[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
773
Nisreya was another who was devoted to her husband. But her husband was full of disease and that sort of thing. It appears that he couldn't walk so she used to pull him about with her. That sickness happened because the three goddesses Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati, put a curse on them. They did that because the male gods said there was someone great on Earth. Narada [great Rishi, Saint-Seer-Sage] had told them about this woman.
So the goddesses put all these obstacles in their way to test if Nisreya was greater than them. They were jealous. There is jealousy even in the goddesses. In the end what happens she asked the sun to stop. And the sun had to stop. Now the sun wouldn't rise and the sun wouldn't set. Then the three gods came to them and the sun started moving again.
She had the power, by being faithful to the husband, of even stopping the sun which is only God's work. But here a devotee could do it because she was so faithful to one person.
Later on the goddesses said to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, 'You say she is great, you are the greatest beings, you three go and tempt her and make her break her vows.' They said, 'Look we are going but we can't say we are going to win.' Now the only way to do this was to go there and beg. They went to Nisreya Ma and said, 'We are sannyasins [monks, mendicants], we have come to beg.' They sat down to take food but then they said to her, 'No. We won't eat like this, you'll have to get naked then serve us.' Hearing this she went deep within herself and thought, 'Oh these three people, they aren't people. They are Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.' She was stuck with a problem because no sooner you display your body in front of another man you have broken your vows. So she took water and said, 'If my sati is true and if I am devoted to one person, if my devotion is one pointed, may you three turn into small children.'
With this they turned into small children. Because of this they couldn't recognise if there was a naked body or a clothed body. She not only served them but fed them and everything else.
So instead of her being naked they were more naked, and she recognised their nakedness while they could not recognise her nakedness. A child can't recognise nakedness [everyone agrees] but she recognised the nakedness of these people. It was now just the opposite story.
Then the three goddesses, after a long time, said, 'Wait, these people went but didn't come back.' Narada said, 'What are you talking about? They are there at Nisreya Ma's place.' 'Whose place? Nisreya you say? What happened?' Narada explained, so they went to Nisreya and pleaded with her, 'We must have our husbands. Please, we made a great mistake. Please give us our husbands.' She said, 'Oh yes, come. Here they are, one, two, three. Take your husbands.'
Oh, now they were in a plight. Each couldn't recognise their own husbands. If they touched the wrong body their vows would be broken. [laughter] The were so young the goddesses didn't know which was which. Supposing if Parvati touched Brahma or Vishnu her vows would be broken.
So they started crying and pleading with Ma and said, 'Please forgive us. We made this mistake. Bless us. You are our mother and we admit now that you are greater than us.' But none of the little gods wanted to go back. They wanted to stay with mother. So another problem starts. Then they say, 'No, you are our mother. How can we leave you? You have served us. You have brought us up. How can we go?' Then all three decided: 'All right, we will become one body but we will have three heads: Dattatreya.' So Dattatreya was created by mother - Brahma Vishnu Mahesh in one body. Then the others went with their wives. Thus her son, Dattatreya [artwork top of post], three in one, was born.
The message here is that a woman who is really devoted to her duties in thought word and deed supersedes even the gods and goddesses. Even gods become their sons, goddesses become their daughters-in-law and daughters
1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time.
2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.
For more about the Holy Trinity, and also the founding Swamis of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, please mouse over their names below:
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - read online
Reference websites - please mouse over the name and click to connect:
Ramakrishna Math and Mission Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa Ramakrishna Dham
