Krishna pretended to be suffering from
headache, intense, unbearable headache! He acted
that role quite realistically. He wound warm
clothes around His Head and rolled restlessly in
bed. His eyes were red and He was in evident
distress. The face too appeared swollen and
pale. Rukminî,
Satyâbhama and the other queens
rushed about with all kinds of remedies and
palliatives. But they were ineffective. At last,
they consulted Nârada and he went
into the sick room to consult Krishna
Himself and find out which drug would cure
Him.
Krishna
directed him to bring - What do you think the
drug was? - the dust of the feet of a true
bhakha! In a trice, Nârada
manifested himself in the presence of some
celebrated bhaktas of the Lord; but, they
were too humble to offer the dust of their feet
to be used by their Lord as a drug!
That is also a kind of egoism: "I am low,
mean, small, useless, poor, sinful, inferior" -
such feelings also are egoistic; when the ego
goes, you do not feel either superior or
inferior. No one would give the dust wanted
by the Lord; they were too worthless, they
declared. Nârada came back
disappointed to the sickbed. Then,
Krishna asked him, "Did you try
Vrindâvana where the
gopîs live?" The queens laughed at
the suggestion and even Nârada asked in
dismay, "What do they know of bhakti?"
Still, the sage had to hurry thither. When the
gopîs heard He was ill and that the dust
of their feet might cure Him, without a second
thought they shook the dust of their feet and
filled his hand with the same. By the time
Nârada reached
Dvârakâ, the headache had
gone. It was just a fiveday drama, to teach that
self-condemnation is also egoism and that the
Lord's command must be obeyed without demur, by
all bhaktas.
16.
Devotion of Gopîs
The
gopîs had the highest type of
bhakti in their hearts. There was
Neeraja, for example. She was warned
against Krishna, when she came to
Brindavan from a distant village as the
bride of a gopa. In spite of all
warnings, however, she saw Krishna during
the Govardhana festival and when she saw
Him, she surrendered her heart to the Lord. She
passed through great ordeals on account of this
spiritual attachment, but she bore it all with
courage. She had seen Krishna first at
the foot of the Govardhana hill playing
sweetly of the flute. So she used to go often to
that bower where she first saw Him, to inhale
the holy air. She was the foremost among those
gopîs who tried to curb the horses
that drew Akrûra's chariot with
Krishna in it, away from Brindavan to
Mathurâ (see also S.B.
10:39).
She suffered silently the separation for years
and years, until one day when she was exhausted
with the agony, Krishna appeared before
her in the self-same bower, where she was. She
had one request to make, she longed to hear the
divine flute, before she died on
Krishna's lap. The Lord said, "I have not
brought it", but, just to grant her the boon, He
broke a length of reed from the bower, made it
in a trice into a flute and played on it a tune
that melted Neeraja's heart into tears,
which washed her soul away.
17.
Women are more devotional than men (see also
S.B.
10:23)
It
was her maternal love that prompted her to send
her husband Kuchela
[Sudâmâ ('giving well') was
called Kuchela as he was always wearing clothes
in tatters; see also S.B.
10:80]
to the Lord so that her children might get a
full meal. She had faith in the Lord. Kuchela
hesitated and argued that Krishna might not
recognise him or remember him or invite him in
or accept his homage. She urged him to give up
all doubt and proceed at least as far as the
gate of the palace of Krishna. She was certain
that Krishna would call him in, if he took at
least that little trouble. Kuchela was so
nervous that he could be persuaded to go only up
to the gate.
Once
it was decided that Kuchela would go, she took
from the place where she had hidden it for a
rainy day, a quantity of paddy, just a handfull;
she put it in boiling water, took it out, dried
it and, then, frying it over the fire, she
pounded it with a pestle to prepare the "beaten
rice" that Kuchela said was Krishna's favourite
food, while at school. That was tied to a corner
of the cloth worn over the body and he moved on,
his fear increasing at every step. Such fear
should be absent in the genuine bhakta. He must
approach the Lord as of right and earn the grace
that is his due.
Of
course, the Lord showers his mercy on the
aartha and arthaarthi, as well as
on the jijnaasu (seeker of wisdom) and
the jñâni (spiritually wise
man). The aartha is the person who is ill
and suffering; the arthaarthi is the
poverty-stricken who seeks prosperity and
fortune.
So, he called him in, with overwhelming joy, and
reminded him of the happy days at school which
they had spent together at the guru's feet, and
even while Kuchela was squirming to hide the
commonplace offering tied to the corner of his
tattered cloth, Krishna sought out the stuff and
began eating it with great relish. Bhakti had
made it very tasty to the Lord.
It
is related that Rukminî devi held
His hand when He took the third handful and the
reason given usually by commentators is that she
was afraid all the riches of the Lord would go
over to Kuchela if a few more handfuls were
taken in by the Lord! What a silly idea! As if
the riches of the Lord are exhaustible, as if He
would care if bhaktas carried all of it away, as
if the Mother of the universe is stingy in Her
gifts, this can never be true! The real cause
for Her holding the hand of Krishna was: She
claimed Her share of the offering of the devoted
heart; She wanted a portion for Herself; it was
Her right to have a share.
Kuchela
left Dvârakâ rather
disappointed, because he was not given any
donation or promise of
a
donation. He was sad, when he remembered his
family and the starving children. He was lost in
grief and so, he passed his own house without
noticing that it had undergone a great change
and had become a huge big mansion overnight. His
wife, who saw him, called him back and related
how suddenly, happiness had been showered upon
them by Krishna's grace.
18.
Whoever surrenders, Râma
accepts
God
is so merciful that He will come ten steps
towards you, if you but take one step towards
Him. Vibhishana (see RRV
6b),
the brother of Râvana, inquired
from Hanumân whether
Râma will accept his homage and
take him under His protecting shade.
Vibhishana
said: "I am the brother of His worst enemy, whom
He has vowed to destroy; I am a member of the
demonic race; I am unacquainted with the
Vedas or S'astras or the rituals
of the Âryans".
Then Hanumân replied: "O you fool!
Do you think He cares for ritual correctitude,
or family status or scholarship? If so, how
could He accept me, a monkey?" That settled the
matter. Vibhishana was assured of grace.
When he went to Râma later, He
asked the elder monkeys around Him whether He
could accept Vibhishana into the fold. Of
course, He did not need any counsel from anyone.
He was never influenced by others. But, still,
just to bring them into the picture, He
consulted them and made a pretence of not having
made up His mind yet. When Sugriva (see
RRV-4a)
said "no", Râma reminded him that
he too had come to Him, first, giving up his
elder brother! When Lakshmana said that
the only treatment he deserved was to be thrown
back into Lankâ, Râma
said, "Yes! I am resolved to crown him as
the emperor of Lankâ, after the
demise of Râvana". Whoever
surrenders, Râma accepts, on the
spot, without reservations. When someone
suggested that Vibhishana should not be
promised a throne, for, Râvana may
fall at the feet of the Lord and earn pardon for
his iniquity, Râma replied, "In
that case, I will hold both hands of
Bharata and beg him to make
Vibhishana Emperor of
Ayodhyâ, our ancestral domain; we
both, Bharata and I, will spend our time
happily in the forests".
Âryans:
Literally: noble. Follower of Vedic or spiritual
path. Ancient dwellers of India who composed the
Rig-Veda; the chief tribe was that of the
Bharathas.
