Identifying With The Ultimate

Anecdotes

oi-Staff

By Staff

Thursday, March 12, 2009, 15:26

Devotion or Bhakti in the conscious state ingrains involuntarily in the individual that pops up unconsciously and unguardedly as in the case of Baktha Eknath and Kulasekara Alwar, both saints in their own rights.

Eknath was working on the Ramayana. When he arrived at the portion where he had to narrate Hanuman jumping across the ocean to Lanka. He was so engrossed in his writing that he unconsciously engaged in leaping on to his neighbour's roof. The neighbour who had always mistaken Eknath for a religious hypocrite, on hearing the thud on his roof spotted Eknath lying on it with a cadjan leaf in one hand and his iron stile that he used for jumping across in his other hand. On the cadjan leaf were verses describing Lord Hanuman jumping leaping in air across the ocean towards Lanka. The neighbour thus came to know that Eknath's devotion was genuine.

Kulasekara Alwar once while listening to Harikatha, hurried fast towards the sea to put in his effort to rescue the abducted Sita. While he was to enter the sea, Lord Rama with Sita and Lakshmana appeared and showered their blessings on the devotee.

Thus one pointed devotion leads one to the ultimate realisation.