True Devotion

When I sat next to my mom, I had the sudden urge to hear a bed-time story. So out of the blue, My mom decides to recite something that she had heard from somewhere else. I ask her if it is long and interesting, to which she replies by merely chuckling and admitting that it is the most interesting piece of information that she had got. Praarthana is a sort of prayer that we offer to God. Prarthana means basically to seek the Almighty with devotion. One knows that Indian Mythology is full of "Karma" where it illustrates that each action has an opposite equal reaction. Sounds like Newton's Law doesnt it? The song of Alicia Keys called "karma" sings

"...what goes around..comes around...
what goes up must come down....
now who's crying..desiring...to come back..."

Karma teaches that you reap what you sow. So, there is a give and take policy. Same goes for a devoted Praarthana. We are needed to fulfill our duties.. and that is the price that we pay for seeking God. The one who fulfills his duties without even realizing them is a true "bhakt"(devotee).

Thus, comes a story here. One day, a man walks up to a passerby and asks for direction to a temple. The passerby gives the direction immediately using his indexfinger. Upon which, the

indexfinger admits that "it is the most useful finger of all because it is able to point out & give directions to people".
The middle finger says " that maybe so.. but God has created me taller than u for some reason.. so that I am the best"

the third finger said " you may all be true, but when seeking wealth and matrimony he needs to ornament me"

Then, all three looked at the little finger (pinky) and said " you are not useful for anything because you can't surpass us in any way. Its a total waste to have you with us". The finger kept quiet...

The next day, that person decides to go to the temple. There, he did his usual namaskar with his arms posed in the Indian style.. --> _______/!\_______
At that time the Little finger(pinky) touched each other like all fingers.. and finally The little finger said " because of your pride, greed, and over-confidence, you have lost the chance to do darshan(view) of God first. I am the first peron who will get the blessings of the Lord always!".

Moral of the story: Think twice before blaming others, because some day you will have to pay for your deed.

Having first established the very qualities that one should stay away from, we see another story here to further illustrate the mindless devotion of a person to fulfill his duty.

One day, Lord Krishna decided to steal butter from his mom's house. Krishna's mother had tied a bell to the Big pot of butter that is hanging from the ceiling to alert her of any thief's presence. Lil Kid Krishna entered with his 6 friends with a plan of ravishing the butter.

So, they create a chain of people over whom Krishna was able to reach the pot, and that is when he sees the bell. He tells the bell to keep quiet and not ring. Krishna steals the butter from the pot, and the bell kept quiet.

He gives the butter to all his friends, and the bell kept quiet. He took some butter for himself and the bell kept quiet. But, the minute he put the butter in his mouth, the bell started ringing.

Krishna said "oh bell, I told you not to ring and now look you have me caught"

to which the Bell replied "oh lord, I kept quiet when you stole the butter, I kept quiet when you gave it to your friends. I kept quiet even when you took some for yourself. But, the second you ate it, I had to ring because I ring whenever you eat Prashaad in the temple. Out of habit, I rang".

Moral: One who does his duty without even realizing it.. has truly found the meaning of Devotion.