Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji
Published on Apr 16, 2018

The story of Nārada and Tumbura can be discussed in several ways. There are many stories of them. This story explains well about the saying - "Spardhayā vardhate Vidya". These days the students compete with each other in different fields. However, such competition must be very healthy, helpful and progressive for their future.

One day, Lord Vishnu was present in an assembly in Vaikunta. In that gathering, all the devās, yogis, Nārada and Tumbura were serving Lord Vishnu. Meanwhile, mother Lakshmi entered that place along with her servants. Immediately, the soldiers there did not allow anyone else to enter into the place of assembly. Brahma also went back. It is needless to say about Narada. But, meanwhile, the soldiers came there and called Tumbara alone and took him inside. As a result, along with Narada, everyone present there could not tolerate the domination of Tumbura. They wanted to know what happened inside. Narada went close and tried to peep in furtively. He got to know the news that Vishnu, along with Ramā (Lakshmi) was listening to the singing of Tumbura. After sometime, Tumbura came out with a glittering bracelet that was gifted by Vishnu. Seeing this, Nārada's heart filled with envy and jealousy. He felt, "How is it that he (Tumbura) went inside even without my consent? He had not even invited me for the musical recital and on top of that, he comes out right in front of me wearing the glittering bracelet gifted by Vishnu." In this way, Narada became envious in his mind. He resolved to somehow fight with Tumbura, insult him and decided to think of some idea to showcase his talent of music in front of Vishnu. He did not show his jealousy externally and instead behaved in a much friendlier manner than before. He also increased his visits to Tumbura's house to assess the strengths and weaknesses in his style of his singing.

One day, he went to Tumbura's house in his absence. He took the Veena present there and started striking the strings slowly. Nārada was surprised to listen to the never-before heard shruthis (pitches) that the Veena played. He felt it to be wonderful. He understood the Shruthi Jnāna (knowledge of pitch) of Tumbura, felt ashamed and left the place. He realized his mistake too. He felt in mind, "Aha! How sweet is the art of Tumbura! We have performed in the presence of Brahma and others several times, but I never ever have seen so much of talent." Even then, Narada wanted to win over Tumbura in a competitive spirit and hence searched for a right Guru in all the worlds. Finally, he understood that his desire will be fulfilled by only Pundarīkaksha (Vishnu) and hence he started to do penance. Pleased with his penance, Lord appeared in front of him. The Lord said, "In the eon of Dwapara, (the third eon), I will incarnate as the son of Vasudēva to kill the evil and to protect the noble. Then, you can serve me and get your desire fulfilled." Giving this boon, the Lord disappeared. In Dwapara Yuga, Nārada served Krishna and became matchless in knowledge.

In this manner, the competitive spirit must enhance education in students and it must not foster jealousy and envy. One must always possess the eagerness to learn more and more and instead one must not have the feeling of defeating someone. One must not have such jealousy. All the children and elders must observe this. The competition must enhance one's level and it must be devoid of feelings like envy.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!