The Devoted Soldier

Sri Annamalai Swami

One day, after lunch, I was walking with Bhagavan (B) in Palakottu. B went behind a bush to defecate because at that time there were no proper toilets in the ashram. While I was waiting for him to reappear I noticed that a large military convoy was driving towards Bangalore. One soldier, who must have been a devotee, stopped his vehicle, got out and ran into the ashram. He was obviously in a great hurry because he should have been keeping up with the convoy. I was told later by the devotees who were in the ashram that he ran into the ashram and immediately asked for B. When he was told that B had gone to Palakottu he carried on running and reached me a few minutes later. 

As he was calling out, 'Where is Bhagavan? Where is Bhagavan?' B stood up and came out from behind the bush.

It was the middle of the day in the hottest part of the year. The sand and stones were almost too hot to touch, but even so, the soldier prostrated himself full-length on the ground in front of B.

A few seconds later he called out to B: 'My karma is very difficult. I cannot stop here for more than a few seconds. Please bless me.'

B looked at him affectionately and 'blessed' him with a grace-filled smile. After a few seconds the soldier got up and ran back to his waiting vehicle.

As we were walking back to the ashram, B praised the action of the soldier: 'In spite of having a very complex karma, he had a very strong impulse to come and see me. His actions alone show that he has already reached a high level of devotion.'