Amazing story..........
Once there lived an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna by name Poonthaanam. He
worshipped Guruvayoorappan (Lord Krishna) with all his heart and soul.
People loved him for his beautiful Bhagavatam discourses. There is a temple
in North Kerala called Kottiyoor. The significant deity in the temple is
Lord Siva. The temple was kept open only for a few days during a year. There
were no human activities in that place for the rest of the year. Once
Poonthaanam reached the Kottiyoor temple and had a bath in the holy river.
He worshiped the compassionate Lord Siva, felt happy, and stayed there for a
few days. He recited Bhagavatam everyday in front of the deity and several
hundreds of people listened to his sweet discourse on the wonderful pastime
in the 10th Canto 60th of Srimad Bhagavatam named "Lord Krishna Teases Queen
Rukmini." The Lord always plays a complete role in all the pastimes. Let it
be as Parthasarathi or being a son, husband, friend, He plays the role
spotlessly. The Lord decides to play with a great devotee and His beloved
wife Queen Rukmini and wanted to listen to Her. He playfully asks Her why
She wanted to marry the Lord when She had better choices like King Sisupala,
Salva, Jarasandha, etc. Hearing this Queen Rukmini faints and Lord consoles
Her. This is the gist of the chapter. Poonthaanam finished reading this part
of the chapter and kept the bookmark at the end of the chapter so that he
can continue reciting from the next chapter. Next day, to his surprise, he
found the bookmark at beginning of the same chapter. So Poonthaanam read the
same part for the second time. This was repeated for the rest of the days.
It was the last day to close the temple for the year. Poonthanam finished
the discourse and was returning from the temple with the other devotees, but
somehow left the Bhagavatam in the temple itself. Having walked some
distance suddenly he remembered that he forgot to bring the Bhagavatam with
him. He hurried back; crossed the river and reached the entrance to the
temple, which was closed. He was all alone.
He could hear somebody reciting the same part of the chapter from Bhagavatam
inside the temple. As he looked through the keyhole he saw Lord Siva himself
reading from Poonthanam's Bhagavatam. Mother Parvati and his other
Bhoothaganas were listening. Their eyes were filled with tears out of
devotion. Poonthaanam stood there motionless and heard the whole recitation.
At the end Lord Siva asked Parvati devi, "Did you like the Bhagavatam
recitation"? Parvathi replied,"Yes, it was nice, but was not as good as
Poonthaanam's". Lord Siva replied, "Yes. That is true. I also like to hear
Bhagavatam from Poonthaanam. That is why I placed the bookmark again and
again at the beginning of the same topic every day." Hearing this
Poonthaanam who stood outside was shaken up and uttered the holy name of
Krishna loudly. When he watched again, Lord Siva and Mother Parvati had
disappeared from his sight. This pastime clearly explains how all the living
entities including the demigods love this great literature.
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