Siddhamuni told Namadharak that Sri Narasimha Saraswati's sojurn on the banks of the Krishna river was to sanctify the places around and to regenerate the people morally and spiritually. Sri Narasimha Saraswati visited the Pancha Ganga Sagar, which is the confluence of the five holy rivers, Siva, Bhadra, Kumbhi, Bhagwati and Saraswati, where they all meet and merge in the Krishna river. Here is the temple of Amareshwar and hence the place is called as Amarapur. Nearby is the Sakti Teertha, where reside Sixty-four Yogini Shaktis, serving and worshipping Amareshwar, but unseen by others. Nearby was Papa Vinasini and other holy Teerthas. Sri Krishna Saraswati stayed at Amarapur for 12 years. This place came to be later called as Narsobawadi ( Narsobachi Wadi ), after Sri Narasimha Saraswati.
To avoid crowds, Sri Narasimha Saraswati was living in seclusion here. In the afternoons, however, he used to go out in the guise of bhikshu into the town and ask for alms at just one or two houses. In that town lived a poor Brahmin. Added to his poverty he had a large number of children. He used to live my alms. But when he could not get enough alms, his wife used to cook the leaves of Ghevada creeper which was growing in their front yard. Thus the creeper turned out to be the main source of sustenance for the family most of the days.
One day Sri Narasimha Saraswati came to the door of the poor Brahmin and asked for Bhiksha. The brahmin welcomed him and offered him worship duly. But as they had nothing in home that day, the wife cooked Ghevada leaves and served Guru Nath, Guru Nath ate it with great satisfaction. He blessed the couple saying "Mahalakshmi Prasada Siddhirastu - May the great Goddess of wealth shower her full grace on you". Then he left.
But while leaving the house, he did a strange thing. He pulled to the ground the Ghevada creeper and threw it aside. The Brahmin's wife and children were very angry and furious with the stranger, ungratefully, destroyed the creeper, which was their main sustenance. The wife began to weep, and the children too, as they all loved and looked after the creeper with great concern and solicitude. They were all worried how they would be able to sustain themselves on the days when the Brahmin would return without any alms.
The Brahmin tried to comfort his wife saying, "God is there to feed and protect if we have faith in him. Is he not sustaining the frog in the cavity of the stone? How does the mother get milk from her breasts to feed the child, if it is not the doing of God? Are not the birds and the animals in the forest provided their food? When God is there, the Provider and Providence for all, why we should bother our heads with unnecessary worries and anxieties? Without praying to him, why wail over a tiny creeper? We can plant a branch again, and it will grow up in a few days. Everything will have a divine purpose and everything is for our good; we should take things in that spirit. I am sure our guest certainly will not have intended any harm to us, let us face things as they come, but with full faith in the Lord and His doings".
The wife was now reconciled and calmed down. Both of them went into the yard. The Brahmin pulled out the roots of the Ghevada creeper also and started digging with the iron crowbar, there was a 'metallic sound', as the crowbar hit some metal. As they dug out and looked in, they found a vessel full of Gold coins lying buried there. They took it out and were overjoyed that the guest's blessing "Sri Mahalakshmi Prasada Siddhirastu" turned out true so soon. They immediately ran after the strange bhikshu. They found him at the Audumber Tree and fell at his feet, pouring their gratitude.
Thus ends the Eighteenth Chapter of Sri Guru Charitra describing "Vipradainya Haranam - removal of misery of the Brahmin".
Glory to the All-merciful, the Omnipresent and the ever responsive Guru Nath! The Gevada creeper symbolises the growth and proliferation of our desires when fulfilled may give some temporary satiation but not lasting peace and satisfaction to all. The Guru pulls down the creeper above the ground. The Brahmin (Sadhaka) strives to pull out the roots also (the embedded Vasanas - impulses). The heart and mind thus purified, rid of all desires together with their root impulses also, are the very treasure chest, the reservoir of unending divine joy & bliss. We will have then gained the possession of Atmic Treasury - the only real treasure, which puts an end to all our misery for ever... |
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