Swami tells a story on Surrender - Part 3

Swami Says a story on Surrender - 3

Here is yet another story narrated by Bhagwan, again on the theme on his a devotee binds the Lord by his devotion

Swami tells a beautiful story bringing out this point.

Once sage Narada asked Narayana as to which was the biggest thing in the universe. Narayana told Narada to think for himself and come out with a reply.

The conversation then proceeded thus:-

Narada: The earth is the biggest of all

Narayana: Is that so? What about Sea?

Narada: Yes, sea is bigger than the earth as it covers the earth.

Narayana: But Narada, surely you would remember that Sage Agasthya once drank up the sea.

Narada: Yes, my Lord, clearly, Agasthya is bigger than the sea.

Narayana: But you seem to have forgotten that currently, Agasthya is just a tiny star in the sky

Narada: Yes, that makes the sky biggest of  them all.

Narayana: Have you forgotten that in the Vamana avatar, I covered the entire sky with a single step?

Narada: Oh my God, today seems to be a bad day for me. I am getting everything wrong. Sorry my Lord, I should have known right in the beginning that there can be nothing bigger than You.

Narayana: Narada, I wish what you said is true.

Narada: Why not my Lord?

Narayana: Because, Narada, there is some thing bigger than Me.

Narada: How could that be ever possible? If there is such a thing, what is it?

Narayana: It is the heart of Devotee. With his devotion, a Devotee can hold Me in his heart. Therefore, I am smaller than a Devotee’s heart!!

Swami said, “Narada had to admit that a devotee is even greater than the Lord, and that therefore, the devotee must rank first in importance over everything, surpassing even the Lord.

Such an enormous power which can bind even the Lord, is within the scope of a true devotee. Whatever be the immensity and capacity of any power, how ever magnificent it may be, if it is bound by something else, then the thing that binds is certainly more powerful. 

The awesome power of God has been bound by the power of Love, therefore in the path of devotion, you can tie up the Lord and keep Him locked up in your heart”.

(Source - Message of The Lord - chapter in Bhakti or Devotion)

Dear Bhaktas, 

You may recall the essence covered  in one of the earlier posts on the same subject where, the devotee says "Chita Chora, now, your game is over and I have won. You can no more hide in my heart without my knowledge. You have been discovered in the game of hide and seek, in the game of treasure hunt and having discovered You, I am treasuring You within my heart for ever"!!!

Love.

Mata Amritanandamayi

Surrender - Part 13

DEVOTION TRANSFORMING TO SUPREME LOVE TOWARDS GOD

As the Bhakta is in the state of single minded devotion, the inner conscience speaks thus - “There is only one truth-God. And there is nothing else. The world is His manifestation. All activities, happenings, doings, are His. All is He. This world is ephemeral and a passing show, a phenomenon only for a time. There is no individual existence. The individuality is simply imaginary, an ignorant condition of the mind.”

Love looks not with the eyes but with the heart. It is the crowning grace of humanity.

Bhakti is sacred love. It is a higher emotion, with sublime sentiment, that unites the devotee with the Lord. It has to be experienced. Human love is hollow; it is mere animal attraction; it is passion; it is carnal love; it is selfish love. It is ever-changing. It is all show and hypocrisy.

  

Dear Ones,

As the devotee’s heart is filled totally with God’s thoughts, something secret and subtle happens within the devotee’s heart, which the devotee cannot realize or know exactly.

Overwhelming devotion for the God with form fills the heart of devotee so much so that the penultimate stage in devotion is reached when Total Devotion for the Lord quietly, subtly but magnificently culminates in to Total Love.

A devotee very close to the author in author’s childhood, had no child even after many years of marriage. Swami almost pleaded with the devotee, asked him to request to Swami and develop a will within heart to have a child. Swami even promised to take care of the child, admit the child in Swami’s school and then college, fund the entire expenditure of the child’s education.

The devotee replied,"Swami, if I get a child, my attention would be divided between the child and you, so I don’t need the child, I want only you".

Upto this, it is single minded devotion.

But the devotee did not stop there, went further and told Swami, "Swami, in fact, I don’t even want you or anything from you, I just want my love for you to be eternal".

Here, the devotee’s devotion transforms to total love for God.

In this overwhelming tsunami of Love, everything flows, everything goes, even the form of God. Nothing remains except Love.

This state can only be experienced and can never be explained.

Yes, this has been amply described in  Srimad Bhagwatam in the Gopika’s love for Krishna. The glimpse of Gopika’s love for Krishna were shared while few Krishna Bhajans were taught in Sadan, if any one reading this remembers!

Shall we get more into Gopika’s love which is revealed in abundance by Sage Sukha’s description of Rasa leela, in the  next post?

Love.