Post by jksivan on Aug 24, 2013 21:56:33 GMT 5.5
Dear Children
18. VEDHA INTERPRETATION
Just wanted to share something with you. In these stories, you would have noticed, we call HIM by many names like Pandurangan, Vittal, Krishna etc. HE is one but these are all some of His many names by which He is worshipped and addressed.Though He is formless he appears in many forms to serve and protect the devotees. That’s all. The more we read such stories, the deeper our faith will be. All along we have seen Vittal''s miracles. But in this story, one of his favourite devotee Vijayadasar performs what we call a miracle. How could he do it? When he prayed to Vittal he was able to do it in order to prove a point or to correct some one or to save some other devotee. In such circumstances any true baktha can also perform what is impossible otherwise for him, because he obtains the power from Vittal. Let us go into the story now.
You already know Vijayadasar about whom some story you would have read in this series. He was one of the ardent devotees of Vittal. He got married when he was very young to satisfy his parents' wish. He was leading a very pious life like a Brahmachari however, and the people who lived in the village regarded him as a saint. They joined in his bhajans, group naama sankeerthan etc., and he was respected by everyone for his devotion to Vittal.
In the next town there was a rich landlord who was very much interested in developing his spiritual knowledge. He used to invite learned scholars to speak and conduct discourses on various religious topics for the benefit of himself and others. He was informed of the greatness of saint Vijayadasa and the richman therefore sent a message through a messenger to invite vijayadasar to his house. Vijayadasar agreed to go to his place and talk on Vittal and informed the messenger that he would visit the town and meet the rich man the next sunday in the morning hours.
Accordingly, vijayadasar left his place and walked towards the town. By the time he reached the town it was very late in the night on the next saturday. He had his appointment only the next morning. He did not know where to stay. To whom will he appeal for help.? He prayed ''Vittala, help me find a place to stay and sleep this night to get ready for the next morning program'' It was dark everywhere. the town was silent with everyone having retired to bed as it was too late in the night. He crossed one more street and immediately after his prayer, he found a dim light coming from a house. He neared it and found a small house, with a sheltered porch outside the locked door of the house. He entered through the open gate and sat on the porch on the house which was a raised spacious platform. It was ideal for him to stretch and sleep for the night.
When he opened the gate and entered the house and sat on the portico, someone in the house must have noticed a stranger entering the house and sitting on their front porch. The door was opened and a young woman appeared.
The house belonged to a poor young widow who had a very bad reputation in the town. Everyone in the village avoided any contact with her because of her ill reputation. when she saw Vijayadsar she asked "Sir! Who are you? Where are you coming from? Why did you come here?".
Vijayadasar replied "Maaji, I am coming from Pandaripuram. Your town landlord had asked me to meet him tomorrow morning at his house for a religiousl discourse". I have no place to rest for the night and took the liberty of using your front porch for sleeping. Hope you would not object''
The lady immediately responded "Sir! please do not stay here. Leave this place".
Vijayadasar was disappointed. It is already very late at night. "'Will you not kindly allow me to stay for a few hours and I shall move when it dawns''
The young woman cried "Oh! what can I say to you sir? I am considered as a shameful person by everybody in this town. If people come to know that you spent the night at my place, you will lose your credibility and respect."
Vijayadasar understood what she meant. He said " Vittalaa, Vittalaa " and continued "I am not worried about what people comment. You know me, I know you and Vittal knows both of us. That is enough my child. dont worry about others and what they all say'' Just give me a glass of milk if you have. That’s enough". He drank the milk she gave happily and slept.
Next day the small town woke upwhen the sun rose up, and started gossiping about Vijayadasar, his presence at the woman's house on the previou night and criticized him as a cheat and hypocrite. Of course some of them who heard about Vijayadasa previously, defended him saying "No dont talk bad about him. He is a saint. How can you call him cheat?"
Still some villagers questioned his supporters, " If he is a Mahan, he should have known about the character of the lady."
The supporters replied "a mahan does not discriminate".
The village being a small place this sort of news always spread faster in the air is n''t it ? The rich man heard about this news and he was expecting the visit of Vijayadasa at his house that day to be honoured. He now had second thoughts. He did not want to lose the support of many people who found fault with Vijayadasa's character. So he did not make any arrangement for receiving Vijayadasa that day at his place. or recognise him as a holy man.
After finishing his daily rituals, nithya karmaanushtanam, Vijayadasar reached the rich man's house in the morning well before noon. That time, the rich man was discussing with some scholar about the vedhas and shastras. He purposely neglected Vijayadasar's presence and did not receive him properly or offer him any seat.
