Hari Om Parents,
Did you all witness the 5th graders play last week? You all enjoyed it? Please comment. This day we enjoyed the story of King Ambarisha, a great great devotee of Sriman Narayana and King Rantideva, a very very good and noble king.
Who is a true devotee?
D - Dear to God and God is dear to whom
E - Ever ready to serve the world
V - Virtuous
O - Obedient
T - Tolerant
E - Enthusiastic
E - Efficient
Everyone love this explanation? The exact form of all these qualities is KING AMBARISHA. He would be constantly thinking of the Lord and not even for a moment forget Him. All his activities and actions would be dedicated and done only with the Lord in his mind. Wherever he went he saw only the Lord. Even in the tiniest of things he saw the Lord. Such a great devotee. Sri Vishnu, pleased with his devotion had given Ambarisha His Sudarshana Chakra for his protection.
Once King Ambarisha and his wife undertook a special fast called the Dvadasi Vrata. He practiced several disciplines for a whole year. Towards the end he fasted for three full days, and on the fourth day, he was to break the fast. At that time, Sage Durvasa came in and the king invited him to be the guest. The sage accepted his invitation and said he will come after taking bath. But the sage did not return for a long time, and Ambarisha grew anxious because the fast must be completed before the ordained time. If he had partaken the meal, then it would be an insult to the sage. So he just took a sip of water to break the fast and also not to offend the sage. But when Durvasa came to know of this, he was full of rage and thought that the king was arrogant. So he took a tuft of hair from his head and it turned into a demon and it rushed towards Ambarisha to kill him. But Ambarisha remained calm with his mind fixed on the lotus feet of the Lord. The demon was not able to do any harm to him.
The Sudarshana Chakra at once sprang on to attack Durvasa. Durvasa ran everywhere for protection but none of them dared to save him. At last he sought refuge in Sri Vishnu himself. But the Lord also denied him and told him that He was a slave to his devotees and Ambarisha was a true devotee and those who sought to hurt the Lord's devotee will not be saved by the Lord. He advised Durvasa to go and fall at the feet of Ambarisha himself and beg his pardon. So Durvasa immediately ran to Ambarisha and begged his pardon. Ambarisha was very kind hearted and after he had forgiven the sage the chakra cooled down and disappeared.
Soon after, Ambarisha made his eldest son the king and retired to the forest to meditate on the Lord.
Next we will see about King Rantideva. King Rantideva was a very generous and kind hearted king. He found immense pleasure in sharing his wealth with the poor and the needy. He would serve his subjects with the thought that he was serving the Lord and that thought gave him immense happiness. There were abundant riches and wealth and his kingdom flourished. The years passed like this.
Suddenly there was famine and drought in the country. Rantideva prayed sincerely to the Lord to give him the strength to pacify the needs of his subjects. But the situation grew worse and worse that the king and his own family were not having enough food to eat. Even if he had food for himself to eat, he would feed it to the hungry people. But even in such situations Rantideva remained happy that he had fed his people. He thought he was rendering service to the Lord. At last he received a bowl of porridge to eat just enough for his family. But at that time a hungry man came to his doorstep and Rantideva graciously offered him the porridge. There was only a little drink left. Just then a candala came thirsty for water. Rantideva offered him the last sip of water too he had to the candala.
All of a sudden Maya appeared before Rantideva and offered him a boon. She blessed him with abundant riches and wealth that would last a lifetime. But Rantideva said he did not want the riches and that his mind was fixed in the lotus feet of the Lord and wanted to meditate on him. Pleased with his devotion, the Lord appeared before him and granted him moksha. Before long, Rantideva became a great yogi and in due course attained the lotus feet of the Lord.
I hope children you enjoyed the stories of our great kings Ambarisha and Rantideva. Let us also try to be like them and attain the Lord.
Maneesha Bhatt
Malathy Balasubramanian
3rd grade teachers.
