Bhakti Stories He Who Cares, Provides and Protects Jagannath Mishra was a very learned scholar. He was always engrossed in thoughts of God. He wrote a commentary on 100,000 shlokas of Mahabharat. But when he was writing the commentary on Gita he came across the verse – अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्
Bhakti Stories Shiv and Krishna’s Holi Leela Once Lord Shiva, who is the greatest devotee of Shri Krishna, was eager to play Holi with His beloved Shri Krishna and arrived in Vrindaban dressed as an ascetic. At the same time, the gopis were getting ready to play Holi with their beloved Shyam Sundar. Seeing an ascetic, the
Bhakti Stories The Call to Follow Higher Dharma When Lord Ram was banished to 14 years of exile by His stepmother Kaikeyi, a pall of gloom fell over the kingdom. Their father, King Dashrath and Lord Ram’s mother Kaushalya were grief stricken and inconsolable. King Dashrath fell terribly sick such that no medicine could help him. Despite
Bhakti Stories Do Bhakti - Now, Not Later! Ravan was the villain in the story of Ramayan. While Lord Ram was in exile for 14 years, Ravana abducted Mother Sita, wife of Lord Ram and kept her in Lanka for over a decade. Then Lord Ram killed Ravan and rescued Mother Sita. This is the story of what
Bhakti Stories Bhakti: The Root of All Goodness This is a true incident from the life of Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa used to identify financially well-to-do individuals and asked them for donations to help those in need. One day she knocked on the door of a rich businessman, who was not a believer in sharing his wealth with
Bhakti Stories Are We Thankful for the Nose or Just the Nose-Ring? Once Kabir Das was walking in a narrow alley, engrossed in thoughts of the Lord. A small group of women were excitedly chatting and walking ahead of him. Kabir Das overheard their conversation. In those days in India arranged marriage was prevalent. Kabir Das learned that one of those girls
Bhakti Stories Honor Every Deity, And Devote Yourself to One Rishi Upamanyu is well known and widely acclaimed for his Guru-Bhakti. As a child Upmanyu used to live in a forest with his mother. As they were quite poor his mother could not afford milk for her son. Once he visited his uncle, who offered cow-milk to Upmanyu. He liked
Bhakti Stories The Supreme Serves His Devotees? Saint Tukaram Maharaj was an ardent devotee of Shri Krishna. Tukarma used to His Lord as Panduranga and was always engrossed in chanting Pandurang’s name. At one time, saint Tukaram, had invited two priests to his home to conduct a religious ceremony on the occasion of the death anniversary
Bhakti Stories God Is Controlled By Love Once there was a saint in Barsana, who used to love and adore Shri Radha Rani. He would visit the temple of Shri Ji, on top of the Barsana Hill every-day and spend hours singing Her glories. He had great faith in the graciousness of Shri Radha. One day as
Bhakti Stories Who Am I? A Boy’s Quest for the Ultimate Truth There once lived a little boy named Nachiketa. He was the son of Rishi Vājashravasa. Once Rishi Vājashravasa organized a yagya (offering fire sacrifices) to please the Gods and gain heaven. It was a custom in those days to donate cows to Brahmins at the end of the yagna. Rishi
Bhakti Stories Want to Begin the Path of Devotion? Start With This One Virtue तृणादपि सुनीचेन , तरोरपि सहिष्णुना, अमानिना मानदेन , कीर्तनीयः सदा हरिः ॥ “Be more humble than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, give respect to others and never demand respect for yourself. This attitude
Bhakti Stories The Lord Who Humbles His Own Lord Shri Ram ruled the kingdom of Ayodhya a few million years ago. Hanuman, the eternal servant of Shri Ram served Him, while He lived on this earth for 11,000 years. Before leaving for His divine abode, Lord Ram instructed Hanuman to continue to stay on earth to propagate
Bhakti Stories Living in Harmony Makes Devotion Easier We all have a bad habit of fighting with our brothers and sisters over toys. But can you imagine giving up something as vast as a kingdom, for your sibling? Thousands of years ago, the Supreme Lord descended on this Earth as Ram, the eldest son of King Dashrath. His
Bhakti Stories How Did Markandeya Triumph over Death? Mrikandu a great rishi and his wife Marudvati had no children. The rishi prayed to God Shiva. God Shiva appeared to him, and said, "I am pleased with you, Mrikandu. Tell me, 1. Do you want one hundred sons, who will live for a long time, but will all
Bhakti Stories How Throwing Stones at Shivling Won Lord Shiva’s Heart This is a story of two villagers who lived in the same village. One of them was rich and used to love God. The other man was very poor and hated God for making him so poor. Both of them used to go to the same village temple. The rich
Bhakti Stories Unimaginable Gains of Surrendering to the Guru Prince Arjuna, alongwith his 4 brothers and Kaurav cousins were learning the art and science of battlefield under the guidance of their Guru Dronacharya, the greatest professor of Archery and other acts of warfare. Looking at the sincerity and the extraordinary skills of Arjuna, Dronacharya promised Arjun to prepare him
Bhakti Stories Saints and Sinners: A Tale of Two Natures In the rich spiritual history of India, Jaidev is acknowledged as a great saint and devotee of Shri Radha Krishna. He has composed many devotional songs elaborating the highest form of divine bliss called the Madhurya bhav. Once, as Jaidev was travelling through the forests, he was held captive by
Bhakti Stories False Notions Also Yield Real Consequences A young widower, who was very much attached to his five year old son, was away on a business trip when bandits came and burned down the whole village and abducted his son. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and became very saddened and disturbed. He took the
Bhakti Stories What Matters Lies Within Sage Uddalaka ran a school (Ashram) teaching Vedic knowledge. Kahoda was one of his best disciples. Uddalaka was so pleased with him that he got his daughter Sujata married to him. In due course Sujata conceived a child and wanted to instill the Vedic knowledge in her child early in
Bhakti Stories Why a Bhakt Refused to Chant Lord's 1000th Name? Long ago, there lived a poor Brahmin. He was always engrossed in singing the glories of God and in doing so, often forgot all about eating, sleeping, and performing other household duties. People in the village used to stop by his cottage to give him something to eat, but that
Bhakti Stories Raghu’s Golden Integrity Preface: In olden times, students used to live in their Guru’s ashram to study and complete their education. At the completion of their studies, they used to make an offering to their Guru as a token of their gratitude towards him. This offering was called “Guru Dakshina”. Kautsa, the
Bhakti Stories The Power of a Childlike Heart This is the story of a 10 year old boy who lived 200 years ago in the land of Braj. His master, Nandkisor Das Goswamipad, used to run a Gurukul-Ashram in Barsana. He used to live in the ashram and tend to his master’s cows. He was a very
Bhakti Stories The Value of Giving Lies in the Sacrifice Once there was a beggar. He used to beg all day on the streets near the king’s palace. Still, he did not manage to get enough to feed his family. One day as he was sitting on the side of road to beg for alms, he heard the king’
Bhakti Stories Be Genuine - That’s Who He’s Waiting For Once upon a time, there lived a potter in a small village. He earned an honest living by making clay pots. He had two pets at home - a dog and a donkey. Every morning, the dog used to bark to wake up his master. The barking of the dog
Bhakti Stories Grace That Arrives Unannounced Bhakta Purandaradasa, the “Karnataka Sangeeta Pitaamaha” (crest of the music –world of Karnataka), lived in the 17th century. The story of how he became a devotee of the Supreme Lord (bhakta) is very unusual and inspiring. Srinivas Nayak was very opulent yet a great miser. He was a great devotee
