The Story Of An Enlightened Crow

Before transforming into an enlightened and divine crow, Kak Bhusundi had spent numerous past lives in distress, according to the Ramacharitamanasa. In one of his previous lives, Bhusundi had developed arrogance in his disposition and had, at times, insulted Vishnu and his own spiritual guru, accumulating bad karma. By the grace of his guru – and Shiva, who cursed him with many rebirths so that Bhusundi could realise his mistakes and also gave him a boon that minimised the sorrow involved in every rebirth – Bhusundi changed his way of thinking and selected the path of devotional love over misdeed. Bhusundi had turned to spiritual practice after contemplating on his faults. He had coupled patience and perseverance with God remembrance, meditation and guidance from his mentors. It is believed that during the course of his spiritual evolution, Bhusundi had to undergo rebirth numerous times. His difficult life experiences reflect the fact that our initial experiences on the path of spirituality may not be easy. Even in scenarios where God’s grace may reduce the amount of karmic cleansing required, one may still have to face some suffering. Bhusundi’s story reveals that often, our imperfections are forgiven in spiritual practice. Though Bhusundi had been devoted to the Divine, in the beginning, his devotion had been bound with hatred for selected persons. In spite of his initial shortcomings, his chanting of Ramanama, the name of Rama, had transformed him into a divine being through bhakti yoga – he had become an enlightened crow. From our limited understanding of Kak Bhusundi’s – kak means crow – spiritual evolution, we can say that Bhusundi was forgiven by Rama. We can also say that Bhusundi reached a spiritual plane where forgiveness was not necessary. In fact, he had transcended virtues. Rama had blessed him with so much spiritual and philosophical proficiency that he not only became one of the first preachers of the Ramayana but also became the spiritual guru for Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle, and many people, too. Moreover, Bhusundi had been blessed with immortality and everlasting devotion for Rama. Bhusundi’s meeting with a spiritual guru may be seen as a combined act of grace by Rama and Shiva, who are both Divine. Bhakti may make us eligible for kripa, God’s grace. Alternatively, bhakti may, at times, be a result of grace from guru or God. Spiritual guidance gleaned from discourses by saints, comprehension of scriptures, and our learning experiences in places of worship – all have elements of divine grace embedded within them. For spiritual aspirants, Bhusundi’s remarkable story reflects the importance of realising our own mistakes in life and the beneficial effects that chanting and God remembrance can have on our disposition. Seeking Divine forgiveness, like prayer, is sattvic karma; it may nullify many of our bad karmas from the past. Moreover, repentance has the potential to connect us to the Supreme power. By the time we gain God-realisation, all malevolence and karmic negativities are expected to cease. In due course, we get transported from goodness to beyond goodness. Our remembrance of God eliminates all negative thought processes that may have created a major separation between our soul and God. This is where the karmic cycle breaks and we recognise our own divinity. Finally, we gain permanent proximity to God, fulfilling the aim of devotional spirituality

Source: Times of India, 16/09/2019