SHORT STORY: GOD IS CLOSE ONLY IF YOU TRUST IN HIM

Copyright@shravancharitymission


By Kamlesh Tripathi

    After losing in dhyut-krida (gamble) to Duryodhana, Pandavas along with Maharani Draupadi had exiled to Kamyaka forest. But even after driving Pandavas out of the kingdom Duryodhana was not in peace. And how to completely destroy them was his perennial worry.

    And it was a coincidence, as just around that time Maharishi (saint) Durvasa landed up at Duryodhana’s palace, and stayed with him for some time. And during his stay, Duryodhana looked after him quite well, and happy with his hospitality Maharishi granted him a vardan (blessing) is when treacherous Duryodhana very politely said—‘Maharishi! Pandavas are my elder brothers. And if you are happy with me, I desire the way you gave me an opportunity to serve you, which has given me a sense of fulfilment, I wish you kindly give a similar opportunity to my elder brothers also, at least for a day. And I wish you visit them with all your shishayas (pupils) to enjoy their hospitality and arrive there when Maharani Draupadi has eaten, so that my brothers don’t have to remain hungry for long.’

    But the real story was something different. When, Pandavas went on exile to the forest; at that time many Brahmins who loved them and were their followers, too accompanied them. And they somehow never came back. But feeding so many people in the forest was not easy. And so Dharmaraj Yudhistir performed a long and deep tapasya (meditation) to please Lord Surya. When Lord Surya was happy he gave Yudhistir a vessel and said—‘if you cook roots and vegetables in this vessel that food will become endless. And you will be able to feed hundreds of people till such time Draupadi has not eaten. And after Draupadi has eaten nothing will be left in the vessel for the day.’

    Duryodhan knew about this secret. And because of this secret only he had requested Maharishi Durvasa to visit Pandavas after Draupadi had finished eating. Durvasa muni (sage) acceded to what Duryodhan had requested for and visited Pandavas. Duryodhana was now extremely happy thinking Pandavas will not be able to provide food to Maharishi Durvasa after Draupadi has eaten and then shot-tempered Maharishi Durvasa will curse and destroy Pandavas. And this was an example of his evil intentions.

    But because Maharishi Durvasa had given a word, to Duryodhana, he along with his thousands of shishyas (pupils) one day in the afternoon arrived at the Pandavas, in Kamyaka forest. Dharmaraj Yudhistir and his brothers got up to receive them and did a prostrate pranam to the Maharishi. And with folded hands requested him to occupy the main asanas (seats)

    Maharishi said—‘Rajan! (King) may, God bless you. We all are very hungry, but we have not performed our prayers. So you please arrange for our food. In the meanwhile we will soon return from the nearby lake after our daily rituals and prayers.’

    And as a habit Dharmraja Yudhistir with folded hands said—‘As you wish Guruvar (Guru). Food will be ready, so kindly return at your earliest after your daily kriya (chores) and prayers. But when Maharishi Durvasa left with his shishyas, Yudhistir and his brothers were terrified.

    They enquired from Draupadi and came to know she had already eaten; and now shot tempered Maharishi Durvasa on not getting food would definitely curse them to ashes; this much was definite—and giving him food on time seemed impossible and so, there was no way out. And upon finding her husbands worried she said—‘why are you’ll worried? Krishna will arrange for everything.’

    Dhrarmaraj Yudhistir said—‘had Sri Krishna been here we wouldn’t have been worried at all; but only recently he left for Dwarka and I’m sure by now he must not have even reached Dwarka.’

    Draupadi with a lot of confidence said—‘who knows where he comes and goes? And which is that place where he is not present? He must be somewhere here only and will appear soon.’

    And after saying all this, Draupadi left for her cottage and started praying to madhusudhan (one who killed demon by the name of madhu) Krishna. And soon Pandavas saw, Krishna’s chariot with four white horses and his insignia Garoor atop coming and stopping near him at great speed. And even before the chariot could come to a complete halt Krishna jumped and rushed towards Draupadi’s cottage.

     And, since he was in great hurry, neither did he wish anyone nor anyone could wish him. He straightway entered Draupadis cottage and in great urgency he said—‘krishne! I’m extremely hungry, so give me something to eat at once.’

