Action/dramatic behavior are different from real experiences. Whether in the worldly life or in spiritual life, honesty is very important. Few people act as though they are great devotees either for good name or for selfish motives. Such people are cheating their own selves by doing so. As a result, even though they get temporary happiness and benefits, at the end they must face the punishment.
Long ago, there lived a great devotee. With God’s grace, he was blessed with education, wealth and jnana (divine knowledge). Along with all such virtues, he was also humble. Hence, all the villagers respected and honored him. He organized bhajans, satsangs, spiritual speeches and discussions at his house every day. For such events, he invited great scholars and knowledgeable persons. All those who are interested in spirituality and even ascetics attended such events (satsang). This great devotee liked Bhagavtham a lot.
Once, he invited a great scholar and requested him to conduct Bhagavatham discourses at his house for few days. He was immensely strong in attracting people with his sonorous voice and grip on words. Such was his talent! When the scholar gave speech on Bhagavatham, people flooded to his house. One day, the story of Prahlad (Prahalladopakhyanam) was going on, the devotees were extremely moved by listening to that story. All of them were immersed in devotion. Tears of happiness rolled down the eyes of few. Seeing this divine sight, the owner of the house was jumping in joy. He felt, “Aha! Today my house has become totally pious. Where ever a true devotee rolls down his tears out of happiness, it will purify the owner’s body, his house and his entire generation. Today, I have obtained such fortune. There is no superior work than serving such devotees.” These were the thoughts of the devotee (the owner). After the discourse was over, addressing the devotees gathered, he said, “Dear devotees, from tomorrow onwards, whoever will roll down tears of happiness in my house, will be provided food here itself. So, from tomorrow onwards, listen to the discourse very carefully.”
From the next day onwards, the devotee arranged grand feast to all those devotees who rolled tears of happiness in his house. He served them in all possible ways and sent them happily. This incident was big news in the entire village. A lazy person got to know about this. Desirous of consuming delicious food, he too came to the Bhagavatham discourse. He saw others around him deeply engrossed in the story and rolling down tears of happiness. But, this lazy person could not even understand the story. He could not even sit there. He was rock minded. Hence, no tears of happiness came in his eyes. But, he cannot find food for the day. Despite any efforts, not even a single drop of tears came from his eyes. Then, the lazy person got a strange idea. He immediately went into the kitchen and requested the cook to give him black pepper. He crushed them into powder and smeared it into his eyes during the discourse. Immediately, tears rolled down his eyes. Seeing him, the owner felt that he was a great devotee and believed that he was superior in spiritual pursuit. He later felicitated the lazy person (who was in the guise of devotee) and gave him a grand feast. This lazy person told all this to his friends and invited them to the devotee’s house. They started coming every day. After few days, the matter got leaked through the cook. The owner now understood their secret. The next day when the discourse was over, the owner asked them to narrate their experiences in listening to the discourse. How can they say anything? The rich devotee punished them for their wrong deeds and sent them away.
So, it is not enough to act as a devotee. We must try to become true devotees. You may not become a great devotee. That is fine. But God will be happy if you are honest in your devotion. Instead, if you want to deceive out of crooked mindedness, you will be certainly punished. So, be careful.
Jai Guru Datta!