Dear Children,

Given below are two true-life incidents that occurred in the lives of two devotees of Lord Guruvayurappan that were narrated by Sri Swamigal during the Guruvayur Sapthaha Sathakrathu Mahotsavam.

Sri Swamigal said, "Everything that the Lord has blessed us with, should be offered in His Service. If one happens to be a good orator, that skill shoud be used to praise the Lord. If one happens to possess enormous wealth, it should be used to help the Bhagavathars and the poor and also be offered to God. If one happens to possess strong and healthy body, it should be used in the service of Sadhus and God. If one happens to be blessed with melodious voice, it should be used in pleasing the Lord with music."

Then Swamigal narrated the following incidents.

An ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan lived in a village close to Guruvayur.This devotee owned a number of coconut farms. Every year he used to offer a share of the yield from these farms to Lord Guruvayurappan. Once as he proceeded towards Guruvayur, carrying the coconuts and singing the praise of the Lord, he was stopped by some thieves. They demanded the coconuts from him. The devotee refused to submit and said,"These coconuts have to be offered to my Lord Guruvayurappan. Hence, it is not right on your part to demand these coconuts."

The thieves laughed at him and teased,"Oh! are these Guruvayurappan's coconuts so special as to have grown horns?" When they tried to take the coconuts by force they all fell out of the bags. And, lo! what a surprise! the coconuts had indeed grown horns! A few such coconuts that had grown horns can even today be seen displayed inside the temple premises as an indication of the Lord's divine play.

The next incident is as follows:

Once, a poor little boy could not get even a morsel of food to appeace his hunger. Caught in severe pangs of hunger he stole a banana from a nearby fruit shop. Being a devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan he dropped half the banana into the 'hundi' while he ate the other half.

Learning about the theft the shop-keeper caught hold of the boy and demanded him to own up the theft. And the boy, pleaded guilty.

Looking at the innocent face of the little boy the shop-keeper did not have the heart to punish him. However, with a view to teach the boy a lesson, he asked him to circumambulate (walk around) the temple a certain number of times. The shop-keeper was aghast to find Lord Guruvayurappan follow the little boy who went around the temple as instructed by him. Later, that night the Lord appeared in his dream and explained, "Since I have also had a share in the stolen banana I am bound to share the punishment, too. So, I followed the boy around the temple."