Ramanujacharya – Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

When the discourse was completed and Govinda waswalking away to take his bath, Sailapurna called out to him,"0 holy man, may I know for whose worship you have pickedthose flowers." On being told that they were an offering forLord Siva, he went on, "But how could flowers such as thesebe desirable for one who has earned the name Vibhuti-Bhusanaby smearing himself with the ashes of material desires,which he has burned up knowing them to be the causes ofmaterial miseries. Lord Siva dances in the crematorium,being mad for the mercy of Lord Narayana. These flowersshould properly be offered to the Supreme Lord Visnu, who isthe reservoir of all auspicious qualities and from whom allthis universe has come into being. I am surprised to find anintelligent person such as yourself gathering flowers forthe worship of Lord Siva.""Revered sir," replied Govinda, "in one sense I cansee that your words are true, for no offering to the Lordever benefits that Supreme Person, who is already thepossessor of all things. What can I do for the great LordSankara, who is so powerful that he saved the entireuniverse by drinking an ocean of poison? Yet still there issome purpose in making such offerings, for by so doing weare able to express our devotion to the Lord. It is thedevotion that the Lord appreciates, beyond the meageroffering itself.""0 Mahatma," said Sailapurna, "I am pleased by yourdevotion and humility. What you have said is true. What canwe offer except self-surrender to that Personality, who inthe form of a dwarf-brahmana took away all the possessionsof the mighty demon king? This complete surrender is thehighest form of worship, and by the strength of suchsurrender Bali Maharaja was able to captivate LordVamanadeva. Just try to understand something of thesweetness of the Lord's loving dealings with His devotees,of which you are depriving yourself by abandoning Hisworship for the sake of Lord Siva.""But why are you making a distinction between Visnuand Siva?" said Govinda. "Are they not both aspects of theone Godhead?" When Sailapurna heard this statement ofGovinda's, he realized that the young man was not onlyengaging in demigod worship, but was also influenced by thephilosophy of the impersonalists.Every morning Govinda and Sailapurna would meet bythe lake and exchange words in a similar vein. Gradually, byhearing the pure theistic philosophy from such a great saintas Sailapurna, Govinda's heart began to change and thedesire arose within him to take shelter of the lotus feet ofLord Narayana. One morning he fell down like a rod in frontof Sailapurna and begged him for initiation. So it was thatGovinda gave up his worship of Lord Siva and took to thepath of undeviating devotion to the Supreme Lord, Sri Visnu.After the initiation was performed, Sailapurnainstructed Govinda to go to Sri Rangam to reside with his50