"O Lord, some of Yourdeeds seem to be so strange! None can comprehend the why and wherefore of such actions!" Bhringeeradi said to the Lord with folded hands.
"Bhringeeradhi! People say that the ways of this universe are quite incomprehensible to them. You are just repeating what others say", said Lord Siva with a smile.
"O Lord of Lords! In this sacred town of Kasi so dear to You, I find that You rush to the rescue of numberless people who are on the threshold of death and fighting for their lives, and console and encourage them by whispering the 'Taraka Mantra' to them. This is understandable, because You are so merciful. But I find that there is an old but healthy man, named Dheeradhee, whom You physically support while walking, and take meticulous care to see that no harm ever comes to him, though normally he does not warrant any of such attention. I am not able to comprehend Your motive behind the indulgence with which Dheeradhee is taken care of! said Bhringeeradi.
The Lord smiled, and replied:
"He is a great devotee. And I like narrating the stories of devotees to other devotees like you. Listen."
"Once, I was quietly sitting in Kailas, in a completely relaxed mood. Suddenly, the entire area was enveloped by a storm. The ranches of trees swayed violently and many of them broke and .w away. I knew that someone was coming that way. Suddenly, black mountain-sized living being fell in front of me from the sky. It looked like a mass of darkness. But in fact, it was a huge bird in the shape of a swan.
That bird offered a beautiful lotus at my feet, prostrated to me and praised me with hymns.
"Who are you? What do you want?", I asked.
The jet-black swan said: I am one of the vehicles of Lord Brahma. May I tell my story, with Your permission?'
I nodded approval.
"The bird said: I came down from the heavens to the world this morning, and was flying over the forests of saurashtra. I saw there a beautiful lotus pond, and was attracted by it. I alighted in it and ate a lot of lotus stems. When I was satisfied, I started to fly back to the heavens, but suddenly I realised that I could not keep myself afloat in the air. I shivered violently and fell down there. I do not know how long I lay there, but when I regained my consciousness, I discovered that my snow-white complexion had gone and I had turned jet-black in colour. I wept loudly calling to my master : 'Oh Lord Brahma! What is this that has overcome me?"
"At that time, a voice came from one side of the lake: "O Swan! Don't grieve. Come over to me."
The five-faced lotus said:
"O Swan!, the reason for your fall and change of complexion is your own pride and ego. You have been punished for flying over the lake without paying respects to me. But when I saw you falling down, I felt pity for you, and I called out to you with one of my faces. While doing so, some of my fragrance spread over the lake, and the honeybees which had come here, attracted by the fragrance of my mouth, have been transformed into the attendants of Lord Vishnu, whom you are seeing around me."
"These honey-bees were, in their previous birth, ascetics who were immersed in the performance of austerities and meditations on the banks of this lake. One day, Indra, the king of gods, sent an Apsara (angel) down to this lake to enchant the ascetics and to pull them down from their state of asceticism. Lured by the enchantress, all the ascetics wished to marry her. The clever Apsara infatuated each ascetic, and this resulted in quarrels between them, culminating in violence and death. Thus all the ascetics fought with each other over the Apsara and died. The victorious enchantress returned to the kingdom of Indra."
"Taking repeated births and deaths in the form of various birds and animals, these ascetics exhausted their animalistic instincts of sex and lust. At long last all of them were born as honey-bees, and they have been hovering around this lake. And now with the fragrance that emanated from my mouth when I called you out with one of my faces, these honey-bees have been released from the state of existence as insects and have evolved into the high state of the attendants of Lord Vishnu."
"Who are you? What is the secret of your divinely powerful fragrance?" I asked the flower.
You have rightly asked me the question, and I will reply you", said the flower.
'I was in my previous birth, a brahmin girl named Saroja. I had a pet, a parrot. One day, while I was training it to speak the human language, my husband called out to me. As I was immersed in the training of the parrot, I did not hear him. He was angry and came in search of me. He saw me teaching the parrot. Overcome by anger, he cursed the without any forethought or mercy 'May you too become a parrot'.
'Ere long I died, and took birth as a parrot.'
'On account of my merit of chastity, I found my abode in the precincts of an Ashram and grew up in the sacred atmosphere surrounding it. Every day the Ashram inmates used to chant the tenth chapter of the Bhagawad Geeta. By hearing the chanting repeatedly, I too learned to chant it and memorised the whole thing.'
