The Temple Game

A group of young boys was playing on the hot streets of Srirangam.

“I’m tired of all the old games, let’s play something different today!”

“I know, let’s play Temple-Temple!”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s imitate all the actions we have seen our parents and elders do during the daily pooja to Lord Ranganatha!”

“Yes! Yes! Let’s do that!”

And so it came to be, that a group of little boys in the street around the Srirangam temple, began their make-believe game of worshipping the Lord.

What resources did they have in hand? None, except for their imagination.

One boy who was good at drawing etched out the form of the great Lord in the sand on the street. 

Another child officiated as the priest. He recited the mantras offering worship; he waved his hands around as if performing an arathi. 

A third kid made lumps of the sand to offer as prasadam.

The priest-child offered the sand-prasadam to the sand-Lord. Then, as is customary in the temple, he called out, “Jeeyo!” which was the call for Swami Ramanujacharya to come forward and accept the prasadam that had been offered to the Lord.

Purely by chance, at that very moment, Swami Ramanuja was passing that way. Hearing the familiar call, he rushed to the spot.

He noticed the ‘game’ the kids were playing and yet, heedless of the hot sand of the streets, the Swami rushed to prostrate to Lord Ranganatha’s form they had drawn.

Then he rose, and eagerly stretched out his hand to the priest-child in acceptance of the sand-prasadam.

Holding it with utmost reverence in his hand, he popped a pinch of the prasadam into his mouth, and gently moved away.

Swami Ramanujacharya’s disciples were aghast!

“You have soiled yourself, Swami! After all, it was just a game! Why did you have to prostrate on the street and accept that sand?” they cried out.

Calmly came the Swami’s reply, “To you, it was just a game. To you, it was just a drawing of the Lord in the sand. To you, it was just grains of sand as prasadam. But to the boys, it was real. They believed the Lord was there, and what they distributed was truly His prasadam. And where there is belief, the Lord IS definitely there! I did what I’m bound to do – I offered my obeisance to Him!”

Yet again, Swami Ramanujacharya proved how he is an icon of equality. His respect extended to all devotees – irrespective of not just gender, class and caste, but also age.

In this particular case, Swami was only explaining that which the compassionate Lord Srimannarayana has demonstrated innumerable times. 

Think Gajendra, think Prahlada, think Draupadi, why, even for the fallen-from-aachara Ajamila who only called out his son’s name as Narayana – the Lord has always rushed to the rescue of the devotee who remembers Him and calls out His name!

Do we remember this compassionate Lord during our ritualistic worship of Him?

Or do we only go through the actions mechanically? 

Do we remember Him in gratitude for all the things that go right for us throughout the day? 

Or do we only crib that He has forsaken us when we go through difficult times? 

Let us introspect, and learn to imbibe the spirit of devotion of Swami Ramanujacharya!

Let us call out to the Lord not merely in times of trouble, but also in joy, just as the young boys playing the Temple game!