Jaya Guru Datta. We were talking so far about the priest doing Thomala Seva (elaborate service that includes offering of garlands to the Lord). Recognizing that he was ignorant, he constantly served the Lord to earn his grace. The Lord himself appeared to this devotee, who believed he was ignorant, to tell him he was knowledgeable saying, “You teach them the Principle of Truth in the royal assembly”. We discussed that the devotee said he was ignorant and he knew nothing. We discussed that because he had not yet attained the pure bliss that comes with true knowledge, he was afraid that he would bring disrepute to the Lord. He went to the assembly (upon the Lord’s command). There, even though the Lord was not physically present, all knowledge took form in his heart and he was able to see it all by the Lord’s grace. The supreme essence of all that knowledge - the Principle of the Absolute - manifested itself. At that point, the sorrow that he was ignorant was removed. Until then, he would lament everyday - he was a great devotee, no doubt, but internally he would lament - that he was ignorant and that he had no knowledge at all. At that point though, that sorrow as removed. What had he learned? He was not educated. The moment the Lord’s grace flowed on him, he attained all knowledge. He experienced unbounded bliss from the knowledge. Due to that, there were no doubts left in his heart. With supreme bliss and without any hesitation, he taught everyone the Principle of the Absolute. Contrary to this, the scholars in the assembly had considered themselves subject matter experts and knowledgeable scholars and had got down to debating earlier. They all thought, “We are very well versed in the Vedas, we are very knowledgeable”. That is why they got down to debating. They felt that way due to their own ego. In that state, they were not even able to see God. They were such great scholars, but they did not even know the nature of God. They did not know devotion towards God. It is clear that the Lord was not satisfied with their debates. Still, since they were lesser mortals attempting to gain the Principle of Truth and out of compassion for them, he encouraged the Thomala Seva priest and taught them the Principle of Truth. He had infinite compassion for them. These scholars were fighting so much, each one trying to outdo the other, “Our scholarship is greater, there is no scholarship greater than ours”, they were unnecessarily fighting. Through the Vishnu devotee who was ignorant and knew nothing, he blessed them with knowledge to show them his Principle of the Absolute. Instead of a scholar, he used an ignorant/illiterate man to give them knowledge and show them that for self-realization, the Lord’s compassion was the only way, not large heavy, voluminous scriptures. Big scriptures are not what teach you the Principle of Truth, it is only when you have real devotion that you will understand it. In this story, the truth we need to learn is 1. One who thinks that he is knowledgeable will not be able to inculcate proper devotion. Remember well. 2. When one recognizes that he is ignorant, even if such a person does not immediately attain knowledge, he will be able to inculcate devotion to God. We can see clearly that hence, the Lord’s grace will be showered on him and by the time he’s ready, pure knowledge will itself take shape in his mind Devotees pining for knowledge should recognize that they are ignorant and should serve the Lord like the Thomala Seva priest did. They should not go about thinking they learned a lot. How was the Thomala devotee? “I don’t know anything. I am ignorant”. He kept serving the Lord with devotion. By the grace of the Guru, knowledge will itself come to them. Jaya Guru Datta. Sri Guru Datta.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:20:18 +0000
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