Post by jksivan on Oct 28, 2013 11:39:57 GMT 5.5
27. SERVICE TO NAWAAB
Dear Children
Have you ever seen a well or river bed? How do you think the water comes in the well? It has a lot of tiny holes wherefrom the water springs up. Similarly if you dig in a riverbed, you will see water coming up through small holes. Vittalan stories are like that. As we keep reading, more and more stories are springing up by HIS grace. Again, most of these stories are from the era when our country was ruled by Moghuls. So you will see a lot of reference to Moghul Sultans or Nawaabs. Now let us read today's story.
Senai was a barber by profession. He was very poor but an ardent devotee of Vittalan. He had a small Pandurangan and Rukmini statues in his house and would do the bhajans regularly. Sometimes, the bhajans would go on all through night.
He lived at a time when our country was ruled over by Moghul emperors. There was a Nawaab who represented the Moghul emperor. He was in-charge of Bandarpur and other towns surrounding the area. He lived in Pandaripuram.
He was looking for a private barber. He made an announcement that the private barber would be provided with a place to stay and all the expenses would be taken care of. But there was one condition. The private barber was not allowed to work anywhere else. Well. Many barbers were interested and competed for this because there was less work but good pay and a place to stay.
Senai did not know anything about this job advertisement. He did not take any steps to know about this also. By Vittalan's grace, Senai got the job. He was very happy, you know why? He had work only for a short time in the morning. Rest of the time, he spent in singing bhajans to Vittalan.
Well. When a person lives happily, sure, there will be people who are jealous. Isn't it? It is human nature. Now the other barbers were very jealous of Senai. They commented "Look at this Senai. How lucky he is! We did not get this opportunity. We should somehow get him to lose this job". They were waiting for an opportunity.
Finally they got what they wanted. It was an Ekadasi day and as we all know, it is a special day for Pandurangan. A lot of Pandurangan devotees were walking towards Vittalapuram singing and dancing. Senai saw them. He was about to go to Nawaab's place for his duty but he was so attracted by the divine music. He forgot everything and went with them to Pandaripuram.
One of the barbers saw this and went straight to Nawaab. What was it that the barber said to Nawaab?
The barber said "Sir! I bow to you". Nawaab asked "Who are you? Why are you here?". The barber answered "Sir! Today Senai will not come for duty?". "Why" asked the Nawaab.
"Senai said he is going to Pandaripuram Pandurangan temple" replied the barber. Now Nawaab was curious. He further questioned the barber "what is there?" The barber did not want to lose the opportunity to degrade Senai. He said "Our God is there in Pandaripuram. Senai said that the God in Pandaripuram was more important to him than the Nawaab. He asked me to convey this message to you. That is why I am here".
Hearing this, Nawaab was very angry. He shouted for his messengers and said "you all go and bring Senai. I will punish him for failing in his duty". Within a few minutes of the messengers leaving in search of Senai, the Nawaab saw Senai in front of him. Nawaab felt someone had given him wrong information about Senai.
Anyway when Senai trimmed Nawaab's hair, he felt some unusual happiness. Every time Senai touched him, the Nawaab felt peace within himself.
He said "Senai! You have done an excellent job today. Is anything special today?". For a brief second, he saw the beautiful Vittalan's face with attactive eyes and beautiful smile in front of him. He was extremely happy. Senai left the Nawaab's house.
In the meantime, the messengers found Senai in the bhajan group, tied him up and dragged to the Nawaab's house. He apologized to the Nawaab for failing to come in the morning as he was attracted by the bhajans of Vittalan devotees. The Nawaab was bewildered and told him that he already came and cut his hair in the morning. He wondered how Senai could be at two places at the same time - with the bhajan group and at his house cutting his hair. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Vittalan himself came in the morning in the form of Senai to cut his hair.
What do we understand from this story? We know work is God. If work is God, worker is also God isn't it? But in Senai's case, God himself came as a worker.
Dear Children
Have you ever seen a well or river bed? How do you think the water comes in the well? It has a lot of tiny holes wherefrom the water springs up. Similarly if you dig in a riverbed, you will see water coming up through small holes. Vittalan stories are like that. As we keep reading, more and more stories are springing up by HIS grace. Again, most of these stories are from the era when our country was ruled by Moghuls. So you will see a lot of reference to Moghul Sultans or Nawaabs. Now let us read today's story.
Senai was a barber by profession. He was very poor but an ardent devotee of Vittalan. He had a small Pandurangan and Rukmini statues in his house and would do the bhajans regularly. Sometimes, the bhajans would go on all through night.
He lived at a time when our country was ruled over by Moghul emperors. There was a Nawaab who represented the Moghul emperor. He was in-charge of Bandarpur and other towns surrounding the area. He lived in Pandaripuram.
He was looking for a private barber. He made an announcement that the private barber would be provided with a place to stay and all the expenses would be taken care of. But there was one condition. The private barber was not allowed to work anywhere else. Well. Many barbers were interested and competed for this because there was less work but good pay and a place to stay.
Senai did not know anything about this job advertisement. He did not take any steps to know about this also. By Vittalan's grace, Senai got the job. He was very happy, you know why? He had work only for a short time in the morning. Rest of the time, he spent in singing bhajans to Vittalan.
Well. When a person lives happily, sure, there will be people who are jealous. Isn't it? It is human nature. Now the other barbers were very jealous of Senai. They commented "Look at this Senai. How lucky he is! We did not get this opportunity. We should somehow get him to lose this job". They were waiting for an opportunity.
Finally they got what they wanted. It was an Ekadasi day and as we all know, it is a special day for Pandurangan. A lot of Pandurangan devotees were walking towards Vittalapuram singing and dancing. Senai saw them. He was about to go to Nawaab's place for his duty but he was so attracted by the divine music. He forgot everything and went with them to Pandaripuram.
One of the barbers saw this and went straight to Nawaab. What was it that the barber said to Nawaab?
The barber said "Sir! I bow to you". Nawaab asked "Who are you? Why are you here?". The barber answered "Sir! Today Senai will not come for duty?". "Why" asked the Nawaab.
"Senai said he is going to Pandaripuram Pandurangan temple" replied the barber. Now Nawaab was curious. He further questioned the barber "what is there?" The barber did not want to lose the opportunity to degrade Senai. He said "Our God is there in Pandaripuram. Senai said that the God in Pandaripuram was more important to him than the Nawaab. He asked me to convey this message to you. That is why I am here".
Hearing this, Nawaab was very angry. He shouted for his messengers and said "you all go and bring Senai. I will punish him for failing in his duty". Within a few minutes of the messengers leaving in search of Senai, the Nawaab saw Senai in front of him. Nawaab felt someone had given him wrong information about Senai.
Anyway when Senai trimmed Nawaab's hair, he felt some unusual happiness. Every time Senai touched him, the Nawaab felt peace within himself.
He said "Senai! You have done an excellent job today. Is anything special today?". For a brief second, he saw the beautiful Vittalan's face with attactive eyes and beautiful smile in front of him. He was extremely happy. Senai left the Nawaab's house.
In the meantime, the messengers found Senai in the bhajan group, tied him up and dragged to the Nawaab's house. He apologized to the Nawaab for failing to come in the morning as he was attracted by the bhajans of Vittalan devotees. The Nawaab was bewildered and told him that he already came and cut his hair in the morning. He wondered how Senai could be at two places at the same time - with the bhajan group and at his house cutting his hair. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Vittalan himself came in the morning in the form of Senai to cut his hair.
What do we understand from this story? We know work is God. If work is God, worker is also God isn't it? But in Senai's case, God himself came as a worker.