A true seeker of LORD will always respect the devotees of Lord . He will never distinguish about their inheritance of birth and caste while seeking their association . A devotees glory can be seen with that deep knowledge and practices which takes them nearer to LORD .
Elders advise us that It would be a boon serving such advanced devotees .
Sastras command that ” Even if one is born in a lower caste and still follows the Nine types of devotional services and surrenders to Lord unconditionally , he automatically becomes very close to Lordships . Consuming such devotees Sripada Theertham ( charan theerth) is a great blessing and serving him is most pleasing to LORD .
The most advanced devotee Nampaaduvaan sang in praise of Lord Thirukkurungudi Nambi .
Check the divine pastime in the appended blog..
and ….
with abundant compassion granted the fruit of the song sung by him to LORD to a Brahmin turned BrahmaRakshasa -SomaSharma and thus converted him back into a Brahmin.
Was it not a singer of the so referred low caste who rescued a upper caste Brahmin?
The great devotee Guhan ( boatman ) was accepted by Lord Rama as his own brother .
Lord Krishna preferred to stay with Vidhura to any other when He came as a messenger to meet the kauravas .Though having many friends and Elders he preferred Vidhura Hence status is no criteria to decide one’s Bhagavad Sambandham.
Lord Rama left Ayodhya – the land of the learned scholars to join with the innocent monkeys .He embraced Hanumanji lovingly and accepted Sugriva and Vibhishana as His Brothers. The funeral of dasi putra Vidhurar was done by Yudhishtra , bird Jatayu by Lord Rama and Swamy Alavandar’s disciple Maraneri nambi ( a low caste born ) by Acharyar Periya nambi.
In the Rajasooya yaga the Agrapooja was done to Lord Krishna.
At Thirupuliyur, the Priests performed Agrapooja to Thirumazhisai Aazhwar who was brought up by a woodcutter.
Kurumbarutha Nambi was a great devotee of Lord Venkateshwara and he stayed at Tirumala. For his devotion to LORD he was respected and glorified by the revered great king a Kshatriya Thondaiman Chakravarthy.
JagathAcharyar Swamy Ramanujacharya learnt true knowledge from Sri Thiru Kachhi nambi who conversed daily with Lord Varadarajar at Kanchi.
At Srirangam the temple priest Lokasarangamuni carried Thirupannazhwar on his shoulders into the temple sanctum as commanded by LORD .
During daily rituals to Lord , ( Thiruvaradhanam) , Swamy Ramanujar used to hold the hands of Sripillai Urangavilli Dasar as Kayasuddhi.
After Thiruvaradhanam, Sri Nampillai used to receive Prasadam from Pillai Eru Thiruvudaiya Dasar.
During Graha Pravesha, Sri Vadakku thiruveedi Pillai asked Sri Pillai Ramanuja Dasar to enter His house first thus proving devotion is supreme .
Once Sage Durvasa met the King Ambarisha who was observing Ekadashi Vratha . The next day was Dwadasi and in order to honor the sage and due to constraints of time to break the fast without any iota of offense , the king sipped Sripada Theertham The sage became furious. He pulled a hair from his matted locks ordering a fierce demon to harm the King .
The King obediently folded his hands and surrendered . At the same time Sudarshan disc destroyed the demon and started chasing the sage Durvasa . The Sage who went to all the worlds seeking protection finally surrendered to Lord SrimanNarayana who replied …..
aham Bhaktha parAdheena: hyasvatantra iva dhvija
sadhubhi: grastha hrudhaya: bahkthairbhaktha jaanpriya:
O Great Sage ! I am deeply attached to my devotees.
In fact , I am controlled by them …….
Therefore I am incapable of doing anything
out of my own volition in such cases involving any offense to my dear devotees .
My love for my devotees is greater than that for Myself or My consort ,
Maha Lakshmi ……
Oh sage !!!…
Penance austerity and knowledge are fruitless without humility……
The ones who do not understand the quoted simple truth remain as decorated corpses. There is no discrimination for devotees in the eyes of the Almighty.
He is waiting for those who have devotion in their minds.
HE accepted the coarse grains offered by Vidura.
HE protected child Prahalada in the house of demons.
At Pandharpur , HE helped Rohitdas to dye clothes.
HE helped the great saint Kabir to weave clothes ….
As Vittala HE helped Sajan, the butcher selling meat.
HE helped the great devotee in Maharashtra Sawata Mali in petty agricultural operations.
HE helped the great saint Narhari in performing chores of a goldsmith.
HE helped Chokhamela by grazing his cattle.
HE drove the chariot of Arjuna.
HE accepted with great love the beaten rice offered by Sudama.
In the homes of milkmen HE undertook the task of maintaining cows.
HE acted as a doorkeeper for King Bali.
HE repayed loan of Santh Yekoba.
HE drank that glass of poison for Saint Meerabai.
HE transformed as a low breed person to pay off loan of Santh Damaji.
HE carried earth for Santh Gora Kumbhar. HE repayed loan of Santh Narsi Mehta.
HE is Our Lord Vittal
HE who is still standing on a brick for all of us ….
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics credits : Google images
videos : Thanks to Sri Hariprasad for uploading Annamya kirtanas sung by Sri Balakrishna prasad garu
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