    ‘So you have come, Krishna my brother! I knew you will come at my distress call; Druapadi, was as if was rejuvenated. Just then she suddenly got up flabbergasted and said—‘Oh I have to serve food to Maharishi Durvasa.’

    ‘First you give me food, then talk of giving food to someone else, as I am unable to even stand because of hunger.’ Said Krishna.

    ‘But I have finished eating. The vessel given by Lord Surya has been cleaned and washed for the day and kept. So where is the food? Your penniless sister therefore called for you, only to arrange for food.’

    ‘Don’t just say anything you feel like. I’m extremely hungry. Show me the vessel.’ Replied Krishna. Draupadi quietly handed over the vessel to Krishna. Krishna took the vessel in his hand and started inspecting it by having a close look at it, all over. On the inner side of the vessel he found a piece of vegetable leaf stuck in the vessel. He picked it up and said—‘you were saying nothing is there, but what is this? This can feed the whole universe.’

    Draupadi quietly kept watching Krishna when he put that small piece of leaf in his mouth and said—‘may this satiate the world.’ And then he burped and said again, ‘may that satiate the world.’

    And out there in the lake, Maharishi Durvasa and his shishyas had a very strange time as everyone out there started burping and burping. Everyone suddenly started feeling they have eaten and there tummy is full. And surprised they started looking at each other. Looking, at his own condition and that of his shishyas, Maharishi Durvasa said –‘today I am reminded of the episode of Ambrish. Pandavas are in the forest where they are struggling for their own food and it was not right on our part to come here, and now I am not hungry and won’t be able to eat at all.  And now their food will get wasted which will irk them; and they can easily destroy us in seconds as they have the blessings of Lord Krishna. So there is only one way out and that is to quietly leave this place.

    When Maharishi Durvasa wanted to leave, how could his shishyas stay behind. And when they left they did not think of stopping anywhere till they had reached Brahmalok (where Lord Brahma resides)

    After having the leaf that was stuck in the vessel, Lord Krishna came out of Draupadi’s cottage smilingly. Then he greeted Dhramraj Yudhistir and his brothers and as he sat he asked Sahdev to remind Maharishi Durvasa about the food.

    Sahdev left but came back soon, because Maharishi Durvasa and his shishyas were not there as they had left for Brahmalok.

    ‘Not knowing when Maharishi Durvasa might suddenly return for food,’ Dharmaraj Yudhistir started worrying again; because Maharishi Durvasa was known for his habit of asking people to cook for him and then return in the night, midnight or next day or even after some days to eat the food. And after returning he wanted the food just immediately and if there was even a slight delay he would curse.

    ‘Now, Maharishi Durvasa will not come here. And he came here only because of treacherous Duryodhana. So there is no need to worry,’ said Lord Krishna as he began narrating the entire story to Dharmaraj Yudhistir and his brothers.

    Truly God is very close, only if you have trust in him.

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SHORT STORY: KING CHITRAKETU

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Once upon a time there lived a very eminent king by the name of Chitraketu. He had many wives but no children. One day Maharishi Angiraj landed up in his Raj-Bhawan. And with his spiritual powers he could make out Chitraketu was very unhappy and even desperate for a child and so he decided to perform a yagya (Hindu ritual of sacrifice) to help his queen conceive. And after the yagya he handed over its leftovers to the eldest queen Kritdhuti. And while leaving, Maharishi Angiraj said—‘Maharaj! You will soon be blessed by a son; but he will be the reason for both your happiness and sorrow.’

    Maharani Kritdhuti was soon pregnant. And at the right moment the king was blessed with a son. And with this Maharaj Chitraketu’s happiness knew no bounds. The whole kingdom was in celebrations. After remaining issueless for such a long time Maharaj Chitraketu was finally blessed with a child, therefore: his love for the child was boundless and oozing all over. And to remain with his new born son he started spending more time at the residence of his eldest queen Kritdhuti.  And he had once again started loving her immensely for having given birth to his child. And, the resultant effect was; other wives on being neglected by king Chitraketu, felt extremely demoralised and soon demoralisation turned into intense jealousy. They lost all their noble senses. And the main reason for that was the king’s neglect, which they found was because of the child. And, in the end all the neglected wives of the king consented to quietly poison the child, and the child died. And upon realising what had happend Maharani Kritdhuti and Maharaj Chitraketu, fell like a fallen tree next to the body of their child. The entire kingdom now was in a pall of gloom.

