(4/6) Keep Your Ears Open

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
13 March 2020, evening, Sri Nrisingha Palli
Part 4

Chitraketu was a king who had queens, kingom, everything, money, property, wealth, everything, but there was one thing that he did not have – he did not have a son. He always thought, 'I want a son', 'I want a son', 'I want a son'. One day, Angira Rishi came to Chitraketu's kingdom. He asked Chitraketu:

'How are you, King?' Angira Rishi asked. 'How is your kingdom running? How is everything at your kingdom?'

'Everything is fine,' answered Chitraketu. 'Only I am worried because I need a son...'

Angira Rishi understood, 'If I tell anything good to him, it will not enter his ears because he is always thinking about how he can get a son.' The teachings of Rupa-Raghunath cannot enter the ears of those who have material desires. So, Angira Rishi told King Chitraketu:

'All right, you will get a son, Krishna will give you a son, but through this son, both happiness and sadness will come to your life.'

Remember what I am telling you. Remember it and take it into your heart.

When Angira Rishi said that he would get a son, Chitraketu became excited, 'Oh, I will get a son! I am so happy!' He forgot that Angira Rishi had said that he would get sadness also. He did not hear it. He only thought, 'I will get a son, and he will be the next king! What problem can I have? I am very happy!'

Then, Chitraketu got a son from the first of his queens. Feeling very happy, he arranged a big festival on this occasion, and he always looked after his first queen. Everything had been going well for some time, and his son grew up. But what happened then? King Chitraketu had many other queens. Those queens eventually thought, 'Oh, our husband is only taking care of his first wife. He loves only her! He does not love us, he is not taking care of us. It is all because his first wife has got a son.' One day, all the queens (except the first wife) convened a meeting where they decided, 'The king is not taking care of us only because the first wife has given him a son. We must kill this boy!' They gave the responsibility of killing the boy to the youngest queen.

When the nurse who was looking after King Chitraketu's son step away for a minute, the youngest queen gave poison to the boy, and the boy died. When the maid servant came back and saw the dead boy, she began to cry, 'Oh no, the prince has died!' The boy's mother (the first queen) ran to the boy and began to cry too. All the other queens heard the noise and came there. They began to pretend to be crying even more than the mother of the boy. They lamented, 'Oh, how did this happened? How could he have died?!"

At this time, Angira Rishi could see everything with the help of his spiritual perfections. He went himself to the palace of King Chitraketu and also sent Narad Goswami there.

'How are you doing now, King?' Angira Rishi asked Chitraketu. Angira Rishi has told him that he would get both happiness and sadness from his son, but he forgot all about sadness. So, now King Chitraketu replied:

'I was very happy when I got a son, but now I am feeling even more pain than when I had no son! I had no son, and I did not have any problem, but now that I have got a son and the son has died, I feel very sad.'

Then, Narad Goswami entered the dead body of the boy and spoke through it, 'Where was I and what have I come? How did I come here?'

'You are my son!' cried Chitraketu.

'You are my son!' cried his mother.

'Since when am I your son?' asked the boy. Then, Narad Goswami spoke some advice, and Chitraketu understood everything and became a great sadhu. He mounted his flower chariot and began preaching all over India. One day, he came to Kailash to meet with Sivji Maharaj.

Sivji Maharaj was sitting at an assembly of rishis. Sivji Maharaj had no clothes on, and Parvati Devi was sitting on his lap. Seeing this, Chitraketu thought, 'I am his friend, I should give him some good advice because although Sivji Maharaj is perfect, others can see him seated like that and make an offence by thinking something wrong.' So, Chitraketu told Sivji Maharaj, 'Maharaj, you are sitting here with the rishis, it is not a problem. I also love you, you know me very well. But it is better if you do not keep Parvati, your wife, on your lap like this.' Sivji Maharaj did not mind him saying this, but who became angry? Parvati. She said, 'I am cursing you to go to hell!' Chitraketu did not mind it. For a devotees, jail, heaven, hell, liberation, Goloka Vrindavan are the same. Seeing that Chitraketu showed no reaction and left peacefully for hell, Parvati asked Sivji Maharaj, 'Who was that? I cursed him, but he did not think anything.' Sivji Maharaj explained to her that Chitraketu was a great saint.

Gurudev always said that it does not matter where you are, in India or outside India. It is not a question. No matter where you are, you must always stay with sadhus, devotees and maintain your spiritual life anyhow. The most important thing is that you must maintain your spiritual life.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Practise Daily
2) Our Necessity
3) Seal Your Life
4) Keep Your Ears Open
5) Live for the Lord
6) Move Forward