Bhakta Deepakudu
Suppose both God and Guru appear before you at the same time, whom do you offer pranams ? God may be the answer, but it seems we should offer our pranams to the Guru first, because he enlightens us about the greatness of God.

Here is the story of such a bhakta, who being lost in the service to his Guru, refused to seek any boon from the Almighty ! In fact he was surprised as to how God appeared before him when he hadn’t offered any prayer to Him.

Once upon a time there was a rishi called Vedadharmudu. He had many disciples. He wanted to know how serious they were in serving him. So one day, he assembled them before him and said, ‘Listen carefully ! I would like to nullify the sins of my previous janma so that I can free myself from the cycles of birth and death and can attain moksha. I have washed away a major part of my sins through my penance. I am still left with some more sins bear punishment for them. I will be born again to reap the consequences of those sins.
So I will go to Kasi and turn myself into a leprosy patient, a lame and blind man. I will suffer thus for 21 years to get rid of my sins. Now tell me, who is willing to serve me and look after me for all these years?

Nobody ever dared to open his mouth. Each one was worried, he might not discharge his duties well in looking after him in such a miserable condition. If he failed to do so, he might invoke the guru’s bitterness. Better keep numb than serve and be criticized.But then, one disciple by name Deepakudu was more than willing to take over the fruits of the sins of the Guru. He said ‘Dear Guru, if you allow me to do so, I will bear your sins and reap their consequences. I’ll also serve you. Please bless me ‘The Guru was pleased at the faith in him, but said, ‘I am helpless that way! I should face the suffering, I cannot transfer it to any one. In fact serving a patient is more difficult than being a patient. So you think twice before you join me on my venture.’ Deepakudu had no second thoughts. He proceeded with the guru happily.

Vedadharmudu had his bath in the Manikarnika ghat, offered his prayers to Manikarnika and had the darshan of Kasi Viswanath. Devakudu built an ashram to the guru. There the guru was affected by leprosy, blindness and lameness as desired by him. Leprosy was in its worst stage. His body was totally decayed, infected with insects and was letting out a foul smell. All these physical ailments disturbed his mental balance. A normally lovable soul-the guru, became very rude and cruel.

Deepakudu, as promised by him, served him very dutifully. He cleaned his body meticulously. In one word he served his guru as one would serve God. He found God in him and did not even bother to visit the holy temple of Kasi Viswanath.

Whenever Deepakudu brought food, the guru only tortured him. He threw the food down on one pretext or the other. He either said it was too less or that it was insipid and tasteless. He pestered him to get better food always. Once in a while, he would feel sorry for Deepakudu ‘Oh boy!’ I’m awfully sorry for you! You are such a great, sishya! You are suffering a lot for my sake!’ But that affection was short lived. The very next minute the guru with a thundering voice would attack him to clean his body properly. He would say that since he was not cleaning properly the body was emitting a foul smell, being a playground to the insects. When he began to clean him, he would curse him again for not offering him food when he was badly hungry.

Deepakudu bore all this stoically. He had the generous heart to understand that great sinners were also greatly cruel since their suffering turned them to cruelty. So he did not take it to heart. He served him so much that he had no time for his personal duties. He never spoke to anyone.

Though he had lost no time in visiting the presiding deity, Kasi Viswanath, Kasi Viswanath had no rues against him. He was moved by his guru bhakti and appeared before him and asked him to seek a boon.

Anybody would have jumped at the offer of the Almighty and would have given out a long list of boons they required. Deepakudu said that he would not seek any boon without the permission of his Guru. He went and asked his guru if he would allow him to ask God to mitigate his pain. That irritated the guru beyond expectation. ‘Why, what’s wrong! Are you too sick of serving a sick man like me ? No, for heaven’s sake, don’t ever seek such a boon ! If I ask for any mitigation of my pain, I have to be reborn again as a human being to bear the suffering. That is what is written in Shastras ! So go away ! Don’t ask for it.’
Deepakudu repeated what the Guru opined to Kasi Viswanath. Being surprised by such a behaviour, Kasi Viswanath narrated the whole thing to Lord Vishnu, before all other devathas. Lord Vishnu was delighted to hear such a thing and came down personally to see the guru and sishya.

Same old story again! Instead of being thrilled at the darshan of the Gods one after the other, he questioned Lord Vishnu in return. ‘Oh my Lord! There are hundreds of people who do penance to have your darshan! Why then did you take the trouble of manifesting yourself before me!