'In due course I gave up my existence as a parrot and was born in heaven as an angel (Apsara), and was named Padmavati. I became one of the most enchanting dancers in the hall of Indra. Once while travelling through the skies, I chanced to see this beautiful lake.'
'I came down and wanted to swim and play in the waters of this I undressed myself and kept my garments and ornaments on he shore of the lake and got into the water.'
'Ere long I saw saint Durvasa coming up to the lake To pay respects to him, it was necessary that I should get to the shore and to my clothes And if I did so I was sure to be seen by him getting out of the lake naked, which would enrage him. I did not know what to do.'
'Suddenly I thought of a plan I crawled up to knee-deep water and sat down there keeping my two knees two hands and head just above the water. I then converted my knees, hands and head into flowers. Thus I lay there, holding my breath, in the shape of a five-faced lotus.'
'The saint came upto the banks of the lake to wash his face and feet. He recognised me. 'You who dared to get into the water naked and deceive me by concealing your identity, may you stay there in the same form for a hundred years?' cursed the saint.
'And so I have been staying here in this form on account of the saint's curse. Because of the glory of the Vibhooti Yoga, the subject of the tenth chapter of the Geeta, which I had learnt and used to chant, I am able to retain memory of my previous births and incidents therein. It is the power of the tenth chapter of the Geeta that made you to fall down here and change your beautiful snow- white complexion to this coal black complexion, when you tried to fly way without paying respects to me.'
'Anyway, I shall grant you freedom from your doom', the five faced lotus told me. She paused for a while and said : 'I shall chant the tenth chapter of the Geeta. Please listen to it with all devotion and attention. And thereafter, go to Kailas, the sacred abode of Lord Siva, and place this lotus flower that I am giving you at His feet. You shall then attain liberation from this state'.
'So saying the angel in the form of the five-faced lotus chanted the tenth chapter of the Geeta in a melodious voice. I heard it with all devotion and attention and started on my journey to this place, contemplating on the meaning of the verses. Kindly accept the lotus flower that I have brought from that lake and bless me.'
"So saying, the black swan offered the lotus flower to Me, and within moments it passed away.
Bhringeeradi stood there rooted to the ground with astonishment. He asked the Lord: "What happened to the swan then? Why did it ever take the form of a swan?".
The Lord said: 'That swan was, in its previous birth a pious brahmin named Sutapas. When he was a student, he happened to step on his teacher accidently. The teacher was fast asleep and did not know that he was stepped on. But it could not be hidden from the ever-vigilant and alert eyes of Chitragupta, the account keeper, of merits and de-merits of all beings in the universe. So, this incident was recorded as a demerit in the books of Chitragupta. When Sutapas died, he was assigned to the world of Lord Brahma to enjoy the fruits of his meritorious actions, but he had to take the form of a bird on account of this one de-merit against him. While thus living as a swan in the Brahma-Loka (the world of Brahms), he happened to gain the merit of listening to the tenth chapter of the Geeta from the Apsara who had turned into the five-faced lotus, and contemplate on the meaning of the verses. This merit enabled him to reach my abode, and give up his life as a swan.'
"This swan is now re-born as a very pious brahmin in Kasi, as Dheeradhee, about whom you had asked me in the beginning."
Bhringeeradi heaved a deep sigh.
The Lord continued: "This brahmin has inherited the memory of his previous births, and is now a devout student of the tenth chapter of the Geeta. I am anxious that he should not get away from Kasi. I shall tell you why. Normally, in this sacred place of Mine, which is extolled as the seat of liberation (Mukti-Sthaana) , no one is affected by Dheeradhee's spiritual powers. But once he gets out of the boundaries of Kasi, people will start getting liberated by the mere sight of his person. Such is his power. This will result in the imbalance of the cosmic evolution scheme because of the untimely
d premature liberation that living beings would attain. Therefore, I keep a close watch on him, and travel with him wherever he goes, to ensure that he does not leave Kasi. It ia also a pleasurable thing for Me to touch Dheeradhee who has attained the state of liberation (Jeevan Mukti) even while living in the physical body due to the glory of the tenth chapter of the Geeta. The question you askedd me about Dheeradhee also proves to be beneficial to the world at large, because, the glory of the tenth chapter of Geeta is such that even those who listen to this story will experience the dawn of the Supreme Knowledge in them."
Lord Siva concluded His narration and sat back.
Bhringeeradi prostrated to Him.
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