Sathya Upanishad - Pt. 23

Youth
Q23: Swami!  What is your advice to youth?

A: Youth should not cultivate evil looks.  Suradas, the famous blind singer devotee had great infatuation for women in his younger days.  One day he followed a woman into her house.  Her husband thrashed Suradas so severely that the latter started crying with pain.  Listening to this, the woman came out and elicited the details from her husband.  She chided Suradas and told him that God has given man, body to help others and not to roam about; He gave the feet only to trek to the temple of God; He gave the tongue only to sing His praise like the songs of Jayadeva; He gave the ears only to listen to his glory and story.  This experience made Surdas wise and repentant.  In a fit of disgust, he pricked his eyes with a thorn and rendered himself totally blind.  

After this, at one time he started on a journey to Dwaraka, the abode of Lord Krishna.  It was night and he was travelling in a forest region.  At this juncture, a young boy accosted him and advised him against his journey at night and make him rest in a nearby inn, with a promise that he would accompany him the next morning  Suradas agreed to this proposal  But he was not sure if the boy would return the next morning.  So he asked the boy to also spend that night in the inn along with him  The boy agreed and lay by the side of Suradas.  Still Surdas was sceptical, so he held the boy's hand and kept it on his chest to make sure that he would not go away!  

In this process, he felt the presence of wristlets on the boy's hands.  He further probed only to run into the decorative jewel, Kaustubha, which Lord Krisna is believed to have been wearing as a pendent in his necklace.  Further exploration of the body of the boy led blind Suradas to the peacock feathers, which Krishna wore on His head.

This made him realise the fact when he blurted out "Oh, Lord Krishna, you have come to guide me personally!"  Krishna replied,  "You have become highly repentant.  I will restore to you your eyesight."  Suradas was not willing to accept the same as he misused his eyesight earlier, but requested Him to restore the sight only for a moment to enable him to see the Lord.

(To be continued)

(From the book "Divine Directions" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)