Nallan was a disciple of Swamy Ramanuja .He was an ardent devotee of LORD VARADAR at Kancheepuram . Attending classes at Ashram of Swamy Ramanuja , his bhakthi towards Lord Varadar increased manifold . Any services for his Acharyar was cheerfully obeyed .
Once it so happened , Swamy Ramanuja had to leave Kancheepuram on an important mission . Nallan accompanied till the banks of the river vegavathi and seeked permission to return .
While returning on the banks of the river he found some object floating from a far distance .He moved near the banks and saw a corpse floating . He looked closely and found the corpse bore vaishnava symbols of discuss and conch on its shoulders . Nallan immediately jumped into the river .He carefully brought the corpse to the shore .
With deep respects he carried out the funeral rites . The ceremony went on well with his dedication . However his relatives abandoned him . During the final rites when food was to be served to the brahmins . No one supported his noble en devour in taking places .
Exhausted , he prayed his adorable LORD VARADAR to help him ……………………
All of a sudden , an attractive vedic priest approached him . He was looking very handsome showering opulence .
Braving himself , he offered his obeisances and requested him to accept the food being served . The priest smiled at him and accepted the honors .
Nallan could not move his eyes from his radiance .He had tears gushing on the priests humility in accepting his service when the entire village were aghast with his noble act .
At the end , he took his blessings and thanked him for considering his request , when the whole village were against him .The priest replied with a bewitching smile …….
.. Nattuku Pollan ..Namakku nallavan ….. …. ….meaning ….
Though the whole world is against you ..We are always for you … and then vanished in thin air ……..
Nallan understood …
It was Lord Varadar who walked down to save him …
Another incident similar to this took place in Maharashtra few hundred years back . Santh Eknath was an ardent devotee of Lord Panduranga of Pandharapur . An advanced saint who moved with all the people seeing Hari in every one .
One day Eknath was performing his ancestral rituals. Two strangers happened to pass by his house and understood that a feast was being prepared smelling the aroma in the surroundings . They were discussing that it would be good if they could get this food. Eknath on listening , called them and offered them the food that was being prepared. They were pleased with Eknaaths humility .
The invited Brahmans who had come for the ceremony could not digest the respect given to the strangers .They immediately left the place on seeing this. The news spread like a fire .
All the Brahmins in the village on hearing this started speaking ill for distributing the food that was prepared for ancestral ceremony to some out castes before completing the ceremony.
They decided that no one shall attend the ceremony . They then decided that none in the village would mingle with him and have any contact with him .
Eknath had to prepare food again for the ceremony though it was getting late . Eknath was now worried that he would not be able to feed the Brahmans after the ritual is over as no one would come to his house .
Eknath offered prayers to Sri Hari and started performing the rituals . As no one was prepared to attend the ceremony , he kept the 1st kurcham thinking of Sri Hari . Lord Vitthal arrived and sat down to have the food.
As soon as LORD arrived , other demi gods along with his forefathers who were invited during the ceremony came down and took the food directly. After the ceremony , they blessed Eknath and disappeared.
. Another incident in the life of Santh Namdev is related to illustrate this truth. Namdev along with fellow devotees once undertook the pilgrimage and brought the holy water of the Ganga on return .
This pilgrimage was undertaken at a time when there was no transport available and devotees often undertook the entire journey on foot. The weather was unbearably hot and the terrain they had to traverse tested the endurance of even the most faithful among them.
When they had almost reached their destination they came upon a frail donkey on the verge of dying due to thirst. Everyone except Namdev passed by without any consideration for its predicament but not the saint. He stopped and alleviated the donkey’s misery by quenching its thirst with the holy Ganga water he was carrying with him.
All his friends were taken aback by his act and ridiculed Namdev for throwing away all the merit he would have gained by completing the pilgrimage. No sooner had they chided Namdev the donkey became transformed to the wonder of his friends. The saint had seen only the Lord suffering in the form of the donkey and hence did not hesitate to offer it water.
True to the unitize vision Namdev had, LORD HARI appeared to him at the spot as he made his offering……
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says , “ A Yogin is the one who, out of a sense of identity with others on account of the perception of the same Self in all, feels their joy and suffering as his own………………………
Adapted from a discourse shared by an advanced devotee
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics : courtesy google images
Reblogged this on kazhiyur varadan's web blog and commented:
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says , “ A Yogin is the one who, out of a sense of identity with others on account of the perception of the same Self in all, feels their joy and suffering as his own………………………
Hari Om!
Who is a Yogin? Thought provoking definition. Varadan, you are Divenly Blessed SOUL to be in Eknath’s home! Being your follower even Adiyen attains the due merit as in the words of Ramanuja,” Kuresar was granted Moksham. Then it’s for me too! ” How longing Adiyen to visit any Perumal spot, specially of Udayavar with your followers, headed by your goodself?
– Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan – Jai Sriman Narayana!
Felt blessed to read the episode. Renewed faith in God to be just be kind to all without expecting anything in return. Thank you for forwarding the story.
i amvery happy and also thank you very much for given the valuable information