Shantavana had led a long married life. He was reasonably prosperous. He suffered from no material needs. He had a good wife who was truthful and devoted to him. They had only one woe in their lives that made all other joys tasteless and meaningless. They had not been blessed with any child. The absence of noisy children made their home as deathly as a graveyard. Their hearts wrenched whenever they saw children playing in the neighbourhood. Gyanwati was the name of the wife. She also wished to hold her own child in her arm like other women did.
Shantavana always looked mournful. He felt guilty for not being able to give his wife a child. He never blamed his wife for not bearing a child like the most other man did. Gyanwati often used to reason with her husband that it was not his fault or her fault. The matter was not in their hands. It was all work of nature or their combined fate. From the religious angle she would say humans were supposed to live in state and conditions willed by God. All the woes or the joys were meant to be accepted without question as will of God. Although she said those words for the benefit of her husband yet she found little reasoning to console herself. The barrenness was the biggest woe a woman could suffer. The life appeared empty. She was a tree that bore no fruit.
The society is cruel to childless women. The people mocked and passed on uncharitable comments. The women used to say things meant to hurt her but Gyanwati never revealed her own woes to her husband who was himself suffering from the pain of invisible wound.
One day Shantavana and Gyanwati were trying to console each other in many ways and sharing the grief. “Master, Gyanwati was saying, “You used to say yourself that we must cheerfully live in the conditions determined by the will of the God.”
“Dear, that is the wisdom,” Shantavana said slowly and added, “And in it lay the good of a human being. We know it is possible through patience and self-control. But it is easier said than done. From where can we muster so much patience and control?”
“If the patience and self-control have so much power and some one knows the secret to harness them then humans must make an honest effort to use them.”
“Dear mine, life of a person is guided very much by the nature and the circumstances. The patience and self-control can be employed only as much these two factors allow. They determine to a large extent how much patience or self-control one may use.”
“But master, you once said a man was not born with good qualities or bad. They are inculcated or cultivated by practice, motivation and effort. A person born in a demonic race can have noble qualities if he lived in the company of holymen or nobles. A person born in a noble family can became bad if he kept company of evil people and rogues. That simply means goodness or the negative qualities of a person are acquired from the company one keeps.”
“That is correct in theory, my dear! But sadness and anguish had eroded our capacity for patience and self-control. Being childless subjects us to self pity and our present life and after life appear to be very dark and hopeless.”
“True master. You can’t fight against your own destiny and gain victory. It is impossible proposition.”
“That is our pain which keeps grilling us to no end. There is no answer to our problem. What to do? Is there any way out? Where is the ray of hope to sustain us? What can we do that may provide some solace?” Shantavana lamented shaking his grey head, “The scriptures say anyone dying without siring or mothering children can’t be redeemed in after life. How can I earn redemption? Is there any deity, god, hoary, holy man, saint or sage who may suggest a solution to my problem?”
In that vein saddened Shantavana ranted and lamented hoping for some divine force to intervene out of pity for him. Suddenly there rang a familiar voice chanting, “Narayana! Narayana!!” The surprised Shantavana and Gyanwati looked around but saw nothing. They had really heard the voice. There was no mistake.
“Narayana! Narayana!!” the same voice again sounded and echoed. The sound was accompanied by strains of Veena, the instrument of Narada. The voice said, “Worrying over an issue is no solution to the problem, Shantavana. The solution demands cool thinking and patient analysis. Narayana! Narayana!!”
This time the invisible one strummed the strings of Veena at the end of his speech.
Shantavana rose up from his seat and spoke with folded hands, “Divine sage Narada!”
Narada obliged by coming into the view of the couple strumming Veena to sing his signature tune, “Narayana! Narayana!!”
Shantavana made his obeisance and touched the feet of the divine sage.
“May you live long,” the sage blessed Shantavana raising his palm in the gesture of blessing.
Gyanwati also followed the example of her man and greeted sage Narada in devotional manner. Infact, materialisation of Narada was nothing short of answer to their prayers.
Sage Narada blessed her with evergreen and blissful marital status.
For the sage Shantavana spread a mat and prayed, “Holy sir, Please take your seat. We feel honoured.”
“Alright,” Narada spoke sitting down upon the mat in comfortable position, “Son, it is always a pleasure to honour the wishes of the faithful of Lord.”
“Holy sir, it is a privilege to hear being called as the faithful of God by you. Will my faith in Almighty ever gain me any reward?”
“Shantavana, what are you trying to say? Please make yourself clear,” Narada said, “What kind of reward do you expect for keeping faith in God?”
“Holy sir, my woe is not a secret for you. It is just a normal desire of the mundane life.”
“You are talking about your not having any issue.”
“Your guess is correct, sir,” Shantavana spoke a bit anxiously. Not being able to sire a child is a big woe. A God faithful not getting blessed with a child puts a question mark on his faith and the genuineness of his devotion.”
