Once on a sunny day near the Ganges, a Brahmin priest, who had just finished his oblations, came across the great Sage Narada Muni, the messenger of Lord Narayana.
After bowing deeply in respect, the Brahmin took the liberty of asking the divine Sage to ask Lord Narayana a question.
Brahmin priest - “Could you be so kind as to ask the Supreme Lord Narayana, when I’m going to be liberated from this world and enter Vaikuntha to serve Him in holy bliss? I know it will be soon because of my dedication, but I would just like to know, all the same.”
Narada - “No problem, my sir. I’ll ask when I see him.”
Further along down the river, a lowly cobbler, fixing shoes by the wayside, also stopped Narada, as he was passing through, and chanced to approach the great emissary -
Cobbler - “Could I appeal to your kindness by asking you to speak to the great Supreme Lord Narayana on my behalf?”
Narada - “I’d be happy to.”
Cobbler - “You see, I’m growing more weary each year, and I’d just like to know how many more lifetimes I am doomed to suffer in this material world?”
Narada- “I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”
And Narada continued on, passing seamlessly through to the spiritual world. When he saw the great Lord Narayana, he bowed to his feet, as is the custom in approaching the Lord or great spiritual masters. The Lord then asked if there was anything He could do for Narada, who proceeded to put forth the concerns of both the priest and the cobbler.
As Lord Narayana can see through the barriers of time, and into eternity, He thus knows all. With a brief pause, He informed Narada of the destiny of his supplicants -
Lord Narayana - “The cobbler will come here to Vaikuntha at the end of this present lifetime. But the Brahmin will live through at least 100 more lifetimes in the material world.”
Seeing the confused look on Narada Muni’s face, the Lord only smiled and gave these instructions-
Lord Narayana - “Next time you see the cobbler and the priest, they will ask you what I was doing when you saw me. Tell them I was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle. When you see their reactions to this, you will then understand everything.”
So, Narada went on his way. The first man he saw was the Brahmin, who was shocked and insulted by the news:
Brahmin priest - “A hundred rebirths in this hell! I don’t believe it! You probably didn’t even see the Lord! Tell me, what was He doing when you saw him?”
Narada - “Threading an elephant through the eye of a needle.”
Brahmin Priest - “Threading an elephant through the eye of a needle? That’s totally absurd! You must be lying about everything!”
So, Narada excused himself and pressed on until he found the cobbler. He gave him the news that he would soon be liberated and would be joining the realm of the Lord at the end of this lifetime, at which point the peasant exclaimed in joy-
Cobbler - “Oh, what blessed and glorious news! But, alas, tell me my good sir, what was the Lord doing when you saw him?”
Narada - “He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle.”
Cobbler - “Lovely. Absolutely lovely., Lord Narayana can do anything He pleases.”
Narada - “You mean, you believe that?”
Cobbler - “Why, sure! You see that huge old oak tree up the hill? It grew from a tiny acorn. So, if the Lord can squeeze a gigantic oak tree into a little seed like that, He can just as easily thread an elephant through the eye of a needle.”
And with that, Narada understood the difference between the priest and the cobbler, as well as why the priest was not yet ready to go back home back to Godhead.
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