“To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal,” said Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. Here goes a story from Deivathin Kural (the voice of God) by Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamigal.
Padmapada (the discipline of Sri Adi Sankara), who was called Sanandana in his younger days, was given a mantra on Lord Narasimha to chant by a saint. His desire to see God was so overpowering that he decided to sit in penance in a forest. A hunter noticed Sanandana and asked him the reason for his arrival in the menacing forest. He took pity on him and advised the young boy to go back to his abode, lest he fall prey to some dangerous animal. Sanandana did not know how to explain to the hunter that he was doing penance to see Lord Narahari. So, he said he was looking for a beast in half-lion, half-man form. The hunter was utterly perplexed. And he argued that there was no such half-animal, half-man form in the forest, as he knew every nook and cranny of the place. However, seeing the adamant young fellow’s desperation to see the beast, the hunter decided to help him. For this, the boy chuckled and tried to explain to the hunter that the beast was an all-powerful being and not easy to capture. The hunter, in response, promised the boy that he would bring the said animal chained before the next day’s sunset or else he would breathe his last. Sanandana did not pay heed to the hunter and continued his penance. Then, forgetting sleep and hunger, the hunter searched high and low for the beast, all the while shouting the name ‘Narahari’! Little did he know that it was the Lord himself that he was searching for.
Finally, after a futile search, he gave up and decided to hang himself. Just before the hunter put the noose around his neck, Lord Narasimha appeared before him. The joyous hunter immediately chained the Lord and brought the Omnipresent being before the boy.
A loud roar awoke Sanandana, who was still in penance. The hunter, in all his innocence, stood victoriously in front of Sanandana. The boy could only hear the roar but not see the lord’s glorious form. Sanandana understood that only ceaseless, single-minded thought about the Lord, like that of the hunter, could make God appear before him. Such is the amazing power of unwavering devotion.