Lord Vishnu answered with a smile, ‘Look here! You don’t have to serve me directly ! If you serve your Guru with your heart and soul, it is as good as serving me ! I am bound to such a sishya. Not only a guru, whomever you serve-parents, pandits, brahmins, rushis, munis, I will be pleased. A wife who server’s her husband as God, is not serving him, she is serving me. So, come on, seek a boon of your choice.

Deepakudu said, ‘Our Sastras proclaim that Guru is the incarnation of God and all the holy places. In such a case why can’t I seek my boon from the Guru him self ?

Lord Vishnu insisted, ‘Yes we are one! So to please us both, you ask for a wish and I’ll sanction it and will remain with you forever.’ Deepakudu who knew only the guru and nothing else asked in similar lines. He said, ‘Oh God ! see that my gurubhakti increases day by day.’ The lord was pleased by his desire and fulfilled it at once. He said, ‘you are a blessed soul. You continue to serve your Guru thus.’

‘Whoever understands the essence of the teachings of vedas and vedantas, whoever serves his guru as the paramathma is blessed by all the devatas put together Whatever boon he seeks will be sanctioned by the devatas. One who prays to a guru as God is respected by the world around. When the opportune moment comes, we the Trimurthis provide you with a sadguru So saying Lord Vishnu disappeared.

Deepakudu ran to his guru to narrate the whole thing, but the guru had known everything, before Deepakudu opened his mouth. The Guru spoke in soft, caressing tone in Deepakudu. ‘Dear Sishya you continue to remain in kasi. You will be served by Asta siddis and nava nidhis. Those who pray to you will be relieved of their pain. so saying the guru became a perfectly healthy man. The Guru took over suffering on him to test his disciple, to teach him his swadharma and to prove the greatness of the holy place Kasi. Why will ever a guru be a sinner. This is only a message to the sadhakas to lead their life in the righteous path.

This is a story narrated by Siddhudu to Kali Purushudu in Sri Guru Charithra.
A word from the writer’s desk.

I happened to hear this story from my sister, Mrs Meena Ramarao and I planned to write it for my next Bhakta story, but on second thoughts, I felt it spoke more about the dedication to the Guru than about the miraculous powers of the bhakta himself since all along, the stories I picked up spoke about the greatness of the Bhakta. So I declared I would not write it.

The very next morning there was a little havoc in our Kitchen but nothing happened. Then I felt that it is God’s message that I should write this story.
Bhakta Gunavathi bai