    And amidst the gloom and wail two distinguished personalities arrived in the Raj Bhawan. Maharishi Angiraj this time was accompanied by Devrishi Narad. Maharishi told the king—‘Rajan (king) you are a great devotee of Brahmins and God and so I was happy with you. And because of that I had come to you earlier thinking I would teach you the prowess to attain God’s darshan; but since it was written on your face that you desperately wanted a child, I instead gave you a child as a blessing. Now that you have suffered the tragedy of losing your son, and there ain’t a tragedy, bigger than this, you would have known by now that this world is a place, full of sadness.’

   Raja Chitraketu was still in mourning. He therefore could not understand the essence of Maharishi’s address. But he was spellbound at the sight of them. Devrishi Narad who was accompanying Angiraj could understand that Chitraketu’s intense love for his child will not go like this. And so using his divya-shakti (divine-power) he attracted the soul of the child. And as the soul came he said—‘Dear son! See they are your parents and they are mourning for you. So please get back to your body to make them happy and start enjoying the royal life as the son of the king.

    And everyone there clearly heard what the soul of the child had to say—‘Devrishi they are my parents of which life? A soul does not have any parents, brother or friends. Many a times I was their father and many times they were mine. And many a times they were my friends and even enemies. All these relations are because of your mortal body. And as you leave your mortal remains behind you also leave behind your relations. And then everyone is all by himself and has to suffer, as per his karmas.’

   The soul after having said all that vanished from the scene. King Chtiraketu’s deep affection for his son after hearing the conversation started subsiding. And after cremating his son, with a fresh and sombre mind he appeared in front of the Devrishi and Maharishi. Devrishi Narad then gave instructions for prayers and puja of Lord Shesh Narayan, and with the influence of that King Chitraketu got darshan of Lord Shesh Narayan and soon he started on a long pursuit of spiritual knowledge and became a big scholar and was ranked as a Vidyadhar.

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CASUAL CAUSERIE: NO ONE KNOWS—WHO HELPS WHOM

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

At an era, when there used to be long queues for domestic flights in India, my boss, who had once come visiting me, got a sudden call from the HR Head at Head Office, asking him to report back immediately for an urgent and important meeting.

   And as luck would have it there was no chance of getting a confirmed flight ticket before three days in which case he would have missed his meeting, and so we decided to take a chance at the airport. Those days nothing was computerised, personal relations with airport staff and their whims and fancies mattered a lot. He was carrying an open ticket though.

   And in the middle of all the din and rush, the counter clerk had asked us to wait, just in case of a last moment cancellation or a no show.

    We were waiting patiently when I saw the captain of the aircraft hovering near the check-in counter puffing a cigarette. Those days we didn’t have smoking zones like today.

    Suddenly, the counter clerk called for my boss ‘Mr Datta.’ We walked up and stood close to him. When he politely said, ‘Sorry Datta sahib, there is just no seat as the flight is jam-packed, please take a chance tomorrow morning.’

    I pleaded, citing an urgent meeting, as I could see the tension rising on my boss’s face, is when the captain of the aircraft who was standing close to the counter walked up and said to the counter clerk. ‘Please issue him a boarding pass, if he has only cabin baggage, as I will take him in the cockpit since he has an urgent meeting.’

    And with that I guess Mr Datta’s day was made when he happily said to me, ‘bye, and see you soon.’

    And after a month when I was in the Head Office, on a visit, I congratulated my boss on his well deserved promotion and casually asked about the flight, that day. He remembered the captain in a nice way and this is what he had to say,

    ‘I was lucky that the captain took me along with him in the cockpit, otherwise I would have missed my appraisal meeting with the Marketing Director. And as the flight took off the captain asked in Bengali,

   “Kaimon achain Dutto babu. Apni comfortable?”

