Devotion or praying to God is a universal practice. Most if not all cultures, religions, traditions and sects have one form of praying or the other. Offering obeisances and salutations to God is one of the primordial practices known to mankind.
Many of us pray to God with various intentions and desires and some do not have much to ask for. They pray to God to glorify him and because he is the only true and divine personality worthy of worship.
If we approach God with worldly desires, our mind remains stuck in the world. Then no matter how much devotion we do, the mind does not become pure. It is like packing dirty water in a bottle, and dipping the bottle in the holy Ganga. No matter how long the bottle remains in the Ganga, the water within stays dirty, since it does not even come in contact with the water of the Ganga.
A humorous story illustrates this point nicely. There were two neighbors, Ramesh and Dinesh. As it happens sometimes between neighbors, they developed great envy for each other. When one bought a new car, the other did the same. One built a fence around his yard, and the other followed suit. One repainted the exterior of his house, and shortly afterwards, the other also did it.
After a few years of living as neighbors, their animosity increased to such an extent that they could not tolerate seeing each other. Finally, Ramesh thought of an idea to get ahead of Dinesh. He decided that he would please Lord Shiv and ask Him for a boon. The next day, early in the morning, he went to the temple of Lord Shiv. He offered his obeisance to the Shiv Ling and sat down under a tree in the courtyard of the temple. He began chanting, “Om Nama Shivaya!” with the resolve that he would not stop until Lord Shiv appeared before him and asked him what he wanted.
They say evil minds think alike. On the previous night, Dinesh too had got the same idea that he would get ahead of Ramesh by asking Lord Shiv for a boon. So early next morning, he reached the same temple. He offered his obeisance to the Shiv Ling, and sat down in the courtyard under another tree.
Sounds of “Om Nama Shivaya” came to his ears. He looked in that direction, and was shocked to see his neighbor Ramesh sitting under the other tree. He immediately guessed Ramesh’s intention, and resolved, “Let’s see who will get a boon from Lord Shiv first.” He began chanting the name of Lord Shiv. At around 7 AM, devotees began coming to the temple. They found Ramesh and Dinesh sitting and chanting the Names of God, apparently in great devotion. They thought, “These two have such concentration of mind. They must be great devotees.”
At noon, Mother Parvati said to God Shiv, “Ramesh and Dinesh are chanting Your name with such intensity. Why don’t You go and give them Your darshan?”
Shivji replied, “Parvati, they will not benefit from it. But if You say so, I will go to them.”
He first appeared before Ramesh, and said, “My son, I have come. Open your eyes.” Ramesh opened his eyes, and saw Lord Shiv before him. Shivji asked, “What do you want? just mention it and I will give it to you.”
Ramesh said, “My Lord! I will definitely ask. However before I do, I have a question. Have You given darshan to Dinesh as yet?”
“I have not,” said God Shiv. “But after this, I intend to go to him.”
Ramesh was now in a fix. If he asked for a Mercedes, Dinesh would ask for two Mercedes; if he asked for a million dollars, Dinesh would ask for two million dollars. Finally, he had an idea. He said, “O Lord! Whatever you give to Dinesh, give me twice of that.”
Shiv ji then went before Dinesh and said, “My son, I have come; open your eyes. What do you want from me?”
Dinesh offered his obeisance to God Shiv. He too asked, “O Lord, before I request for a boon, please tell me whether You have given darshan to Ramesh?”
“That I have”, replied Shiv ji.
”What did he ask?
“He said that whatever you get, he should get double.”
Dinesh was in the fix now. Having performed such severe austerities, he would still remain behind Ramesh. Finally, an idea came to him for getting ahead. He said, “Please make me blind in one eye.”
Lord Shiv granted the boon; He made Dinesh blind in one eye, and Ramesh became totally blind. The crowd of people, who had been thinking that these two were great devotees, realized that they were not devotees at all. Although they had been taking the name of God, their minds were steeped in worldly desires.
True devotion is that where the mind gets attached to God. If we just worship God in a “physical” way, but our mind is attached to the world, it will be devotion to the world and not to God. Such devotion will not cleanse the mind from the afflictions of Maya.
Hence, if we want to purify our mind, we must strictly follow the rule of not asking God for worldly things. It is such devotion that will cleanse the mind.
