ETERNAL INDIA 21 - WOMENS DEVOTION

It has rightly been said by the great saint poet, Tulsidas that women have shraddha (innate faith in God’s grace) and she is an embodiment of it. This can be seen in all those Hindu families and even of other religious groups throughout the world if these women are brought up in an atmosphere of devotion, not of domestic strife. There are many beautiful heart moving stories told in Indian families and remembered by subsequent generations as family stories. No attempt is made to write them down and publish them in a book form.

We are trying to collect some incidents. A.S the writer of this did his jyotish acharya from the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan topping and winning a gold medal and has been predicting for her friends free of charge. For her astrology is part of her sadhana. I noticed her when she sang a beautiful bhajan at my place when she had come to meet me with her husband who is very considerate and caring, a gift from god. She was stage shy but I forced her to present a research from a stage in an astrological convocation and also sing bhajans which made her the attraction of that evening. Her children who watched her perform from the stage were surprised and I eased them and their mother by saying that if I do not succeed in dragging the shyest person on the stage, no one would succeed. Spirituality runs in some families in India, true spirituality as can be seen in this story of three generation of women. (K.N.Rao.

Here I narrate a few instances from the life of persons I personally know. These clearly show how God ,by whatever name you may call Him sometimes expresses His Divinity in various ways and takes us out of difficult situations we helplessly find ourselves in. But I firmly believe that from the moment we enter our mothers womb to this very moment , only God protects and guides. And HE never comes down to take credit.

It is God with whose energy helps us move about physically to perform all actions, it is HE who illumines our senses so that we can feel life, He illumines your mind to think, and even when you sleep it is He who lovingly puts you to sleep. He is showering His grace , love and blessings All the time , every moment of our lives, we just have to open our eyes and realize.

These few instances where He expresses Himself have always led to a complete transformation in the person and, his way of thinking , making him a firm believer of God. Such acts of Divine Grace helps a devotee strengthen his faith. The better devotee remembers these as unforgettable lessons for the rest of his life which saves him from the mundane, worldly, materialist and family worries..

The first instance relates to my maternal grandmother as narrated to me by my mother. It is a family story which I am narrating for the very first time to others through this piece which I have scribbled.

When my mother was a young girl my grandmother fell very sick. She was taken to a local reputed allopathic doctor who by mistake administered a very high dose of medicine. Perhaps the medicine had some lethal effect and her condition became worse. The situation seemed to have become desperate.

On such occasions it is customary to inform all relations about the condition of a person counting his or her last hours of mortal existence. Her father, sitting near her heard her murmur, but could not understand the seriousness of the situation perhaps. So he called her by her name. She opened her eyes and told her father that he had woken her up from the sweetest dream ever.

In her dream she saw that she was thirsty and wanted some water to quench her thirst. She was requesting for water. She then had a divine vision. Lord Krishna, sitting on a tree, lovingly poured water from a LOTA (tumbler ) which she was drinking with her palms. Thereafter she slowly recovered from her illness.

It was, for her, the beginning of a life long long devotion to Lord Krishna.

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The second incident is a personal one, a poignant one whose memory remains un blurred because it my first hand experience of divine intervention as one hears about but rarely experiences personally. It is a story of super-sublimination. I am using the word super-sublimation deliberately because around me I see people escaping into drugs or medicines to overcome their depressions.

Many years ago I suffered from severe mental depression, so much so that my only memories of those days are that I was always crying and that I wanted to commit suicide all the time. I was kept under strict supervision and on a high dose of sedatives.

Initially my husband did not tell anyone but when it became really tough for him he confided to my mother. My mother immediately arrived and took me to her Guruji who stayed in an ashram near Sonepat. When we reached there Guruji, sitting under a tree, was interacting with his disciples. As soon as I came out of the car I ran towards Him and fell on his feet. He lifted me and told me to sit straight.Then He touched my Trikuti (the point between eyebrows) with his thumb. I saw small bright white sparkling lights filling my spine reaching upto my forehead where His thumb was placed. I was immediatelyfilled with bliss, my body loosened up and I fell., but I was not unconscious. I was taken to a room in the ashram where I lay in that state of complete peace and ananda for the rest of our stay. My husband quietly stayed by my side all this while. I know now that it was Shakti paat which arouses and energies a particular chakra in the body and lifts one above the physical With Divine grace, I was relieved of all pain and suffering, I was but a totally changed person, always singing bhajans ,meditating , chanting God’s name, day and night..It was new birth for me. Not to say I recovered fully , taking life head on no medication , no counseling, Namasmaran and bhajans are my only daily dosage.

I do cry sometimes but these tears are only out of love for God, who has held my little finger ever since and will never let go.