LORD NARADA'S DEVOTION !!

Once Narada (messenger in the Heaven) approached Lord Vishnu and asked who his best devotee was. He expected the answer to put him as the best. But to his surprise Lord Vishnu said that Arjuna was his best devotee. Narada was not satisfied with his answer. The Lord knew what went in Narada’s mind. Narada doubted the integrity and impartiality of the Lord. So Lord showed Narada two heaps of flowers and started explaining ‘’Look at the small heap of flowers. That is yours. What you have offered me all through your life is saved there. Look at the hill of flowers there. That is Arjuna’s. Now Narada became even more suspicious. He boldly opened his mouth to say, Well, I am Triloka Sanchari (Traveller of the three worlds). I have never seen Arjuna doing Puja (flower offering) to you. How do you explain this hill of flowers? Then Lord told him, you do the puja with your hands with great pride in your mind. But Arjuna does it in his mind. Whenever and wherever he sees beautiful flowers, he dedicates them to me saying ‘Krisna arpanam astu’ (Let all this go to Krishna). Narada realised that open rituals are far inferior to great mental purity. Hariom