FEBRUARY 2010 - Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publication Trust

Chinna KathaThree Steps to DivinityONCE THERE LIVED A COWHERDin a village. Though he was illiterate,he was a great devotee of God.He took the cattle out for grazing early in themorning and brought them back in the evening.At night, he used to attend a devotionalcongregation where a Pauranik (expounderof mythological texts) of the village used tonarrate mythological stories and teach the pathThe cowherd listened to the description of LordVishnu with great devotion so that the form of theLord got imprinted on his heart.of devotion to the villagers. One day, whilegiving the description of Lord Vishnu, he toldthe listeners that Vishnu is dark-complexioned,he rides on white Garuda (eagle), bears awhite sacred mark on his forehead, acceptsNaivedyam (food offerings) of his devotees,fulfi ls their desires and grants Darshan to thosewho have fi rm faith. The cowherd listened toall this with great devotion so that the form ofLord Vishnu as described by the learned mangot imprinted on his heart. He also heard fromthe learned man that Lord Vishnu listens to theprayers of his devotees and can be pleased bysinging his glories. After hearing all this, theredeveloped a deep yearning in the cowherd,and he made a fi rm determination to have thedirect vision of the Lord, come what may.The cowherd used to carry with him everydayhis lunch in a cloth packet from his house whenhe went out for grazing the cattle. Since theday he made the fi rm resolve to have Lord’sDarshan, the cowherd offered buttermilk riceto Lord Narayana as Naivedyam, and startedsinging this prayer daily:“Oh dark-complexioned Lord!Come riding on white Garuda,And drink this buttermilk.”Leaving the cattle for grazing in a fi eld, heused to sit in the shade of a tree and sing thissong. He used to become so engrossed in hissinging that he even forgot to eat his own foodwhich he brought from his house. After somedays, he decided that he would not eat thefood which God did not accept and returnedtotally hungry without any food or drink.Ten-eleven days passed like this, with theresult that the cowherd became very thin andweak. But he did not stop contemplating on theLord. He felt miserable, thinking that perhapshis song was not good enough to please theLord or his way of singing was not up to themark. He shook with exhaustion while takingthe cattle out to the forest for grazing. In spiteof suffering from pangs of hunger, he didnot want to eat anything till the Lord ate the60 February 2010