Not A Substance To Substantiate
There was once a queen who was a great devotee of Rama. She felt sad that her husband, the Raja, never even uttered the name of Rama and had no Bhakthi. She had vowed that the first occasion, on which she got evidence of his Bhakthi or at least respect for Rama Nama, she would conduct Puja in all the temples and feed the poor on a lavish scale.
Then, one night, while fast asleep, the Raja uttered the name of Rama thrice sincerely and prayerfully. She heard the Naamasmarana and was happy at the discovery of her husband's devotion to Rama.
So she ordered general rejoicing throughout the kingdom and the feeding of the poor. The Raja did not know the reason for the celebration for he was only told that it was an order of the Rani, which the officers carried out. Finally he enquired the Rani and she told him the reason.
The Raja when he heard this, felt very sorry that he had uttered in his sleep the sacred name of Rama and that he had let the Rama Nama out of his mouth, for he had always wanted to keep his devotion and spirituality to himself as it was his own personal wealth and he wanted no one to know of his `love' for Rama.
That was the depth of devotion and love he had for Rama that he hated to physically display it outside and show off to others. When the Rani realized this, she felt very ashamed to have judged the Raja's devotion and asked his forgiveness.
Now a days, there is a widely prevalent habit of judging others and labeling them as Bhaktas (devotees) or Nasthikas (non believers). But what do we know of the inner working of another's mind and the amount of devotion present in another person's heart?
One should not judge someone else's level of spiritual evolution just by external means or comparison with others. Each of us is unique and have different stages of evolution which an ordinary mind may not be able to gauge. So look before you imagine or assume something about others.
There are many who will not shout or express anything outside about their Guru or their spiritual saddhanas. As Lord Krishna says in the Gita, one's spiritual saddhanas are for oneself. It should not be a matter of display to others. "Iham Guhyatamam Shaastram" - this is the secret one should know.
Rama Nama or any other japa must be as constant as breathing. For this, practice is essential. A person once told Dr. Johnson, the famous English thinker, that he could seldom get time to recite the name of God, with the hundreds of things he had to do from morning till nightfall and even far into the night. Dr. Johnson replied asking him another question.
He asked how did so many millions of people find space to live upon the face of the earth, which is two thirds water and rest is full of mountains, deserts, forests, icy regions, river-bees, marshes and similar impossible areas. The questioner said that man somehow struggled to find a living space. So too, said Dr. Johnson, man must somehow find atleast a few minutes everyday for prayer to the Lord and uplifting oneself through spiritual saddhanas and reading the scriptures and satsangha.
God will never ask how many times you prayed everyday or how many expensive things you offered to Him. He is most pleased with that devotee who even offers him a flower or a leaf or water with total purity and devotion for Him even for a moment.
May we develop such devotion and love for the Supreme and never judge another person's devotion by our mere limited thoughts and assumptions. Let us beware of such misunderstandings and misjudgments and stay away from such gossipers.
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