When the Lord Chose Love Over Perfect Pronunciation
“The Lord listens first to the heart.
The tongue merely follows.”
Yesterday…
little Kแนแนฃแนa finally came home.
Not upon Garuแธa…
but across the skies in an aeroplane.
When I gently placed Him beside my little ฤแนแธฤแธท…
my heart overflowed.
I realised that I had not brought Kแนแนฃแนa home.
He had lovingly arranged His own journey.
As I continued walking upon the radiant Archirฤdi Mฤrga today…
another memory quietly emerged.
This one did not begin inside a temple sanctum.
It began during the simple, daily chanting of ลrฤซ Viแนฃแนu Sahasranฤmam.
For years…
a small group of us gathered regularly to chant the thousand Names of the Lord.
Some devotees recited confidently from memory.
Others carefully followed the book.
Some pronounced every syllable perfectly.
Others stumbled gently over unfamiliar Sanskrit.
Yet all of us came for one reason alone.
To offer our hearts at His Lotus Feet.
Among us was one elderly devotee.
His pronunciation was not always flawless.
But his enthusiasm never diminished.
He would chant with such joy that his voice naturally rose above the others.
No one minded.
His devotion itself inspired everyone.
One morning…
another respected elderly devotee visited.
After the chanting concluded, he lovinglyโbut firmlyโcorrected the enthusiastic devotee.
“You are pronouncing several Names incorrectly.
Please learn them properly before chanting aloud.”
Silence filled the hall.
The devotee who had been chanting so joyfully lowered his head.
His smile disappeared.
One could almost feel his heart becoming smaller.
At that moment…
our revered temple priest quietly turned toward me.
“Varadan…”
he said softly,
“What do you think?”
For a few moments…
I remained silent.
Then, folding my hands toward the elder who had spoken, I replied with respect.
“Swami…
correct pronunciation is indeed precious.
The Names of the Lord deserve our utmost care.
We should always strive to learn them correctly.
But…
our Lord is SarvajรฑaโHe knows everything.
He is Sarvaลaktaโnothing is impossible for Him.
Surely He also knows the difference between carelessness…
and sincere love.”
I looked toward the devotee who stood quietly with lowered eyes.
“This Swami has come here day after day…
without fail…
simply to chant the Lord’s Names.
Can Bhagavฤn not see that devotion?
If we make sincere beginners afraid…
perhaps one voice becomes silent today…
but many more hearts may never dare to chant tomorrow.”
The hall remained still.
Then another memory rose within me.
A beautiful story I had first heard during my pilgrimage to Guruvฤyลซr.
There lived the great devotee Poonthanam.
He knew little Sanskrit.
His heart, however, knew only Kแนแนฃแนa.
While chanting ลrฤซ Viแนฃแนu Sahasranฤmam, he lovingly uttered one Name as “Mara Prabhu” instead of “Amara Prabhu.”
The learned scholar Bhattathiri, hearing this, corrected him sharply.
Poonthanam accepted the correction with humility and returned home sorrowful, praying only that the Lord forgive his ignorance.
That very night… Lord Guruvฤyลซrappan appeared in Bhattathiri’s dream.
With gentle compassion He revealed,
“Why do you think Poonthanam was wrong?
‘Amara Prabhu’ means Lord of the immortals.
‘Mara Prabhu’ also delights Me…
for am I not equally the Lord of human beings…
the trees… the forests…
and every living creature?”
The scholar awoke trembling.
The next morning he hurried to Poonthanam’s home, prostrated before him, and begged forgiveness.
Scholarship had bowed before devotion.
As I narrated this pastime…
I noticed something beautiful.
The atmosphere had changed.
The devotee who had lowered his head slowly looked up again.
The elder who had corrected him smiled gently.
Someone softly said,
“Tomorrow…
let all of us come again.”
No one wished to leave.
That day…
ลrฤซ Viแนฃแนu Sahasranฤmam did not merely echo through the temple.
It quietly entered our hearts.
Walking upon the Archirฤdi Mฤrga today…
I finally understood why that memory returned.
When the liberated soul reaches the Lord…
He does not ask,
“How perfectly did you pronounce My thousand Names?”
He asks only,
“Did you call Me with love?”
Our ฤcฤryas lovingly preserve proper recitation because every Divine Name is sacred.
At the same time, they also teach that humility, sincerity, and longing for Bhagavฤn are indispensable.
Learning and devotion are not enemiesโthey are meant to grow together.
Looking back…
I realise that every sincere devotee I have met has become one more commentary on the Lord’s compassion.
Some taught me through scholarship.
Others through tears.Many through simple faith.
The Lord accepted them all.
The sweetest pronunciation is the one spoken by a humble heart.”
“Knowledge perfects devotion; devotion gives life to knowledge.”
Perhaps…someone reading these words has remained silent for years…
thinking, “I do not know enough.”
Begin today.
The Lord who patiently taught Poonthanam…
will patiently teach you too.
As the radiant path continued…
another forgotten memory stirred within me.
It was not about speaking to the Lord…
but about speaking to His devotees.
A simple offering…
an impossible desire…
and the mysterious way Lord Narasiแนha answered without uttering a single word.
Tomorrow…
The Dakแนฃiแนฤ I Could Not Offer… and the Lord Offered for Me.
“The Lord sometimes answers our prayers before we have finished praying them.”
To be continued…
ลrฤซmate Rฤmฤnujฤya Namaแธฅ
Adiyen ramanuja dasan
Pictures Courtesy Googloe Images
- (Part 63 )ย THE JOURNEY INTO LIGHT.. Musings of a Soul Returningย to ย Its Eternal Home
- (Part 62)ย THE JOURNEY INTO LIGHT.. Musings of a Soul Returningย to ย Its Eternal Home
- (Part 61)ย THE JOURNEY INTO LIGHT.. Musings of a Soul Returningย to ย Its Eternal Home
- At TIRUMALAโฆ โ Its not the darshan you get . It is the darshan โ LORDโ bestowsโ.
- (Part 60)ย THE JOURNEY INTO LIGHT.. Musings of a Soul Returningย to ย Its Eternal Home