Vijayadasar did not mind the insult. He was interested in hearing the scholar's vedha discourse. When the pandit was giving wrong interpretation, Vijayadasa hastened to interrupt and politely " Panditji, I am afraid the slokas convey the meaning differently''
The scholar got angry and shouted "What is this? What do you know about Vedas and who are you? I am sure you do not even know Sanskrit? How dare you criticize me? You are not qualified to correct me. If you are qualified I challenge you to explain the text and meaning of the slokas in the vedhas I was teaching. Your true colour would be then revealed''
Vijayadasar replied quietly "Sir! it is true, I do not know Sanskrit as much as you do. He looked at the rich man. '' I came to your village very late last night and arrived here late this morning also. Now I have to rush to Pandurangan Bhajan before noon. It is getting late. If you want, I shall ask someone in your place here to give explanation on my behalf to you".
Vijayadasar then looked around and saw a cook carrying water to the kitchen and he called him. The cook had never been to school and was an ordinary illiterate person employed in the rich man's house as an assistant cook and servant for many decades. The cook came to Vijayadas in all reverence when he was summoned and stood before them and bowed. Vijayadasar prayed "Vittala! please let this cook who is a better person than me, to explain the meaning of this slokas in the vedhas ".
Immediately as if driven by some force, the cook kept the water pot he was carrying on his shoulders, folded his hands, loudly uttered the slokas with proper swara distinctly and clearly audible to all and began interpreting them. He also gave quotations from various shastras in support of it. Both the scholar and the richman could not believe their own ears. They realised that the cook was illiterate and some external divine force had entered him to recite the vedhas and explain and that could none other than saint Vijayadasa. Vijayadasa had already left the place and was walking on the road towards a temple in the village singing in praise of Vittala. The richman and the pandit ran towards him and fell at his feet and begged for forgiveness.
In response, Vijayadasar said that every now and then Vittal sends his true bakthas to serve people to put them on the right path and wash of their sins. No person can accuse his bretheren and sisters as good or bad Vijayadasa's visit to the village had opened the eyes of the people and their leader, the rich man to treat fellow beings with respect, love and regard.
So dear children, whenever you get an opportunity to help someone dont delay or lose the opportunity.
18. VEDHA INTERPRETATION
Just wanted to share something with you. In these stories, you would have noticed, we call HIM by many names like Pandurangan, Vittal, Krishna etc. HE is one but these are all some of His many names by which He is worshipped and addressed.Though He is formless he appears in many forms to serve and protect the devotees. That’s all. The more we read such stories, the deeper our faith will be. All along we have seen Vittal''s miracles. But in this story, one of his favourite devotee Vijayadasar performs what we call a miracle. How could he do it? When he prayed to Vittal he was able to do it in order to prove a point or to correct some one or to save some other devotee. In such circumstances any true baktha can also perform what is impossible otherwise for him, because he obtains the power from Vittal. Let us go into the story now.
You already know Vijayadasar about whom some story you would have read in this series. He was one of the ardent devotees of Vittal. He got married when he was very young to satisfy his parents' wish. He was leading a very pious life like a Brahmachari however, and the people who lived in the village regarded him as a saint. They joined in his bhajans, group naama sankeerthan etc., and he was respected by everyone for his devotion to Vittal.
In the next town there was a rich landlord who was very much interested in developing his spiritual knowledge. He used to invite learned scholars to speak and conduct discourses on various religious topics for the benefit of himself and others. He was informed of the greatness of saint Vijayadasa and the richman therefore sent a message through a messenger to invite vijayadasar to his house. Vijayadasar agreed to go to his place and talk on Vittal and informed the messenger that he would visit the town and meet the rich man the next sunday in the morning hours.
Accordingly, vijayadasar left his place and walked towards the town. By the time he reached the town it was very late in the night on the next saturday. He had his appointment only the next morning. He did not know where to stay. To whom will he appeal for help.? He prayed ''Vittala, help me find a place to stay and sleep this night to get ready for the next morning program'' It was dark everywhere. the town was silent with everyone having retired to bed as it was too late in the night. He crossed one more street and immediately after his prayer, he found a dim light coming from a house. He neared it and found a small house, with a sheltered porch outside the locked door of the house. He entered through the open gate and sat on the porch on the house which was a raised spacious platform. It was ideal for him to stretch and sleep for the night.
