(CONTINUED FROM PART -3)
Ananthalwan told him, “Your Lord has no other work to concentrate on and is doing next to nothing. He merely passes orders to all. He calls us for nothing. Here I am not out of work. Look, I am busy preparing garlands for his seva. These garlands are to be prepared even before the buds blossom. If delayed, these flowers will wiher and lose their fragrance and purity which will disrupt his service. I have to obey my guru’s instructions. Your Lord has not less than umpteen servants to carry out his commands. But here I am alone. There is no one to help me in my work. If anyone comes forward to extend his/her assistance, I would not take their help. I have to do it all by myself only. This is my guru’s order. Hence kindly inform him that I would approach him only after accomplishing this task.”
Naturally, the Sevak was astonished to hear such utterances from Ananthalwan. As desired by him, the Sevak conveyed his words to the Lord. After listening to those words, Lord Srinivasa was rejoiced over his utmost devotion towards him, but pretended to lose his temper for not obeying his orders. As usual, Ananthalwan arranged all the gardens in the flower basket and reached the Sanctum Sanctorum. However, when he found the curtain lowered down, he could not make out what had made the Lord angry. The Almighty briefed him as follows:
“Hey! Ananthalwan, listen to me. My commands are observed by all living creatures in this universe. Nobody dares to disobey my commands. My commands are observed even by Brahma, Rudra and other gods. All yogis, Maharshis, monks and humans wait for my words. What did you say? You said that your guru’s words are more to you. Today, you disregarded my words. I do not want your seva. I also do not need your garlands and take it away.”
After hearing the Lord’s cryptic comment with patience and perseverance, Ananthalwan, replied humbly and with utmost modesty. “My guru’s commands are more to me. May be you are the Lord of Srivaikuntam. May be you are the Lord of these seven hills. I obey my guru’s orders. I have no other alternative. I am doing all this abiding by his instructions. My guru’s blessings are more to me than god’s blessings. I am here to render service not at your beckoning. My guru, Sri Ramanujacharya beckoned me to do all this. Obeying my guru’s commands, I am bringing all these garlands to decorate you. I prefer to obey my guru’s commands to that of you. It is up to you whether you can have the garlands. I am leaving all these garlands here itself. Saying so, Ananthalwan was about to have the shrine.”
This is part of Lord Srinivasa’s Leela (Divine Game). Lord Srinivasa was fascinated by his devotion and guru Bhakthi. He came down from the Lotus Altar, removed the curtain and held Ananthalwan’s hand. The Lord said, “Ananthalwan, I rejoiced to see your guru Bhakthi (Devotion towards guru) and dedication. Hereafter, you have to bring your garlands. I will have them and enjoy the fragrance. Ananthalwan adorned the lord with his garlands.”
The Almighty further averred: “Anantha, the moment you touched the divine feet of Sri Ramanujacharya, the doors of Moksha were opened for you. This is my promise to you that the people belong to you and all your generations to come, the people who step into your flower garden; all the living creatueres that roam in your garden; even the plants and trees of your garden whosoever chants your name will get Moksha. Ananthalwan’s joy had no bounds. He prostrated at Lord’s feet and urged him to bless him that his service should be continued forever.
Thereafter, the Vaishnavas started playing a visit to Ananthalwan’s garden before their visit to Ananda Nilayam. See how the supreme commander of this infinite universe was delighted by Ananthalwan’s guru bhakthi and dedication. This is the best anecdote to show the mystic relationship between guru and his disciple. The real guru is none other than the real god and the real guru always loves his disciple most. Needless to say, the real disciple is the soulmate of the guru.
P. Venkata Rami Reddy,
-K.V. Venugopal
