People have the misconception that God can be worshipped only by becoming a renunciate, but this is not so. Even great emperors have been great saints. You just accept the lord as your master with your mind, words and deeds. There is no one else who loves you like Him.
Life Story of King Askaran
Askaran was the grandson of King Prithviraj and son of King Bhim Singh. His Worshippable deity was Shri Radhamohan Ji. He used to serve his Thakur Ji all the time.
na kāma-karma-bījānāṁ
yasya cetasi sambhavaḥ
vāsudevaika-nilayaḥ
sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ
One who has taken exclusive shelter of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva, becomes free from fruitive activities, which are based on material lust. Thus he is considered bhāgavatottama, a pure devotee of the Lord on the highest platform.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.50
Sri Radhamohan Ji was Askaran’s worshipable deity, and he was always immersed in his service. Askaran ordered a watchman outside the worship room to ensure that no one should disturb his service. He had a rule of serving his Deity for four hours daily.
The Arrival Of The King Of Delhi And The Dispute
The King of Delhi came to Askaran’s kingdom for some reason and said he should be introduced to Askaran immediately. Askaran’s servants informed him that this was not possible. At that time, Askaran was serving his Thakur and ordered that no one should disturb his service for four hours. The king repeatedly ordered to inform Askaran, but none of the servants obeyed the king’s orders. The king was very upset by this. He immediately ordered his commander to punish them all and bring Askaran in front of the king as a prisoner. He was told that no one would inform Askaran for four hours. There was great panic in the whole city.
Askaran neither hunted nor punished anyone. He only served the lord and chanted His holy name. The whole city had all the facilities. The deity of the lord was present in everyone’s house, and the lord’s holy name was chanted in everyone’s house. Whoever needed anything could take it from the royal court. Now, there was a commotion due to the king’s order.
The king said, “My order is that Askaran should be presented before me. Otherwise, we will create havoc with the whole army and destroy the city of Narwargarh.” The chief commander, with folded hands, told the king, “Please understand that we are your servants; how can we fight with you? You are the king, but I request you to go alone and see that Askaran is busy in service. We cannot inform him, but we cannot stop you either. You please go and talk to him.”
Test Of Askaran’s Devotion
The king felt it was true because this kingdom is friendly to us; they aren’t an enemy. The king went inside and saw that Askaran’s services had been done. Askaran was doing the prostration to the lord after finishing all the services.
When Askaran saw that someone had come, he neither raised his eyes, nor spoke, nor stopped. He continued prostrating. The king kept standing and watching. He saw that Askaran was neither looking at him nor speaking.
One becomes very proud of his position. The king took out his sword from the sheath, and as soon as Askaran prostrated himself, the king cut his heel by hitting it on his foot. But Askaran neither stopped prostrating nor looked back at the king. Blood started flowing from his foot. He did not even sigh or stop. He stood up and started prostrating again. Askaran was soaked in blood but was not showing any signs of pain on his face. The king lost his patience and thought, “This has become an offence. He is not doing any drama; he is a great devotee.” One who is proud of his position does not know what devotion or the position of devotees is.
Askaran’s Patience And The King’s Repentance
Askaran completed his prostration, prayed to his deity, and finished his worship routine. By then, blood was flowing from his feet. He turned back and looked at the king but did not get angry. The king saw that his offence did not affect Askaran. Seeing Askaran’s patience and devotion towards his deity, the king was pleased. He was happy and said, “Today, my eyes have been blessed to see such a devoted devotee. Neither are you angry or in pain nor is any fatigue visible. I want to talk to you. From where did you get this strength that even after your heel being cut and blood oozing out of your feet, you did not give up your service?”
Tears came to his eyes when the king sat down and talked about devotion with Askaran. This is the effect of the company of a saint. The king took out his precious handkerchief, kneeling, immediately bandaged Askaran’s feet with his hands and said, “Today, I am overjoyed to see your devotion. I am blessed to see the devotion of a devotee like you.”
The king was very happy and asked Askaran, “How can I make you happy?” He replied, “My service is my devotion. You give orders whenever you want, so please free me from your orders.” The king said, “After today, we will not have any rule over you. You can come whenever you want, voluntarily. Even if you do not come, we have no right over your kingdom.”
The Miracle Of God’s Charanamrit
Once, Askaran had a high fever. It was not possible to serve the lord in such pain. His service used to start in the morning. He started worrying about how he would serve the lord tomorrow. In that state of restlessness, God ordered one of Askaran’s servants, “Give Charanamrit (holy water) to Askaran; he will get well.” That servant went to Askaran in the night and said, “Dear King, the lord has ordered that you should drink Charanamrit.” As soon as he drank Charanamrit, the disease in his body vanished, and he went to the service in the morning after recovering.
Attack Of The Opponent King And God’s Grace
Once, an opponent king attacked Askaran’s kingdom. When Askaran learned this, he prayed to the lord, “I will not fight. You are present in everyone; now we will not fight. So either remove me from the throne or take me somewhere secluded, where I can cry and suffer for you. But I will not be able to lift this sword now.”
Then he felt from within that “You are the king; it is your duty to protect the people.” He aligned the entire army and told everyone, “Take the cymbals and chant the lord’s name”. He joined them and started chanting the name of the lord. They all went to war while chanting the name of the lord. Suddenly, the sky was filled with clouds, and big hailstones started falling on the enemy side. On the other hand, on Askaran’s side, it just rained lightly. Due to such big hailstones, the enemies ran away, and there was no need for weapons.
When the enemy side ran away, the opposing king fell at the feet of Askaran and said, “Forgive me. I did not know that you are such a great devotee of the lord”. This is the power of devotion. If we serve the Lord, chant the Lord’s name, and sing his pastimes, no one has the power to defeat us.
Guidance By: Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj
