Narada is a divine sage, who is the child of Lord Brahma and sings praises of Lord Vishnu!
When we utter the words “Narayana Narayana”, it is said that Sage Narada will be somewhere near & blessing us at that instant!
He is a very learned and wise sage who travels across realms and worlds, trying to understand the challenges faced by living beings and seeks guidance from the Trinity to help provide relief! Sometimes, his quests have led different Gods to recommend specific pujas and rituals that can help provide relief.
There is one specific skill that Narada possesses that is indeed very unique and would help us!
Given ANY situation, however complex it is, he has the unique ability to boil it down to ONE question that can be asked to ONE person, setting the minds of all those around & involved to think about the scenario from a very different perspective, triggering a completely different outcome. In all the instances, it is interesting to note that he NEVER takes the blame for any actions, reactions nor outcomes. However, he ends up being praised for his ability every single time.
The ability to ask such questions is an art! It requires knowledge, devotion, empathy, humility, wisdom, excellent communication skills, ability to evaluate multiple perspectives, excellent vision & strategy, understanding of how the mind & any system works.
Some of his questions that made me think are
- Who gets to eat the mango? (Posed to Lord Shiva)
- How can mankind get rid of all the pain & suffering (Posed to Lord Maha Vishnu)
- Do you know the story about the donkey that carried sandalwood trees? (Posed to Sage Durvasa)
- Is your love for Krishna greater than Rukmini’s love for Krishna? (Posed to Satyabhama)
- If you do not know how to pray to God, can you repeat MaRa MaRa for as long as you can? (Posed to Sage Valmiki)
- What blessing do you want? (Posed to Hanuman)
Every question has a story involving many people, many worlds, many emotions, many morals, triggering many change in mindsets and bringing about an overall transformation.
Think about it.
The art of asking questions is critical in any field of work.
The question needs to be structured correctly and communicated well.
It needs to be asked to the right person who has the ability to not only answer, but also able to understand the context around why the question is being asked.
It needs to trigger a change in thought process that has the potential to change the outcome in the given scenario.
Can you come up with a question that can change the outcome of a given event? How long did it take for you to come up with a question? How long did it take for you to identify whom to ask the question? How long did it take for the outcome to change?
Be it any simple act, like asking your parents/friends to get you a box of chocolates to anything complex – try to experiment with framing your questions right, it triggers a change in perspective!
I grew up hearing many stories from Indian epics. The stories narrated by Narada does enlighten us with wisdom.
Yes Sowmya..!
Narayan Narayan 😀
Narayana Narayana 🙂 🙏🏻