*48. THE GIFT OF BHAKTI TO THE STORK.* *A lovely village was named as Thaamaraik Kulam – since there were lovely ponds with many blooming lotuses. The colorful and frisky fish leaped and played in the water. The stork living near the pond had satisfying meals of fish everyday.*
*Times changed from good to bad. The rains failed completely. All the water bodies dried up slowly and steadily. What happened to all the colorful frisky fish? The stork found neither water nor fish in the pond!* *Life had become impossible there.* *The stork flew back to the forest hoping to find better living conditions there. There was a pond in the forest and it never dried up. Many Jivan mukthaas lived there.The pond was called Adho Teertham.* *The pond had steps running all around it in a beautiful square shape. The place was called Sandhiyaa Mandapam. Trees surrounded this wonderful place laden with colorful and sweet smelling flowers.* *The Jivan Mukthaas bathed in the pond Adho Theertham. The fish in the pond used to play hide and seek in the matted coils of their hair when they bathed.* *The stork wondered at the good fortune of the fish which could actually come into contact with the Jivan Mukthaas. It made a harsh decision.”Even if I am starved and famished, I would never eat a fish from this pond!”* *Sat Sang wold be held every day in the Sandhyaa mandapam. The Jivan Mukthaas could go on talking about Madhuraapuri for hours together – the holiest of all holy places with the best Sthalam, Theertham and Moorthy.* *The stork was starving due to the self imposed restrictions but its ears feasted on the greatness of Madhuraapuri and Soma Sundareswarar. It forgot its pangs of hunger and its mind became calm and peaceful.* *Its intellect gathered useful knowledge. It got out of its bonds of karma. It learned what needs to be learned for liberation. Its bakthi for Siva ripened.* *48 (b). THE GIFT OF MUKTHI TO THE STORK.* *Siva Bhakti drew the stork to Madhuraapuri. It flew forgetting its hunger, thirst and weakness. It reached the holy place as quickly as was possible.* *It took a holy dip in the Pond Of Golden Lotuses. It did pradakshinam of the holy vimaanam of the Lord’s temple. It meditated of Lord Siva in its own way.* *It did neither eat nor sleep! This holy dip, the vimaana pradakshinam and meditation went on for fifteen days.* *The frisky fish tempted the stork everyday while it took the holy dip. But its intellect ruled its instinct and it refrained from eating the fish.* *Lord appeared to the stork in the same form it had meditated on Him! He asked in a kind voice,* *“What is that you desire my little bird?”* *“Lord! I want to be a part of Sivalokam. I have no other desires in this Boolokam! ”* *Lord smiled kindly and said,”Be it so!”* *“I have one more request my Lord! The holy fish in this pond should not be eaten by the wicked birds. So please bless that the pond will remain devoid of any fish in the future.”* *“Be it so!” said the Lord and gave the stork Saaroopya Mukthi.* *The stork grew three eyes and four arms! Its forehead shone with the holy viboothi. It was dressed in a tiger skin and became an exact replica of Lord Siva himself!* *A divine vimaanam came down and carried the stork turned Siva to the Sivalokam.* *KOODAL KAANDAM GETS COMPLETED WITH THIS.* <http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/worldmalayaliclub/> *வாழிய செந்தமிழ்! வாழ்க நற்றமிழர்!* *வாழிய பாரதமணித் திருநாடு!* * V A N A K K A M S U B B U * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
