Story of Tulsidas – తెలుగు
Twameva Maataa Sloka – Further Reading
Explanation:
When a man dies, his worldly possessions accompany him till the doorstep. His relatives accompany him only till the cremation ground. Only his Sadguru, God accompanies him beyond.
Therefore, our only true friend, relative and treasure is God. The Supreme Sovereign Purusha in whom all elements reside and who is the indweller and inner motivator of all creation can be known and experienced only by winning His grace through surrender.
Understand well His transcendence and immanence & realizing one’s deficiencies surrender the ego in order to partake His glory. The mental attitude of the seeker should be ‘Twameva Sarvam Mama Deva Deva’ – ‘Thou alone art all, O, my God of Gods.’
Story of Tulsidas
This is the story of the famous saint poet Tulsidas. He was an orphaned child. He was looked after by his maternal uncle. Whenever asked the uncle always told the child (who was called ‘Munna’ then) that his mother and father were Ramji (Lord Ram). When Munna grew a little older, he learnt that the parents of a child always lived with the child and not separately. He began to wonder then, how is it that my father and mother that is ‘Ramji’ live in the temple in pomp and splendor, surrounded by people, leaving me all alone? As Tulsidas was innocent he took his uncle’s words to be true.
One day, at night he crept through the window of the temple and reached the statue of Lord Ram. He was hungry and thirsty. So he began to cry and ask for food. Tulsidas had no doubt that Lord Ramji was really his mother & father. So he asked Ramji why he was living alone and not caring for his child. But the statue did not reply.
Tulsidas thought of taking the statue away to his home, as he sincerely believed that a child must live with his parents. As he was taking the statue away, the priests heard the noise and woke up. They asked Tulsidas to stop. But he replied that he was taking his mother & father home and the priests had no right to keep his Ramji in temple.
The priests began to chase him and Tulsidas ran as fast as he could. While running in this manner he fell down in a garden of tulsi plants and became unconscious.
The merciful Lord was moved by the child’s love & sincerity. By Lord’s grace, there came a saint Ramanand, who lifted up the child and consoled him. Since he found the boy in Tulsi garden, he named him Tulsidas. From that day, the saint Ramanand told the child that he was sent by Ramji as the father and mother of the boy.
Since then he was known as Tulsidas. The saint Ramanand not only took care of the child but also educated him and cultivated devotion in the child’s mind and heart.
Thus the Lord alone is the mother, father, Guru, friend and guide & wealth for us. If only we look to Him, then He will look to us.
[Illustrations by Smt. Uma Manikandan]
[Source: Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Guru Handbook for Group I, First Year]