Once Sri Narada Rishi, the great devotee of
Narayana, went to Dvaraka to see Lord Krishna.
After talking for some time, they went out for a
walk. During the course of the walk, they spoke
about a lot of topics. At this juncture, Narada said to
Vasudeva, "Narayana, Krishna, Govinda,
Mahavishnoh, great sages speak of your shakthi
called Vishnumaya, by which the whole universe is
deluded into thinking of "I and mine" and by the
operation of which there is forgetfulness of You.
May I know, Vasudeva, what that Vishnumaya is, if
you are pleased to reveal that to me, your servant's
servant." Recalling to His mind a similar request
made by the sage Markandeya to Himself in the
form of Nara-Narayana, Govinda said "Sure, you
are my dear devotee. My devotees' desires will
never be unfulfilled. I will fulfill your desire."
Satisified with the reply of Madhusudhana, Narada
continued the walk.
Having walked a long distance, they almost came to
a suburb of Dvaraka. At this juncture, Lord Krishna
felt thirsty. He told Narada, "Dear Narada, I feel
quite thirsty. We have come a long way from our
home. We cannot go back home to quench my
thirst. Can you do Me a favour?". Narada replied,
"Prabho, your wish is my order. Command me,
your servant, what I should do". Narayana replied,
"At a short distance from here, there is a village.
Please go to that village and fetch water for Me. Till
that time, I will be sitting beneath that tree. Don't
miss Me."
Glad to be of service to Vishnu, which is the only
business of the soul, Narada rushed to the said
village. On reaching the first house, he knocked the
door, anxious to quickly procure water for Govinda,
whose feet-washings constitute the perennial
Ganga. The door was opened by a young girl whose
beauty stupefied the mind of Narada, stopping for a
moment his incessant chant of "Narayana,
Narayana". Forgetting both Krishna and His thirst -
the very purpose of his coming there - he enquired
the girl "Dear, who are you? Who is your father? I
would consider myself most fortunate if I can marry
you." The girl replied, "My father is inside. You can
talk to him." Narada went inside and spoke to the
girl's father, "Respected Sir, you may know me to
be Narada, Narayana's servant. Attracted by the
beauty and modesty of your daughter, I propose to
marry her. I would consider it Hari's grace if you
consent to it." The father readily agreed to the
proposal.
A few days later, the wedding happened. Time, the
power of Vishnu that crushes into oblivion those
turned away from Hari's feet, rolled on. Narada
begot several children in this period of 12 years and
considered his life most happy. But how can
anything other than the service of Padmanabha be
permanent?
One day the clouds turned very grey foreboding
terrible rains. Soon it started raining heavily with
powerful thunderclaps accompanied by a furious
wind. In a few hours, the whole village where
Narada lived was flooded and many people started
moving out of the village. To save himself and his
family, Narada too made preparations for exiting
the village. He took a small set of necessary
household articles, clutched the hands of his wife
and elder children, took his younger ones on his
shoulders and slowly waded through the waters.
With powerful rains and thunder from above,
whirling water below and furious winds in all
directions, Narada could not understand where he
was going. The whirling pull of the waters was so
high that the bag of household articles that Narada
was clutching in his hands slipped away from him.
Narada began to lament the loss of his cherished
items, just like a householder attached to his wealth.
While thus lamenting, a powerful whirlpool
snatched away one of his sons. Weeping to the
extreme and bemoaning the loss of his beloved son,
Narada said "O Narayana, what is this that is
happening to me. Please look at your sorrow-
stricken servant. How can he live without his son?"
Soon the powerful waves of the waters snatched or
drowned all his children one by one. Suffering to
the extreme, unable to bear the heavy loss, Narada
clung to his wife and pathetically cried, "Govinda,
why should I live anymore. Why does not Death
snatch me? Why don't you protect me? Do you lack
either mercy or power? If you don't protect me any
further, you will lose your good name as the
`Protector of the Devotees' ". Narada now held his
wife's hands very tightly as she was his only
remaining meaning in life. But, as if to smear salt
on a wound, a powerful whirlpool snatched away
his dearest wife from his hands. Losing everything
without exception, suffering to the extreme and
losing all meaning in life, Narada cried out at the
top of his voice, "O Narayana, is this what you do
to your servants, you merciless rogue."
As if the heavens heard this cry, a very powerful
flash of lightning lighted the sky blinding the eyes
of Narada for a few seconds. When he opened his
eyes, what he saw stupefied him. Neither the rains
nor the thunder, neither the floods nor the storm,
could Narada see. Instead Narada saw a four-
handed beauty sitting beneath a tree, as if anxiously
waiting for something. Distressed by the horrible
events and surprised by the enigmatic vision of
Vishnu, Narada found himself thoroughly confused
and disoriented.
Trying to get this clear, Narada approached the
Presence which spoke in a sonorous voice.
"Dear Narada, I was thirsty and asked you to get
some water for Me. I have been waiting for almost
half an hour. Have you brought Me the water?",
said the `rogue' with a mischievous smile playing
on His lips.
In a flash, Narada understood everything; and like a
mad man, he rushed to the Lord, clasped the feet of
the Lord extremely tight and cried bitterly like a
child. Bathing the feet of the Lord with his tears, he
could not come to normalcy for a long time. Then
he regained himself and said, "Today, Narayana,
You have revealed to me Your Vishnumaya shakti.
I, your servant, have been thoroughly confounded
by your Vishnumaya with the false notion of I,
mine, my family, my wife, my child, my wealth etc.
Taking this impermanent world as the source of
happiness, I wandered about in the dense darkness
of household life, totally forgetting your lotus feet.
In the end, I underwent extreme sorrow as the fruit
of my self-centred household life and the
consequent forgetfulness of You. This much is clear
to me, Lord, that those who serve Your lotus feet
are immune to Vishnumaya, while those who are
turned away from Your service are repeatedly going
round and round in this Samsara chakra. Let me ask
this one boon from you, Govinda: may I have
unabating love for your lotus feet and let me never
again be affected by Vishnumaya."
Granting his request gladly, Hari thought of the
experiences that Narada endured in Vishnumaya.
Pitying him for his pains, Krishna caressed Narada
with supreme affection, while Narada found himself
transported to the highest realms of Supreme Love.
Thanx
dasan,
P.Srinivasan
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