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A Priest called Dhevesha
Sairam,
Prashaanthi Nilayam, 1963
There was a priest called Dhevesha who worshipped the image of Baalakrishna installed in the temple. Every night he used to "put Baalakrishna to sleep," with appropriate ritual and close the door of the shrine; but, before he came out, he would take mallika (jasmine) garland from the head of the image that he had placed there in the evening and wear it himself before proceeding home. But on those days on which the king visited the temple, the garland had to be given to him for wear.
One day the king came immediately after he had worn it inside his tuft of hair; When the Ruler demanded the flower, he had to get inside the shrine and slyly removing it from his tuft, hand it reverentially back to him. The king was happy that he had not missed the gift; but he was shocked to find in it a strand of gray hair! Suspecting some tricks he shouted angrily. "What! Has our Balakrishna grown old and grey?" The priest, to save his skin said, "Yes, Yes" The king replied, "Well, I shall not disturb now; but, early tomorrow, I shall come and see if his hair has really gone grey."
Devesha had no food or sleep that night. He wept his eyes out in agony because he imposed old age and greyness on the ever-youthful Lord. The king came in the morning and hurried to the temple to open the shrine. They both looked in and found the hair was grey. The King suspected that the hair was false and was planted by the priest. So he pulled and tugged at it and found drops of blood at the roots. God responded to the anguished cry and the call of the agony. The Formless will assume any Form and undergo any transformation to satisfy the yearning of the devoted aspirant. The over-riding purpose is to make all karma-jeevis (action-oriented beings) to Brahma-jeevis (God-filled beings).
Suurdhaas was overwhelmed with grief when the lovely little body who held his stick and led him along the road to Brindhaavan suddenly left him with the announcement that his name was Krishna! Suurdhaas ran about with both hands extended to catch Him and keep Him in his embrace, but Krishna had disappeared; then, Suurdhaas shouted, "You may run away from my clasp; but I have you in my heart. You can never run away from me". Man is entitled to the status of human-ness when crave for the vision of God.
You have to attach yourself only to a Saguna Lord (God with attributes) when you are in the world of gunas (qualities). You have to pray to the Personified Power with Name and Form to earn the grace of god. Each one has a special attachment to one Name out of many, suited to the temperament and the Samskaara, the inherited instincts and tendencies shaped in previous births. Meera loved the Name Giridhaari (mountain-holder) because that leela appealed as the most significant and as the most symbolic of the Lord's glory.
The Name has the association of all the special fragrance of the Leela (Divine play) and the Mahima (Power) and the Upadhesha (spiritual instruction). The Naama is the Narasimha for the Hiranyaakshas of the mind; the Raajasik (passionate) and Thaamasik (ignorant) forces besieging the heart. Keeping Naama on the tongue and imbibing its taste slowly gets rid of the troublesome upsurge of passions and emotions. The easiest path is to recite the name with love and saturate it with devotion.
Choose the Name that captivates your heart. Your mouth waters when you remember some sweet dish you relish, your mind must "water" when you do Naamasmaran (incessant remembrance of God through the Name of the Lord). Maanava (the human) must reach Maadhava (the Divine). He must conquer the mind. Man is the ruler of Manas (the mind) but not its slave. You have not realised that you are Sathyam, Shivam, Sundharam because of delusion, ignorance and false inference. Get rid of these and merge in your real self.
--SATHY SAI