The final lesson
June 2012
Gora, a potter, once threw a feast in honour of Namdev, the devotee of Vithala.
Saint Jnaneshwar and many other saints were invited too. At the feast, Jnaneswar threw Gora a challenge, “You are a potter, daily testing pots to see if they are properly baked. These pots before you (the saints) are the pots of Brahma. Test them too.” Gora obeyed, went to each of his guests and tapped them on the head with a stick. Each guest humbly submitted. But when Gora approached Namdev, he shouted, “You potter, how dare you try to tap me with that stick?”
Gora told Jnaneswar, “Swami, all the other pots have been properly baked except this one.” The assembly laughed. Humiliated, Namdev ran up to Lord Vitthala and complained bitterly. Vitthala replied, “You have yet to realise the truth. Go to the saint who sits in a temple in a forest. He will show you.” Namdev went, and found an unassuming old man sleeping in a corner of the temple with his feet on a Sivalingam. He went near the man and clapped his hands. The old man woke up. He said, “Oh – you are Namdev whom Vitthala has sent. Come!”
Namdev was surprised. He said “You seem to be a great personage. But is it proper for you to have your feet on a lingam?” The old man replied, “Oh, are my feet on a lingam? Please remove them.” Namdev removed the feet but wherever they were put, there was a Sivalingam. Finally, he took them up on his lap and he himself became a Sivalingam! Then Namdev realised the truth. After returning home he did not visit Lord Vitthala’s temple for a very long time. Finally, Lord Vitthala himself visited Namdev’s house, and enquired why he did not come to him anymore. Namdev replied, “I know now. Where is the place where you are not! To be with you, should I go to the temple? Do I exist apart from you?” Then Vitthala said, “So you now understand the truth. Now you too are properly baked.'
Adapted from Stories
by Ramana Maharshi.
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