Lending a helping hand

Sai R Vaidyanathan

LIFE is full of hurdles. This is not only true of us commoners but also of the great persons we revere. But the Almighty mercifully sends help to sort out the problems of each and all.

Donning the armour

Saint Ekanath’s guru was Janardana Swami, the incharge of the fort at Deogarh. During a raid by enemy soldiers, Ekanath saw that his guru was deep in trance. Without entertaining a doubt, Ekanath donned Janardana Swami’s armour and led the forces into battle. He and his men fought bravely and soon, the enemy was routed. On returning to the fort, the guru welcomed his disciple with open arms.

Stay in peace

Mirabai, daughter of Rana Ratan Singh of Kurkhi, Rajasthan, and wife of prince Bhojraj of Chittor, was a great devotee of Lord Krishna.

As her wayward ways of devotion didn’t fit into the royal etiquette, the Chittor royalty tried to get rid of her through many means.

Tired of their constant scheming, she sought the advice of Goswami Tulsidas. He arranged for her stay at Merta, her uncle’s kingdom.

Change of perspective

Over the years, Soordas’ songs made him famous. One day, Vallabhacharya, the greatest scholar-saint of the time, came to meet him.“Sing a bhajan for me,” the guest said. When it was over, Vallabhacharya said, “Give up singing of self-denigration. Sing of the glories of Lord Krishna. I will tell you all about the Lord.”

Vallabhacharya stayed with Soordas for many days and told him about the life of Lord Krishna. Then, taking Soordas along, Vallabhacharya reached Sreenathji Temple in Govardhan and appointed him chief singer there.

Epic journey

During his pilgrimage to Jagannath Puri, 15th century saint Shankar Dev heard the recitation of the Bhagwat Purana. To propagate it in his state Assam, he needed a copy. But in those pre-printing days, each copy was handwritten and hence took years. Disappointed, he returned home and got back into family life.

One day, a stranger came looking for him. It was Jagdish Mishra from Puri who had brought a copy of the holy book with him for Shankar Dev.

Clearing of doubts

Eighth century saint-composer Tyagaraja was facing many doubts in musicology.

One day, a sanyasi, who was sage Narada in disguise, approached him. “I have heard of you. Sing for me,” the sanyasi said. Tyagaraja did so. When the song was over, the sanyasi said, “I am going for a bath in the river. Take care of my bundle in the meantime.” Tyagaraja waited and waited, but the sanyasi never returned. So he opened the bundle and to his amazement, it contained famous texts on music. On reading those, Tyagaraja’s doubts were cleared.

Calming the waters

Sage Govind Bhagavadpada and his pupils stayed on the banks of the Narmada. Once when he was deep in yoga, the waters began to rise. So the residents nearby approached his illustrious disciple Adi Shankara for help. Shankara placed his ‘kamandalu’ in the path of the rising waters and told the Narmada to recede. Soon, the waters resumed their normal course.

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