   And, before he could load on, some more Bengali, I replied, ‘sorry captain I am a Punjabi Datta, and not a Bengali Dutto.’

   ‘Oh-oh-oh sorry, but I thought I heard the counter clerk calling you as Mr Dutto and not Mr Datta. Anyway, sorry, very sorry, once again.’

    And by then the flight was more than airborne. And after that we didn’t have any exchange of conversation in the flight, though on landing I said goodbye to him to which he didn’t respond warmly; but in his own subtle way he had ensured my promotion.

    In life you just don’t know who lends you a helping hand where, and who comes to your rescue.

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SHORT STORY: IN LOVE WITH YOUR GURU

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

IN LOVE WITH YOUR GURU

In ancient times there lived a Mahatma whose name was Maharishi Kanad. He had the distinction of exponentially increasing the treasure base of Indian knowledge by scripting the Vaishesik Sutras that determines the rights and the wrongs in terms of finding the absolute good, for a person. He had many shishayas (pupils) that included both men and women, and they all owed their esteem allegiance, to their Guru, Maharishi Kanad.

    And, in that there was a beautiful woman also, who used to look after the Guru with all sincerity. But slowly and slowly, she started feeling as if she was falling in love with the Guru, but she was not able to express her feelings in front him. And, she was even scared that the Guru, should not suddenly shun her, and the other shishayas should not make fun of her.

    But still one day when she was alone with the Guru. She gathered some guts and said, ‘My dear Swami, I love you from the bottom of my heart, and I want to sacrifice everything of mine on you. So can you please accept me in life?”

    The Guru was shocked, at what the lady had told him suddenly, and had gone quiet for some moments. And, the utterance of the lady had spread like a ‘jungle fire’ in the hermitage. And now, all the shishayas were eagerly waiting to know what would be, the Guru’s reply.

    Guru smiled and said, ‘I’m happy that you love me. But you also know that I love the entire world, and when I say the entire world even you are included in that. And you also know that all my shishayas love me, so what is so special about your love.

    Now, the lady was in a dilemma and could not figure out as to how, she should explicitly convey what she wanted to convey. For she did not know how to communicate her deep love to him, and she was also a little cautious, knowing, that so many unseen eyes and ears must be waiting for the much awaited answer of the Guru. Guru waited for a while and then said to her, ‘When you say, you love me and you want to sacrifice everything for me it also means, you want to control me. And this also means that you are not conversant with the real meaning of the Guru. But since you are a devoted shishaya, I don’t want you to be unhappy. So you can have my love. Tomorrow, when I am alone in cottage, you come to me.’

    Upon hearing these lovely words of acceptance the lady went gaga. She came out of the cottage, where rest the female shishayas were now jealous of her, as they too wanted to share her luck.

      Next day after decking up, and when she felt no one is in the cottage of the Guru she entered, when rest of the shishayas were keeping a constant track of her.    And when they saw her entering the cottage they quietly assembled near the cottage of the Guru.

    And when the lady entered she saw, the Guru was in samadhi and around him there was a circle of light, and in that the Guru was appearing like the Sun. She ran towards the Guru in full enthusiasm trying to embrace him. But alas: what was that? She then saw she was only embracing herself. And suddenly she felt the Guru is all over the sky and she can’t just hold the sky nor she can embrace the sky. And after trying all ends, she could only experience as if she is trying to catch the endless sky. And after a little while she was tired and stood there wonder struck. She then could hear a loud laughter in the cottage.

    And that is when the Guru said, ‘my dear shishaya you forgot the basic essence of life that the Guru is not a personal property of anyone, and in fact he belongs to everyone. He is divine, who is everywhere, but not visible. He is the route to your destiny but not your destiny or your kismet. Guru makes you farsighted. So share me with everyone. But don’t try to control your Guru. And feel my wisdom and knowledge within you.

    And after hearing such divine sermons that lady who till some moments back was dull and gloomy immediately cheered up and with her fellow shishayas started celebrating and praising the Guru. And thereafter, slowly the Mahatama returned to his embodiment when he too joined the celebrations.

    This story is lifted from mythological articles, and conveys, our relation with our Guru, which is different than our relation with others.

    Today is Guru-punima and this is a tribute to every Guru.

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