“There you are getting a bit confused son. The devotion to Almighty and a person’s personal problem of mundane life are two different subjects. The devotion to Lord does not mean every wish of the faithful should be fulfilled, otherwise, his devotion becomes suspect or unworthy in any way,” Sage Narada explained, “And what reward a faithful shall get for his devotion is not determined by the faithful but it depends on the will of God.”
“But holy sir! I have heard that the will of God is generally complementary to the wish of the faithful.”
“It is largely true…”
“Holy sir, I am getting confused. A short while ago you told me God’s will may not coincide with the wish of the faithful. But now you admit the will of God generally reflects the wishes of the faithful. Which of the two statements should I take for the true?”
“Son, the statements are not contradictory. They only appear to be so because you are having troubled mind dogged with confusions.”
“Holy sir, please drive away my confusion. Let me understand things clearly.”
“Look son, a faithful exercises devotion to Lord as best as he can. In that kind of pure devotion devotee does not seek anything for himself but only the love of God. Even if there is some wish but it is not for oneself but for the common good of all. Such devotion succeeds and fructifies,” Sage Narada explained “On the contrary when a faithful shows devotion to Lord overtly but covertly his mind is overtaken by some personal desire he wishes fulfilled then how would you rate such devotion as genuine? It is driven by selfish motives and not by true love for Almighty. If one wants to be devoted to Lord the object should only be gaining the love and grace of Almighty. No element of selfishness must defile it. Once the grace of God is gained all the woes, problems and pains of a faithful automatically get banished without asking for it. That leads to ultimate gain of Nirvana or Moksha.”
Shantavana and Gyanwati listened to the words of spiritual wisdom spoken by Sage Narada very keenly and attentively.
Continued the sage, “The will of God always works towards higher and nobler objectives that mostly go in the direction opposite to the mundane needs or desires. The mundane conditions are largely shaped by karma, the deeds of previous lives. Your state of being childless is the result of your karma. So the will of God won’t undo something you have already done. Here you can’t blame your devotion to Almighty or the grace of Almighty.”
Shantavana fell at the feet of Narada saying, “O holy sage! You have driven away my confusions. I can see things in correct perspective and religious light. My personal grief had clouded my wisdom and made me narrow minded.”
So far Gyanwati had been listening to the words exchanged by Sage Narada and her husband without intervening. She had no need to intervene because Shantavana had been speaking for both of them both. The explanations of Narada had opened her inner eye as well. Like Shantavana she too was feeling enlightened. The woe of her life now appeared only as a minor factor of the world.
Gyanwati also bent down and put her forehead to the feet of the divine sage.
Sage Narada blessed them and spoke the words least expected, “May you beget a son.”
Shantavana and Gyanwati raised their heads in great surprise and stared at the smiling face of the sage. The sage could not indulge in joking.
“Why do you two look so surprised?”
“Holy sir, till now all the soothsayers and the astrologers told us that in the matter of children we shall have no luck. We are not fated to have any child. Since you have blessed us to beget a son we shall have a child because your words can’t go wrong. You won’t say such a clear prophecy without consideration of all factors. So were all those astrologers and pundits speaking falsehoods! That is what astonishes us.”
“They were not telling any falsehoods, my children. They were making correct predictions according to your fate lines and birth signs.”
“So….holy sir, how can you bless us to beget a son?” Gyanwati asked anxiously, “Will your blessing not fructify?”
“It will fructify…,” Narada promised adding, “But you will have to make extra effort going out of way.”
“Extra effort…out of way…? What are you suggesting, holy sir?” Gyanwati asked really baffled. Narada explained seriously, “Child, when a person is born he is fated to the usual share of the mundane joys and sorrows. Those joys he begets with a little effort only. But if one is not fated to something one has to make extra efforts going out of the normal way to beget it if possible or pay a price in the form of some sacrifice. If one employs one’s entire attention and energies in gaining some objective, however impossible, one may succeed.”
“Holy sir, kindly reveal to us those extra efforts we must make to have your blessing fructify?”
“Child, you and your husband must go to forest to make penance to propitiate the creator, Brahma,” Sage Narada revealed.
Shantavana spoke happily, “Brahma is our family deity. Worshipping him had been our tradition.”
“It is a pleasure to pray to Lord Brahma. It gives one mental peace,” Gyanwati spoke, “Holy sir, the penance you advise us to make to win the grace of Creator, has it some time limit?”
“Yes, there is a limit. When an objective has to be gained there definitely is time limit and the required level of labour to be employed.”
“Please explain to us the time limit and the endeavour we must make. If there are any precautions or conditions kindly reveal them for our benefit.”
“You will make penacne for twelve years on a stretch. The best efficacious place for this exercise is Naimish forest. There are no particular precautions and conditions for it. Make penance in true devotional spirit and concentration.”
Shantavana and Gyanwati again fell at the feet of the sage in gratitude, “Holy sir, from the core of our hearts we thank you for guiding us out of our hopeless situation. We shall ever be grateful to you.”
Narada blessed them to be successful in their endeavour. Then, he departed strumming his Veena and singing “Narayana! Narayana!!”
