God’s name will save

Muthu and Raju were fast friends, who always played and studied together.

Once when Muthu went to Raju’s house, he noticed that before going to bed Raju was murmuring for a while. He did not understand what and why Raju was murmuring. When he asked about it, Raju said, “I am chanting (repeating) God’s Name for five minutes. I also repeat the Name for five minutes as soon as I wake up.” Muthu was surprised and did not understand why one should just repeat God’s Name. Raju replied, “My mother said that God is always happy and if we repeat His Name, we too, feel happy.”

Next morning, Muthu noticed that Raju chanted for five minutes as soon as he woke up. Raju’s mother too, was chanting while she was making breakfast. Muthu felt that he too, should chant. So, he asked her when and what he should chant. She replied, “Muthu, you can try to chant the name of your Kuldevata / favourite Deity. You can also chant when you are scared, for example, when in a dark room or when you are alone, etc., as the God’s Name will protect you.”

In the evening, Muthu’s father came to pick him up to visit a circus. Muthu happily went to the cicus with his parents and younger brother. They sat on different joyrides, visited many shops and bought many toys and games.

Soon it was night and the children were hungry. So, they went to eat some food in a nearby stall. Somehow, one of the stalls caught fire and in a short time the fire started spreading around.

Muthu and his family started running from the fire. They could see many people around them, panic and run. Muthu’s father carried Muthu’s younger brother and shouted to Muthu to hold on to his mother’s hand. Just as they were about to get out of the fiery stall, someone bumped into Muthu, pushing him backwards. Muthu lost the grip on his mother’s hand and fell over. When he stood up, he could see neither of his parents. He was lost and scared.

Somehow, he managed to reach the exit and was noticed by one of the firefighters, who were guiding people to safety. The firefighter asked Muthu where his parents were. Muthu started crying and could not say anything. The firefighter again asked him his name and address, but Muthu was so scared that he could not remember anything.

The firefighter then gently told Muthu to calm down and think. Suddenly, Muthu remembered Raju’s mother’s words, “God’s Name will protect you.” He closed his eyes and intensely chanted his Kuldevata’s name. While chanting he could think of nothing else and in a couple of minutes, felt the difference. All his fear was gone and in fact, he was feeling calm, despite being in that situation. When he opened his eyes, he remembered everything and told his name and his father’s phone number. In a short time, they were able to locate his parents and Muthu was united with them. As he hugged his mother, Muthu said ‘God’s Name saved me!’

Moral : Like Muthu, we too may face some difficult situations and can be protected from them by chanting God’s Name. But how can we remember to chant when such a situation comes? We will remember to chant in a difficult situation only if we have developed the habit of chanting daily. Thus, like Raju and his mom, we too, can develop this habit by chanting everyday for five or ten minutes immediately after waking up and before going to bed. We can also try to chant God’s Name while doing other things like taking a bath, eating, walking, etc.