“Do you want to read any book?” I asked the young boy who had come to collect a blood sample. His work was routine, yet his eyes were not. They wandered across my drawing room, pausing not on the furniture or décor, but on the bookshelf.
He looked at the books the way a thirsty traveler looks at a well.
He nodded hesitantly.
I walked toward the shelf and began pulling out volumes one by one — Agni Puran, Srimad Devi Bhagavat Puran, Skanda Puran, Garud Puran, Narad Puran, Padma Puran. I showed him several editions of Kalyan, and books written by revered saints and spiritual thinkers. He handled them carefully, almost reverentially, flipping through pages dense with Sanskrit verses and elaborate commentaries.
The more he turned the pages, the more a subtle confusion appeared on his face. The sea of wisdom was vast, and he did not know where to begin.
Sensing this, I gently took out a copy of Shiv Puran — one with a clear Hindi translation alongside the original Sanskrit verses.
“Take this one,” I suggested. “Shravan month is approaching. Reading about Lord Shiva during Shravan is considered especially auspicious. It is said that devotion during this month bears manifold fruits.”
His face brightened. He held the two volumes of book close to his chest as though it were not paper and ink, but something alive.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
Months passed.
Nearly six months later, I happened to see him standing near the main gate of the building. Recognizing him, I walked up with a smile.
“Did you find time to read the book?” I asked casually.
He smiled — a deeper, more confident smile than before.
“I did not take it for myself,” he replied. “I took it for my mother. She lives in our village. She is an Anganwadi worker. She loves listening to stories of Bhagwan Shiva, but she never had a proper book to read.”
For a moment, I was speechless.
In that instant, the image of the confused boy flipping through heavy scriptures dissolved. In its place stood a devoted son.
He had not chosen the book for intellectual curiosity.
He had chosen it out of love.
As Swami Vivekananda once said, “It is love and love alone that I preach.”
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam wrote,
“If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun.”
I imagined his mother, after a long day of tending to village children, sitting under the dim yellow light of a bulb, reading the Shiv Puran, perhaps moving her lips softly over the sacred verses. Perhaps she read it not just as scripture, but as a gift sent with love from her son.
In the Shiv Puran, Lord Shiva is often described as Bholenath — the innocent, easily pleased one. It is said that He looks not at grandeur, but at bhava — the purity of intention.
What greater offering could there be than a son’s thoughtfulness?
That day, I realized something profound:
The book had reached the right reader.
The blessing had reached the right heart.
And perhaps, somewhere beyond our sight, Lord Shiva smiled.
Pic : Pixabay
No comments:
Post a Comment