Who is a true devotee

Embodiments of Love! Be it any place, any state, any country, any region, any gender, any person the human quality of the human being must be fostered. One must not waste one’s time by indulging in selfishness. God sent Narada in search of a true noble soul spending its time and life in a sacred way. Narada said, “Swami, whom should I select?” God said,” The one who repeats and chants Lord’s holy name whole-heartedly, that person is truly a human. The one with a pure heart is a ‘human being’ and from that pure heart the sacred name of the Lord must emanate. Such a man is true human. One can involve in the matters of the world, those are worldly tendencies. One should not prioritize them. They are temporary happiness. The one who does not chant the glory of the Lord on such sacred festivals is not a human. “ Narada pondered on this and said, “Swami! I repeat your name, “Govinda, Narayana” incessantly; in fact I do not see a time when I have stopped chanting your name! Is there a greater devotee than me?” There the ego started in Narada. To consider oneself as the only devotee is a sign of ego. God said, “There are lots of such devotees, son! Every home has one as does every inch of earth. That is not true devotion. True devotion should rise from the heart, spread all around and sanctify every deed performed. The food eaten reaches the stomach, gets digested there and the essence is supplied to all the parts. Similarly, the chanting of the holy name rising in the heart should reach the eyes, the ears, the tongue, the nose, the limbs, the feet—the divinity should manifest in all the body, then and only then can one say that one has chanted the Lord’s name. When the essence of digested food reaches the eyes, the eyes get the qualities of the food taken. That is to say when the chanting reaches the eyes, one’s sight becomes sacred. When it reaches the tongue, one utters only sacred words; when it reaches the ears, one hears only the sacred sounds. When it reaches the feet, one goes only to sacred places. When it reaches the hands, they indulge in sacred and fruitful deeds. He, whose body parts indulge in sacred activities prescribed for them, is a true human. So search for such a man.” Narada searched all around but he could not get rid of the ego in him. On the way back, while he was passing through a forest, he saw a tribal wood cutter sitting at a place, chanting the Lord’s name with closed eyes. Narada approached him and said, “Sir, who are you?” The tribal replied, “Swami, I am a hunter and am an ardent devotee of the Lord.” Narada was astonished hearing the tribal‘s words, “Are you an ardent devotee? If you are such an ardent devotee why do you have knife in your hands? You have kept it to kill somebody.” The tribal replied, “No. No swami, it’s not for that purpose. I intend to do four tasks with this knife.” Narada: “What are they?” The tribal: “First I want to kill Draupadi.” Narada: “Draupadi is great devotee. Draupadi contemplates on Krishna always. Lord himself came to her rescue. Why do you want to kill her?” The tribal: “She is, no doubt, a devotee, but at one time she called out to Krishna for help as he was eating his food and he left his food to go to her. He could not finish his meals because of her. Since she made the Lord forsake his food, I want kill her.” Narada proceeded further and saw Prahlada. Prahlada was chanting the name of the Lord, “Narayana!” The Tribal: “Son, no doubt you are chanting the name of the Lord. But what is the consequence of your action? By calling out the name of the Lord you are depriving Him of food and sleep. When your father was torturing you by trampling with elephants, you called out to Lord Narayana and the Lord allowed himself to be trampled by the elephants to save you. Is this the help that you rendered to Lord Narayana? So I will kill Prahlada.” Narada: “So who is the third person?” The tribal: “There is a person by name Narada, who has a stringed instrument in his hands and goes on calling out, “Narayana”. His devotion is not spiritual; it is mired in selfishness. So I want to kill him.” This made Narada scared. He thought, “This fall is all due to my ego.” The Tribal: “Then there is Meera. She always repeated the name “Giridhara nagara”. In spite of all that repeating she could not experience the bliss. When she called out “Giridhara” all the slaps rendered to her by her mother-in-law were found on the Lord’s cheeks and this amounted to hurting the Lord. Therefore I want kill her.” Narada reached Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Narayana. Narada said, “Swami! I searched everywhere and investigated all. I found that people who repeated the Lord’s name were considered as wicked.” The lord said, “No, no Narada you are mistaken. One thinks that the Lord is subjected to suffering by repeating the Lord’s name out of one’s love for the Lord. You think that you are depriving the Lord of food and sleep. You think that God’s happiness is your happiness. Lord should be happy and blissful at all times and under all circumstances. He should not be put to any inconvenience either physically or mentally. You are a true devotee if you can give happiness to the Lord.” Then Narada realised, “Swami you gave me this task to kill my ego.” There are many such sacred stories in the history of Bharath which have spread the message in the whole world. One must not cause even an iota of inconvenience to the Lord though one may have great devotion. One will be hurt if the Lord is displeased with one. So one should think that Lord’s happiness is one’s happiness and vice versa. One should have the spirit of oneness in both. “I and God are one.” One should recognise and experience the harmony of the two. What is the path followed by the modern devotees? They merely follow their selfish devotion. They are obsessed with their self interest. But God is the embodiment of love and it is present in everybody and one should not obstruct the divine love. One must share the divine love and that is the will of God.