Once
upon a time Narad Muni
who always greets people by saying "Narayan,Narayan"visited
the heavenly abode of Lord Vishnu and asked him who he thought his
greatest devotee was?
Lord
Vishnu pondered for a while and then told Narad Muni that his
greatest devotee was a poor farmer who lived in a small village of
India.
Narad
Muni was surprised and he reasoned with the Lord
that noone chanted the lord's name more than he did...( he is known
to chant "Narayan,Narayan" every second
of
his life)
The
Lord
smiled and told Narad Muni
that this might take a while but before that he had an errand for
him.Narad Muni agreed to run lord's errand half heartedly.
Lord
Vishnu gave him a bowl full of oil....it was filled up to the
brim....and as the lord handed Narad Muni
the bowl he told him that he wanted him to take the bowl around the
whole world making sure that while he did so not a single drop
dripped out of the bowl.Narad Muni carefully took the bowl and left
for his journey around the world.
Narad
Muni
returned with the bowl after having taken it around the world as the
Lord
had directed....proud of his accomplishment of not having spilled a
single drop.
As
he handed lord Vishnu the bowl the Lord
questioned him....."Narada,thank
you for running this errand for me.....how many times did you chant
my name as you went around the world with this bowl?"
Narad
Muni was left speechless.....he had been so engrossed in making sure
that not a drop of oil spilled out of the bowl that he had completely
forgotten to chant/remember god's name in any way....
"But
Lord..."he argued"it was your errand.....I was doing the
work you wanted me to do....it was your work....."
"Narada.....that
farmer is also doing the work I have picked for him....he is living
the life I gave him.....dealing with all the circumstances that I
give....and inspite of all this.....he takes time out of his busy
routine to remember me and that is what makes him my greatest
devotee!"
Moral: We have to learn to
chant Lord Krishnas holy name in all situation in our life. Chanting
of the holy name will make us remember Krishna and make us very dear
to him .
