Poison becomes Nectar
Poison becomes Nectar
The name of God can convert even poison into nectar.
Meera used to contemplate constantly on the name of Krishna. After seeing the state of Meera and her manner of living, Maharana, the king and her husband, tried out all possible means to get her rid of her madness for Krishna. She had no differences of any sort. She used to go anywhere singing the name of Krishna, even among the kings, among the saints on the streets or even among the common people.
Maharana saw all this. He thought, ‘I am a king. My wife is going among common people, saints, and kings of other kingdoms without any hesitation like a beggar playing a Tambura (musical string instrument) singing the name of Krishna.’ He felt embarrassed. Meera told him many times, “It is not an insult to sing the name of the Lord. It is an honour to sing His glory. It is an insult if you do not sing the name of God. If you pay attention to the reaction of others you will lose your awareness of the Self. You should chant the name of God with love, interest, and courage taking it as your duty and your interest.” Thus, Meera remained steadfast on her path and did not change her stance.
Maharana tried to explain to her in many ways. He told her, “Meera, if you go on singing Bhajans like this, the world will look at you like a mad woman. The people around you will start gossiping.” Then Meera replied, “Maharana, because the crows caw, the cuckoo does not stop singing. People around us are like crows. Singing the name of God is like the song of a cuckoo. Just because the dogs bark at the stars they won’t fall down to the earth. Why should one, who has the name of God on his lips, surrender to someone who indulges in a lowly activity?” Maharana got furious as Meera argued with him.
The king was Rajasic in nature. A devotee is Satva personified. There cannot be alignment and harmony between these two natures. Water and fire cannot be together. Meera’s nature was as sweet as nectarine dates, whereas Maharana had the nature of a tamarind. Once you taste dates you don’t feel like tasting tamarind. In the same way, the person who likes the taste of tamarind does not like the taste of dates. One who has indigestion does not feel hungry. One who has a very good appetite does not know anything of indigestion. One who does not like God is like the one suffering from indigestion. One who likes God and takes any amount of pain for Him is like the one whose hunger is never satiated. There cannot be any compatibility between the two. Meera and Maharana were like that.
Maharana realised that it was not possible to change Meera’s behaviour and that he would continue to suffer insults as long as Meera was alive. So the king decided to end Meera’s life. He asked his associates to give poisoned milk to Meera. The poison was so severe that even a drop could kill a person. Such a poison was mixed with the milk and sent through a servant to Meera. Meera used to offer the food to God before she partook of it. Unaware of the poison in it, Meera offered the milk given to her to Krishna and drank it. When the poisonous milk was offered to Krishna the idol became blue and the white milk, free of poison, became the share of Meera. At that moment Maharana came inside and shouted, “You can’t stay here anymore. I am the king and you are defaming me. I got this palace built. You can’t stay in the palace built by me.” But Meera was sad and was thinking about the change that had happened to the idol of Krishna.
She gained courage and told Maharana, “It is true that you got this palace built and you got this idol installed here. But the temple inside my heart for Krishna is not built by you. It is built by my Krishna. He is inside me. No one has the right to tell the Krishna in my heart not to be with me.” She said, “Oh mind! Why do you have so much attachment? You suffer grief and sorrow only because of that attachment.”
She then started singing a song telling the mind to go to Prayag, the place where the rivers Ganga and Yamuna meet (Chalo Re Man Ganga Yamuna Teer). She did not mean the geographical location. She meant the place where the two rivers merge in her, between the two eyebrows. The nerve ‘Ida’ is Ganga and the nerve ‘Pingala’ is Yamuna. The nerve between these two is ‘Sushumna’, which is Prayag. She fixed her mind on the place between the two eyebrows. Her mind remained steadfast at that place and that very moment she merged in Krishna. Meera gained such a pure position only because of ardent faith and chanting of God’s name.
[Illustrations by B.G.Sai Pratheem, Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Student.]
[Source: Chant the Name of the Lord Discourse 17, My Dear Students – Volume 4; “Consume only Satvic Food”, Discourse 02, My Dear Students, Volume 02]