The following is a transliteration by Sri Ramen Basu of a story narrated by Sri Sri Babathakur (appearing in Swajnaugrahasudha Vol. 2, pages 7 - 10).
Question: Babathakur! There are many stories in the Puranas on the topic of the devotee and the Lord. Several captivating stories from the present times can also be found on the same topic. Based on Your realization, please tell us how the Lord showers blessings on His devotees so that our yearning and love for the Lord continues to grow and become firm.
Just as the mind and the heart weeps for the Lord, so does the heart and mind of the Lord weep for His devotees. ‘The devotee or Bhakta carries on in life by faith, while the Jnanin carries on in life by spiritual discrimination.’ For the devotee, the door to the Lord always remains open.
There is a beautiful story on the topic of how the Lord bestows mercy/ grace to His devotees. Once the Lord announced to all the Gods and Goddesses in heaven that He would give away prizes to His dear devotees. He requested the Gods and Goddesses to inform all of His devotees of the same, and to make all necessary arrangements for the devotees to be able to meet Him.
Having received their instruction from Parameshwara, the Gods and Goddesses conveyed this information to all the devotees of the Lord in heaven, earth and hell. On a particular day, all devotees from different quarters convened at a certain place to meet with the Lord.
The Indwelling Lord fulfilled the latent desires of His dear devotees. Presenting Himself to His devotees, He rewarded each with a rare divine prize as befitting the devotee’s qualifications. One by one, each devotee after having received the rare divine gift from the Lord, left with a delighted mind singing the praise of the Lord. Then the Lord also retired to His abode for rest. Wrapping up their duties, the Gods and Goddesses also departed to their respective abodes.
At the specific location (where the devotees had previously congregated to meet the Lord), there arrived a special Tattvajna Bhakta i.e. a Realizer of the Absolute Divinity. The prize distribution ceremony was over and everybody had left. When that Devotee could not find anybody at the door He started remembering the Lord intensely. The Indwelling Lord knowing this, sent one of His door-man to the door. The door-man asked the visitor for the purpose of his visit.
He replied – ‘The Lord had announced everywhere that He would give away prizes, that is why I have come to have a darshan of the Lord.’
Having heard the reply, the God posing as the door-man told him that the prize-distribution ceremony had ended. Why didn’t he come at the appointed hour? The Lord is resting - hence hence he won’t be able to meet the Lord now.
Listening to these words from the door-man and in deference to the will of Lord, the devotee was just about to depart when another God arrived and took the Devotee to the Lord. The Devotee folded his hands in a salute and stood still in front of the Lord.
The Lord said to him – ‘The prize-giving ceremony has ended, why have you come so late?‘
Humbly the Devotee said – ‘Lord, I was busy in my Sadhana, so I was not keeping track of the time. As soon as I became aware of the time, I came running to take your darshan and seek your blessings.’
The Lord asked – ‘Which kind of Sadhana were you doing?’
The Devotee humbly replied with folded hands – ‘ I was engaged in the meditation of Your Reality Itself.‘
Listening to the words of the Devotee, the heart of the Lord melted in compassion. With tears of love in His eyes, the Lord said - ‘You are the best of my dear devotees. But I have given away everything. Now I have nothing more to give.’
Listening to these words, the ever humble devotee replied – ‘Lord! please don’t be embarrassed . I am blessed for having received Your darshan and grace, and for that I am grateful. I did not come to You with an expectation of receiving a prize. Let me take Your leave now.’
The Lord asked – ‘What would you do now after you leave?’
The Devotee replied – ‘Why, just as in the past, I shall remain absorbed in the meditation of the Reality Itself of Yours.’
Listening to these words of the best amongst the Jnanin and the lover devotees, the Lord was very pleased and said – ‘I cannot let you, the ablest and the best of My devotee, go away being disappointed from here in any way. I have given away all My riches and wealth, and it is true that I have nothing left for you; yet since I love My devotee more than My Self always, I am giving Myself unto you. I will always remain in your heart. Never will I go out of your vision.’
Filled with devotion and joy, the Devotee exuberantly saluted the Lord. The Lord embraced him. Thus that Devotee attained unity with the form of the Lord (Sayujya Yoga).
A little while later, a sculptor-devotee arrived at the door. Just as the devotee before, when asked by the door-man for the reason of his visit, this devotee too replied that – ‘The Lord had announced that He would give away prizes and grant darshan out of mercy/ grace - that is why I have come.’ The door-man told him that the prize-distribution ceremony and darshan had ended long ago. Now the Lord is resting, and hence he won’t be getting His darshan now.
Saluting the Lord mentally, the devotee was about to leave when the Indwelling Lord sent a God to fetch the devotee. The Lord asked the devotee for the reason of his visit, and upon listening to the devotee’s reply, asked him for the cause of his delay in coming?
The devotee replied that he was busy in the temple sculpting the image of the Lord and hence had lost track of the time. That was the reason for his late arrival.
Listening to his reply the Lord said - ‘But I have given away all the riches to my devotees. I have nothing left to give to you. However, you are a devotee who was engaged in work related to Me. You are entitled to receive a prize. What shall I do now?’
Listening to these words of the Lord, the devotee became very embarrassed and humbly said – ‘ By Your grace I have Your darshan, and by that I am blessed. I am not at all sad for not having received an award’. Saying this, the devotee saluted the Lord and was about to take leave, when the Lord asked – ‘What will you do now after you leave?’
The devotee said – ‘I will go back and attend to the unfinished work of sculpting Your image.’
The Lord was very pleased with the sincerity of the devotee’s devotion towards HIm and also to his Sadhana. Lifting the stooping devotee and embracing him with a compassionate heart and with tears in the eyes, the Lord said – ‘ I can never refuse a devotee as sincere as you. Since I have nothing else left for you, I will giving away Myself unto you. My direct presence will remain always in your heart’. Thus the Lord bestowed the devotee with Sarupya Mukti (i.e. possession features/form identical to that of the Lord).
After a while a painter-devotee arrived at the door. After getting to the know the reason for his coming, the door-man was about to ask the visitor to leave just as he had with the previous devotee. Just then, a messenger from the Lord arrived to take the devotee to the Lord. The Lord asked the devotee for his identity and the reason for his visit. The devotee replied that he was a painter, and that he was absorbed in the painting of the Lord’s glory; thus he had lost track of the time. He was thus sorry, sought the forgiveness of the Lord. Having heard the reason, the Lord was pleased with his behavior and bestowed him with liberation to dwell in the same planet as that of the Lord (Salokya Mukti).
After a while a philosopher-poet devotee arrived at the door. Like the previous devotees, the Lord summoned this devotee in His presence and asked his identity and the reason for his late arrival. Having heard the reason, the Lord was pleased with him and bestowed upon him, liberation in the form of constant companionship of the Lord (Samipya Mukti).
At last arrived a devotee who always worships the Lord by singing hymns and the name of the Lord. As with the previous devotees, the Lord fetched this devotee in His presence and asked his identity and the reason for his late arrival. Having heard the reason, the Lord was pleased with him and bestowed upon him, liberation in the form of great opulence at par with that of the Lord (Sarshti Mukti).
From the above-mentioned story, we get the true picture of how an able devotee attains the best outcome in life.
Verily, faith and extreme longing for the Lord are the resources for a devotee. The devotee does not care much about reasoning and discrimination. But the Jnanin and the Yogi prefer reasoning and spiritual discrimination; they do not pay much heed to blind faith. It is however only the devotee, who can understand and appreciate that how through faith, he can unite with Ishwara.
Transliteration submitted at the holy lotus feet of Sadguru Sri Sri Babathakur by Sri Ramen Basu.
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