We never know when a turning point takes place in our life. A right decision taken in the quiver of an eye can lead us on the righteous path. This is the story of a Queen who was lead to the righteous path by a servant.
Once upon a time, there lived a king called Madhav Singh. His wife’s name was Gunavathi Bai. She was a pious lady, a dutiful wife and a kind hearted woman. She had two sons. A servant maid was appointed to take care of those young ones. Gunavathi bai observed that the servant maid was incessantly chanting something since her lips were in constant movement. When she asked her what she was doing the servant maid answered, ‘I am chanting the name of Srihari to liberate me from this earthly life.’ Gunavathi bai expressed her desire to be initiated into the mantra. Seeing her keenness, the maid agreed. She gave her an idol of Lord Sri Krishna and initiated her into the mantra and taught her the way of prayer. Gunavathi bai carried on her puja with total faith everyday. She prayed to the idol of Lord Krishna and served devoutedly sadhus and Haridasas.
As her bhakti increased, her interest in mundane life decreased. Her husband observed this detachment in her but did not know the reason behind it. He mistook it as madness and tried various ways and means to drive it out of her but in vain. Finally he called her and asked her the reason for her strange behaviour. She said, ‘I am praying to God incessantly. I will continue to do so till I am blessed with his Darshan. But this only irritated the king all the more. Gunavathi being scared of his angry looks closed her eyes. Lord Sri Krishna manifested Himself before her with his Sankha and chakra. Gunavathi’s joy knew no bounds. She prostrated herself before God. God touched her head and said ‘I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry.’
‘Oh God! even if the world turns topsy turvy, the sun sets in the west, the seven seas become dry, come what may, see that I don’t stop your prayer.’ God blessed her and said, ‘Your wish will be fulfilled. Don’t you worry’ and vanished.
Gunavathi opened her eyes gladly. Her husband being unaware of all this, threatened her once more and left the scene. Before leaving he warned the sentry at the door not to allow any sadhu into her room since she was falling into mad bhakti. He went to the forest to hunt.
Gunavathi carried on her pooja, and her bhajan. She continued to honour sadhus. Mantri sent a letter to the king regarding her behaviour. This added fuel to fire and he sent four people to kill his wife. They saw her being lost in prayer and so waited outside.
Lord Sri Krishna knew his devotee was in danger. So He came out of his idol in the form of a tiger. She asked why he came thus but he gave her no answer. He silently came out and killed the four waiting outside.
Those who were within ear shot, heard the roar of the tiger and hastened there. They were shocked to see the four people dead. They ran for their lives. Later Gunavathi came out and saw the dead bodies. She was touched by their tragic end and prayed to God! ‘Oh God! You and Goddess Lakshmi are our parents. You should take care of us all. These people have come to harm me, only to fulfil their duty to the king. If you want to save me, is there, no other way ? Please bring them back to life.’ God manifested himself before her and said, O.K. I’ll grant your wish’ They came back alive, pleaded guilty and became her disciples.
She explained to them how the body is transient while the atma is permanent. One who realizes this and prays to God and leads a righteous life will be blessed by God. The minister who came to know about her miraculous powers, prayed to her and sent word to the king about this. The king sent back a message to the minister to allow her to carry on her pooja in peace. He felt sorry for his cruel behaviour. She carried on her service to the sadhus and the poor undisturbed. The rest of the time she spent in prayer.
After some time the king was returning to his kingdom. On the way, at one place, he had, to cross a river. When he was half way through the river, he was about to be drowned and he prayed to his wife. ‘If your prayer is sincere you save us from sinking’ Amazing! The boat silently reached ashore. Everybody was surprised.
The king praised Gunavathi, ‘You are a blessed soul. I tried to harm you, unaware of your miraculous power. I experienced it when we were saved by you. You please forgive me.’
Gunavathi explained, ‘Nobody can harm anybody. Things happen based on the balance of good and evil in a person. God is there to take care. This life on earth is a bubble which will blow out any moment. Wealth, family, comfort all these are transient. Only God’s love is permanent. But people being lost in earthly comforts and attachments are getting detached from God . They are not making an attempt to attain moksha. So who am I to forgive you?’
The king was impressed by her teachings. He became a transformed man and began to pray to God, treating his wife as his Guru.
One day Gunavathi said, ‘Oh dear ? you can attain Gnana only through the initiation given by God. So seek the lotus feet of a good guru and get initiated. You should give up desires. Riches pull you towards desires. Desires are unlimited. A man may have all the riches, all the power ,all the beautiful women but he will not be satisfied. A wise man learns that he has to give up desires, while a fool seeks desires and thereby seeks downfall.
The king said that since she was his first guru, she should take up the responsibility of finding him a Sadguru. Then she brought the servant who initiated her into bhakti, prayed to her and requested her to do initiation for her husband too. The servant readily agreed. ‘Gunavathi you have Jnana, bhakti, vairagya. Being in your company, your husband too has changed for the better. If I don’t agree, it means I am going against the will of God.’
The king came, fell to her feet and asked her to show him a good path. She initiated him into a mantra and explained, ‘Oh king! your wife is a jnani, she has enkindled a jnana jyothi in your house. Now with your encouragement the jnana jyothi is being illuminated well. By God’s grace, you too are blessed. You think of God, you pray to God and you serve God’s devotees. If you do thus God will be pleased and will be with you. Treat others as yourself. If God is pleased, nothing will be impossible.’
The king arranged a special ashram for the servant and stopped treating her as a servant. He went to Brindavan and prayed to God. ‘Oh God! being an ajnani, I was lost in material comforts. I ignored the blessings given to me -the blessings of a human form. Now I am a changed man, please forgive me.’ Krishna being impressed by his sincere prayer, manifested Himself before the king. ‘Like Namadev and other devotees, you too have become my special devotee. I won’t leave you. I’ll be in your heart for ever.’ The king stayed there for quite some time, went to Dwaraka, prayed to God there, visited many holy places with other sadhus and came back to his kingdom and was leading a blissful life with his family.
After a few days, Gunavathi expressed her desire to go on a pilgrimage. The king readily agreed and took his family to many holy places and finally they came to Dwaraka. They prayed, danced and sang there. God bring impressed by their Jnana, bhakti , vairagya manifested Himself before them. Their joy knew no bounds on his Darsan and prostrated themselves before him. God lifted them up, embraced them and promised to manifest Himself whenever they desired for it.So saying,He vanished.
They continued their pilgrimage, went to Pandharpur, prayed there and proceeded further. Thus they were leading a life of piety till their last breath.
This shows it is easier to please God than fellow human beings and to have God’s darshan. God was impressed by the sincere prayer of the family, manifested before them and promised to manifest as and when they wanted. What else does one require ?