Narada’s Test
Swami says that people ask how can they find time for namasmarana (repeating the name) when they have to work day and night to earn enough to feed and clothe themselves. But do not forget that the Lord will grant you these material things, and even immortality, if only you place full reliance on Him. Whatever you do, have the name Rama, Krishna, Siva, or Hari on your tongue. No extra time or energy is needed for that. When you rise in the morning, rise with the name on your tongue; slide into sleep with the name on your tongue.
Once Vishnu chided Narada, saying that a farmer had greater devotion than he did. The sage felt annoyed and wanted to verify it for himself. He went to the village and when he found the farmer, he observed his life for several days. The man repeated the name of the Lord only three times a day—once when he woke up, the second time when he sat down to eat his only meal of the day, at noon, and a third time when he laid down to sleep. Narada felt he had been badly insulted by being pronounced inferior in devotion to this casual reciter of names. He returned to Vishnu and presented his report, hoping that Vishnu would correct His estimate of the farmer’s devotion.
The Lord asked Narada to undergo a test which at first appeared to be a mere whim. He asked Narada to walk around His residence with five pots balanced on his head, one stacked upon another. Narada complied. He walked warily, slowly, with his entire attention fixed on the pots resting uneasily upon his head. He managed to arrive at the sacred presence with all the pots intact. He was surprised when Vishnu said to him, “Tell me. How many times did you remember My name while walking round?” Narada had to confess that he had completely forgotten to pronounce the name at all. Then Vishnu declared, “Now do you understand that the farmer, who is carrying five pots of fortune and misfortune, right and wrong, and attention concentrated on nature and her vagaries, is superior because he recites the name at least three times a day?”
Consider cultivation for the spirit
You clear the field of thorny plants and bushes, you plough and water it, you sow select seeds, you pluck out the weeds, you fence it to keep out cattle, you spray the crops with insecticides. At last you reap the harvest, which was the point of the struggle. You must be busy with another type of cultivation too—that of the spirit. Consider the condition of the field of your heart. It is overgrown with the thorns and bush of lust, anger, greed, and envy. Remove them, root and all. Do not allow the land to lie fallow. By continuous good works, plough the field and fill the field with the water of prema (love). Select the nama (divine name)—seed that appeals to you—and sow it on the field. Discipline is the fence that will guard the growing crop against cattle; virtue is the pesticide. Fostering the field with great care, you can bring home the precious harvest of ananda (bliss), in due course—provided you do not hurry or get desperate.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. V
