Mythological Stories

Osho story on Lord Vitthal

Osho - There is a beautiful temple in Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, Krishna’s name is Vitthal. There is a story behind the name. Vitthal means ”Sit down!”

There was a great lover of Krishna. He had almost become absolutely absent as far as he himself was concerned. He had opened all his doors for Krishna to come in. Krishna for him was the name of the cosmos. There is no problem, you can call the cosmos by any name, just don’t get into a misunderstanding. By naming it Krishna, you may start thinking it has a personality, that it is an individual. But the man was not at all confused about it. His name for the cosmos was Krishna.

His old mother was almost dying and he was massaging her feet. It was a cold night. The story is beautiful. Now it becomes a parable; up to now, it may have been factual. Seeing that his devotee was serving his mother so totally – he has forgotten to eat, to drink – Krishna came to help. He stood behind him, but the man was so absorbed in massaging the feet of his mother he did not look behind him, although he had heard somebody come – the footsteps.

Krishna had to declare himself: ”I have come to help you!”

He said, ”I am enough to serve my mother.” But he did not look at Krishna. There was a brick lying by his side. He just threw the brick behind him, without looking up, and said to Krishna, ”Sit down on the brick till I am finished.” Because he told Krishna, ”Sit down on the brick,” in Maharashtra Krishna is called Vitthal – Vitthal means ”Sit down!” – and they have a beautiful temple in which a brick is preserved, and Krishna is sitting on the brick.

I am not concerned with the mythology, I am concerned about the man’s total absorption, his absolute immersion in the act he was doing. Even if God comes, he says ”Sit down! You will have to wait.” He does not look behind him. Even God cannot create a disturbance in a meditator, what to say about a governor. I have loved the story, although it seems to be mythological because there is no Krishna to come, it is all imagination.

But my concern is not Krishna, my concern is the man who was so deeply involved in serving his almost-dead mother. In the morning she was dead. He was still massaging her feet when he found that she was dead.

Source: " Yakusan: Straight to the Point of Enlightenment " - Osho