True Bhakti

“God is hungering only for love. He is not satisfied with mere religious forms and ceremonial worship. Pure love and devotion alone satisfies Him”, Papa Ramdas used to say. In this context, he narrates a beautiful story.
[This story has been adapted from the book ‘The Gospel of Swami Ramdas’ by Swami Satchidananda.]
Once there was a butcher in a small town . He was a great devotee . Even while doing his business, he used to chant God’s name mentally, and in course of time started feeling bad about killing animals. But he had to carry on his business as he had no other means of livelihood. So he purchased meat and sold it at a small profit. For weighing the meat, the butcher used a stone which happened to be a ‘salagram’ (a holy pebble like stone which has all the attributes of an idol, the sanctity of which, he had no idea about. He did not even remember how the stone came to his hands. He had been using it for a long time.
One day a learned man, who passed by his shop, chanced to see the butcher placing the ‘salagram’ on the balance in order to weigh meat. Surprised that he was, he approached the butcher and asked him to wash the stone and hand it over to him for closer scrutiny. Confirming that it was a ‘salagram’ he enquired why the butcher was using the sacred stone for weighing meat. The innocent butcher replied he never knew anything about the ‘salagram’ or its sanctity. The learned man explained to him that ‘salagram’ was a sacred stone and had to be worshipped with flowers, sandal paste etc. Further he also requested for permission to take the ‘salagram’ with him so that it could be worshipped like other deities (idols) in his house. The innocent butcher readily agreed.
The learned man kept the same in his pooja room and carried on his usual worship with elaborate rituals and expensive offerings.
But, God who was present in the ‘salagram’ missed true love and devotion in this house. Unable to bear the loveless worship, in spite of costly offerings and elaborate rituals, God appeared in the learned man’s dream and asked
“Why did you bring me here? I was very happy with the butcher who is a true devotee. Even though the butcher’s hands were stained with blood and meat, I felt a perpetual warmth when he touched me every time. His touch was like a warm embrace.
The butcher always chanted My Name (Nama Sankirtan), and was talking with his customers mostly about my glories (Katha shravanam), which in true sense is Bhakti. I wish to enjoy his company again. Please take me back to the butcher.”