WHO IS A REAL BHAKTHA?

There is the story of a rustic who sat among a gathering of devotees and listened to the exposition of the Gita by a great pundit.

All were wonderstruck by the scholarly commentary which the pundit gave and his learned disquisition on each word and phrase.

The rustic, though the exposition was very much over his head, seemed to attend very closely for he was all the time in tears!

When at last the pundit asked him why he was weeping, he surprised everybody by the sincerity of his Bhakthi. For, he said that he wept at the predicament of the Lord, who had to sit at the head of the chariot and half turning his neck hold forth so long to convince the dull-witted Arjuna, “How much pain must He be suffering in His neck?” he asked and wept. That was real devotion, a sure passport to spiritual victory.

He had identified himself with participants in the episode and the whole setting had become alive for him.

Illustrations by
R.Sowjanyah,
Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Student (Group III)