27/12/2020
Not a political post
Not a religious post
Not a charity ask
Not copied
Have you ever heard of the little squirrel who helped Lord Sri Rama?
It is a story from the Ramayana. Lord Rama and his army of monkeys were preparing for war with Ravana. The Vanara sena (Army of monkeys) were building a stone bridge across the ocean. They pulled out rocks and heavy stones from the mountains, and carried them to build the bridge. Thousands of monkeys worked night and day.
One day, Rama saw a small brown squirrel. He was going up and down the seashore with little pebbles in his mouth. The little squirrel could carry only little pebbles at a time in his small mouth. He carried the pebbles from the seashore and dropped them into the ocean.
When asked what he was doing, the squirrel replied, “I’m helping Lord Rama build the bridge. I can’t carry mountains or rocks. God gave me only a little strength. I can only carry pebbles. I’ll do all I can for Him.”
The monkeys didn’t think the squirrel can help. But the squirrel would not go. The squirrel was found by Rama. He said to the monkeys, “Your strength or how much you do is not important. What matters is your love and faith. This little squirrel has love in his heart. O Vanaras, you are brave and strong, and are doing a wonderful job bringing all these huge boulders and stones from far and dropping them in the ocean. But did you notice that it is the tiny pebbles, stones and the grains of sand brought by this small squirrel and some of the other smaller creatures which are filling the small gaps left between the huge stones and making our bridge strong?”
Hearing this, the Vanaras bowed down their heads.
Rama then turned to the squirrel and said softly, “My dear squirrel, Thank you for the help you have rendered to me. Please go and continue your work happily.” Saying this, He gently stroked the back of the squirrel with His fingers, and three lines appeared where the Lord’s fingers had touched it. And when He put him down there were three white stripes on his back.
How many times have we asked God for something? When our wishes are fulfilled, we go back to the temple where we made the wish and thank Him by donating to the temple.
How many times did we turn to God for direction?
How many times did we ask Him/Her for strength?
How many times did we plead for protection for us and for our families?
During all these testing times, who were the ones who acted as the bridge between us and God?
“ARCHAKULU” or “Priests”
These employees of God are struggling, and they need us.. NOW!
The ongoing COVID pandemic has affected many professions, many lost their livelihoods. Archakatvam is one of these professions. I’m writing about this since I saw first-hand the struggles they are facing. The same can be extended to various religious priests.
Most of the temples including Bhadrachalam temple pays salaries to their employees from the income that comes in through Hundi (Devotees donation). As the temples closed, they still had to perform their daily prayers to our beloved deities. However, there were no donations, so no salaries. Even after the temples opened, there is an understandable fear among all of us to enter crowded spaces. The lack of donations led to a lot of struggle among this community. These are intellectual people who mastered Vedas. They wouldn’t ask for charity!
So How can we help them?
We are working from home
We are getting our groceries delivered home
We are getting vegetables delivered home
We are getting our food delivered home
Why not invite God to our home and in the process help the Archakatva community?
Faith and Hope are the need of the hour. Holding a Puja or a Homam or a Kalyanam or a Satsang at your home or in your colony would bring about positivity which we need in our lives in these unprecedented times. We could all use some good vibes and spiritual energy in our homes, right? If by getting it done, we are helping the God’s people, Isn’t that a noble thing to do?
I urge you all to take a step in this direction. Any help is not a small help. Bhadrasri Aaradhana Peetham can come to your place, bring the Utsava murthy of Ramula varu and perform the following ceremonies:
1. Ramayana Parayanam
2. Sudarshana Homam
3. Ramulavari Kalyanam
4. Pattabhishekam
These can be done individually or in a group of few families.
You may also consider booking few of these online to be performed at the Bhadrachalam temple. The online services include:
1. Ramulavari Kalyanam
2. Sudarshana Homam
3. Dhanvantari Homam
4. Pattabhisekam
You can reach out to me directly and I can guide you to relevant people if interested.
Bhagavad-gita 9.27:
yat karoshi yad asnasi
yaj juhoshi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurushva mad-arpanam
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform — do that as an offering to Me.
Disclaimer: We are not in any way benefiting by this. Just a squirrel from the earlier story. Thanks for reading. Please spread the word too.
![|| Jai Sree Ram ||राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे ।सहस्रनाम तत्तुल्यं रामनाम वरानने ॥Raama Raama Raame[a-I]ti Rame Raame ...](https://img5.prayers1.com/404/678/1593744894046782.jpg)
