India is the land of mysticism. It’s the land of spiritual beliefs. Karmas or the cause and effect theory is the main way of life. Most individuals try to follow a path of doing the right deeds to attain happiness in present and future lives. They try to sow the seeds of right karmas to attain happy prosperous future life. Union with God is their ultimate salvation. And what better way to please the divine than worshiping him in an Idol in the most sacred temple sanctorum, where every soul goes with bowed head joined hands and humble thoughts asking for blessings in all the walks of life. Some ask for better jobs, some want to be blessed with a good life partner some asking for children and so on and so forth. No matter what they ask for, their hearts are humble for that moment that they are in front of the divine. This is the very reason to fill that place with a pure and divine aura. You walk into that place and your mind settles into a peaceful bliss and total surrender to the divine.
The temple priest who spends a major part of his life in the temple premises is likely to be more pious in most cases. He spends most of his time chanting mantras in praise of the temple deity. His job is to Bath the idol with milk, honey, yogurt and water. Clean the surrounding in the sanctorum and decorate the idol with the best jewels, flowers, and silks. Then offer him the best of delicacies prepared by the culinary experts, even though it is only symbolic, and then distribute it among the devotees. In all these duties he visualizes the divine lord in that idol. His personal needs are very limited. He lives in his inner peace and sanctity.
My mother met one such priest in a small ancient temple in Bangalore. He had a strange story to tell about himself. He had an eight year old daughter. She was very pretty. She was dearer to him than his own life. His life revolved around her and he lived for her. A drop of tear in her eyes would wrench his heart out. He would die a hundred deaths at a smallest pain she ever suffered. This heart throb of his would be traumatized by a strange nightmare every night. She would get up in cold sweat screaming every night, “Daddy don’t kill me.” This was the cause of his misery. He lived in agony. If only he had the powers to heal her of her nightmares.
My mother asked him why he had to suffer like this; after all he was such a pious man. He had no attachments to the material world. To this query he told her, “It seems in his last life he was a pious priest, he had dedicated his whole life to the devotion of god. He was very sure now he was ready to attain salvation from this cycle of birth and death. His only wish was to attain nirvana. Then he met a villainous man who claimed he could get him nirvana. All he had to do was sacrifice a young virgin girl at the alter of goddess Kali. He was so desperate to attain salvation that he caught an eight year old virgin girl and sacrificed her. When he was about to kill her she was screaming “Father don’t kill me.” After this incident he was torn with guilt for the rest of his life. Eventually he died. In a few years he was born again as a son of a temple priest. When he grew up he succeeded his father as the same temple priest after his father’s death. He married a beautiful wife. The couple had a beautiful daughter. She completed their life; they were in seventh heaven admiring their daughter. She brought joy to their lives. She gave them a reason to live in bliss. Very soon the child turned eight years and she started having these nightmares. The temple priest’s clairvoyant vision could see the effect of his past life deed. He knew this was the only way he could repent. Remorse was not enough. Life had come a full circle. The pain he had inflicted on that child he had to suffer in this life by watching his beloved daughter suffer. Now he wished he could turn the clock back and go back to his past life, ignore the jealous villain who misled him. He wished he could ignore him and undo the criminal deed. Alas time and tide wait for no one. Every deed once done cannot be undone. Everyone has to face the consequences of their deeds. This is karma. Life had come a full circle.
