Sri Narsi Mehta (Part – 2)

Great are the stories of Saints, for, they are completely immersed in the elixir of devotion for the Lord. They remain completely absorbed in the meditation of the wonderful countenance of the Lord or keep singing His glories and His sweet Names or revel in the company of other Sadhus, who always dwell upon His glories. They can never afford to live a normal worldly life as their thoughts are completely engulfed by their Sweet Lord.
Hence, true devotees never bother about their materialistic welfare, though they happen to be householders with wife andchildren.
Devotees always hold on to the Grace of the lord. They don’t rely upon their own strength or will power just as people who follow other spiritual paths do. Always drowned in the ocean of the Lord’s immense mercy they remain unperturbed by worldly afflictions.
Narsi came out of the shrine with inexplicable bliss as his heart was filled with the joy of Krishna darshan received through the grace of Lord Siva. As Narsi started walking down the lane, to his great surprise, he found that kirtans about his great Lord rose from the deep recesses of his heart. It was a gushing flow of the glories of the Vrindaban Hero with a sonorous music. All the passers-by were enchanted by this divine music and soon Narsi got recognized as a great devotee blessed with the darshan of the Lord at a very tender age.
Narsi’s brother who was on a long business trip came back home and was crestfallen to learn that his little brother had left the house because of the merciless treatment of his wife towards a motherless child, during his absence. He immediately set out in search of his brother but to his disappointment he could not find him anywhere. He was filled with fear as he wondered if he would ever find his brother and bring him back home. The house seemed empty without his brother.
It was at this point of time that someone informed Narsi’s brother about the arrival of a great Sadhu in a nearby village and advised him to seek his blessings to find his lost brother. Narsi’s brother rushed to the place and was awestruck to see his little brother singing and dancing the glories of the Lord in the midst of a huge crowd and everybody prostrating before him. Narsi’s brother’s joy knew no bounds when he saw his little brother. At the same time he also felt slightly perplexed over all these happenings.
No sooner did Narsi see his brother than he ran towards him and hugged him tightly. Narsi’s brother gave him a warm embrace and asked about all that happened. Narsi explained to his brother how Lord Siva had bestowed His blessings upon him and had taken him to Vrindaban and blessed him with the darshan of his sweet Lord.
Narsi returned home and lived with his brother. Everyday Narsi did Bhagavat parayan (reading the text of Srimad Bhagavatam), Kirtan (Singing the Lord’s names and glories) and Meditation. He stopped attending his regular school and spent all the time in Krishna bhakti. At an appropriate age, Narsi’s brother had Narsi married to a highly pious and devoted girl Manikka devi.
Narsi and his wife moved to a new home. Though married, Narsi’s bhakti scaled greater heights. He always spent his time singing kirtans and reciting Srimad Bhagavata slokas in front of his deity “Venugopala”, the posture of Lord Krishna playing his mellifluous flute. He could never forego his devotion for sensuous worldly pleasures. His wife Manikka devi was equally pious and would never intrude on the devotion of Narsi. She always stood by her husband’s unswerving devotion to the Lord and ran the family with what little Narasimha Mehta would bring home after his Nama Kirtan in the streets. It was a practice in those days that every house holder offers something to Sadhus who perform Nama Kirtan, on a daily basis and this was the only means of a sadhu’s livelihood. Though meager, Narsi lived with great contentment singing the praise of his sweet Lord.
We all know his famous song – ‘Vaishnava Janato…’ What was the incident that caused this kirtan to flow out of the divine lips of this great saint? Let us see in the following episode….