The (in)visible arms
Shri Kalyanakrishnan (also known as KK in the satsang) narrates the following incident:
Our Swamiji often mentions in His lectures that whenever you perform ‘kainkarya’ for the Guru or God, the Lord always extends His arms and protects you from all kinds of problems. I have been witness to this invaluable truth, not once, but quite a few times in my life. Let me narrate a small incident from my life to illustrate this point.
It happened quite a few years ago. I was on a satsang related work to Kumbakonam. I traveled by bus from Chennai and reached Kumbakonam by noon. The moment I landed in Kumbakonam I felt very weak, and soon sensed that I had caught a high fever. By grace of God, I could get my satsang work to completion and I was to return to Chennai.
With that state of health, I was convinced that I could not take the bus back. So I decided that I will take the night train and hence headed for the railway station. I bought a ticket with the hope that I would get a sleeping berth once on the train. As soon as I entered the platform, I was in for a terrible shock. The platform was packed with people and there were already a lot of waitlisted passengers ahead of me. And to add to it, the train was delayed.
My fever and body pain did not subside a bit. I went and sat on a bench. An elderly gentleman was seated beside me. He looked at me and asked, ‘Is the Chennai train late?’
Feverishly, I replied, ‘Yes’. I did not stop there. The sickness in my body made me spell it out to him, ‘I have fallen sick and I feel terribly ill. With this unreserved ticket and the train being delayed, I am not sure how I am going to reach Chennai.’ Even today, I don’t recollect why I told this to him on my own accord.
Instantly the person replied, ‘Why don’t you cancel this unreserved ticket of yours? I’ll take you comfortably to Chennai.’
My face wore a puzzled look. I was wondering how this elderly person who was a total stranger to me until a couple of minutes ago could take me comfortably to Chennai, especially when the train was expected to be full!
The person went on, ‘I am a freedom fighter, and one of the subsidies given to us is that during travel, as a freedom fighter, I can have one additional person accompany me at no cost. And today, you will accompany me!’
The train came and soon I saw myself along with this elderly figure inside the First Class AC coach of the Chennai bound rail!
God made me experience the definition of the word ‘comfort’, by having the elderly person offer me the lower berth while he himself took the upper, and in addition, gave me a woolen shawl to wrap myself around.
The next thing I knew was the train chugging along the tracks of the Chennai city, where the elderly person alighted from the train in an earlier stop, bidding me farewell, and best wishes for my quick recovery.
Indeed, God not only helps us in every moment of our distress when at the Guru’s service, but also gives us the warmth and comfort required in those lean times.
There are instants when life is smooth, and there yet others, when it’s not so smooth. I feel that God gives us difficulties in life only to increase our faith in Him and by delivering us from it, help us realize the fact that he has been with us all through.