When he opened the gate and entered the house and sat on the portico, someone in the house must have noticed a stranger entering the house and sitting on their front porch. The door was opened and a young woman appeared.
The house belonged to a poor young widow who had a very bad reputation in the town. Everyone in the village avoided any contact with her because of her ill reputation. when she saw Vijayadsar she asked "Sir! Who are you? Where are you coming from? Why did you come here?".
Vijayadasar replied "Maaji, I am coming from Pandaripuram. Your town landlord had asked me to meet him tomorrow morning at his house for a religiousl discourse". I have no place to rest for the night and took the liberty of using your front porch for sleeping. Hope you would not object''
The lady immediately responded "Sir! please do not stay here. Leave this place".
Vijayadasar was disappointed. It is already very late at night. "'Will you not kindly allow me to stay for a few hours and I shall move when it dawns''
The young woman cried "Oh! what can I say to you sir? I am considered as a shameful person by everybody in this town. If people come to know that you spent the night at my place, you will lose your credibility and respect."
Vijayadasar understood what she meant. He said " Vittalaa, Vittalaa " and continued "I am not worried about what people comment. You know me, I know you and Vittal knows both of us. That is enough my child. dont worry about others and what they all say'' Just give me a glass of milk if you have. That’s enough". He drank the milk she gave happily and slept.
Next day the small town woke upwhen the sun rose up, and started gossiping about Vijayadasar, his presence at the woman's house on the previou night and criticized him as a cheat and hypocrite. Of course some of them who heard about Vijayadasa previously, defended him saying "No dont talk bad about him. He is a saint. How can you call him cheat?"
Still some villagers questioned his supporters, " If he is a Mahan, he should have known about the character of the lady."
The supporters replied "a mahan does not discriminate".
The village being a small place this sort of news always spread faster in the air is n''t it ? The rich man heard about this news and he was expecting the visit of Vijayadasa at his house that day to be honoured. He now had second thoughts. He did not want to lose the support of many people who found fault with Vijayadasa's character. So he did not make any arrangement for receiving Vijayadasa that day at his place. or recognise him as a holy man.
After finishing his daily rituals, nithya karmaanushtanam, Vijayadasar reached the rich man's house in the morning well before noon. That time, the rich man was discussing with some scholar about the vedhas and shastras. He purposely neglected Vijayadasar's presence and did not receive him properly or offer him any seat.
Vijayadasar did not mind the insult. He was interested in hearing the scholar's vedha discourse. When the pandit was giving wrong interpretation, Vijayadasa hastened to interrupt and politely " Panditji, I am afraid the slokas convey the meaning differently''
The scholar got angry and shouted "What is this? What do you know about Vedas and who are you? I am sure you do not even know Sanskrit? How dare you criticize me? You are not qualified to correct me. If you are qualified I challenge you to explain the text and meaning of the slokas in the vedhas I was teaching. Your true colour would be then revealed''
Vijayadasar replied quietly "Sir! it is true, I do not know Sanskrit as much as you do. He looked at the rich man. '' I came to your village very late last night and arrived here late this morning also. Now I have to rush to Pandurangan Bhajan before noon. It is getting late. If you want, I shall ask someone in your place here to give explanation on my behalf to you".
Vijayadasar then looked around and saw a cook carrying water to the kitchen and he called him. The cook had never been to school and was an ordinary illiterate person employed in the rich man's house as an assistant cook and servant for many decades. The cook came to Vijayadas in all reverence when he was summoned and stood before them and bowed. Vijayadasar prayed "Vittala! please let this cook who is a better person than me, to explain the meaning of this slokas in the vedhas ".
Immediately as if driven by some force, the cook kept the water pot he was carrying on his shoulders, folded his hands, loudly uttered the slokas with proper swara distinctly and clearly audible to all and began interpreting them. He also gave quotations from various shastras in support of it. Both the scholar and the richman could not believe their own ears. They realised that the cook was illiterate and some external divine force had entered him to recite the vedhas and explain and that could none other than saint Vijayadasa. Vijayadasa had already left the place and was walking on the road towards a temple in the village singing in praise of Vittala. The richman and the pandit ran towards him and fell at his feet and begged for forgiveness.
In response, Vijayadasar said that every now and then Vittal sends his true bakthas to serve people to put them on the right path and wash of their sins. No person can accuse his bretheren and sisters as good or bad Vijayadasa's visit to the village had opened the eyes of the people and their leader, the rich man to treat fellow beings with respect, love and regard.
So dear children, whenever you get an opportunity to help someone dont delay or lose the opportunity.