The story of the Cobbler and the Brahmin and when they would return back home, back to Godhead.

Once on a sunny day near the Ganges a Brahmin priest, who had just finished his morning prayers, came across the great Sage Narada Muni the messenger of Lord Narayana/Visnu.

After bowing in respect, the Brahmin took the liberty of asking the divine Sage to please 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 temporary decaying world and enter Vaikuntha to again serve Him in complete bliss? I know it will be soon because of my dedication, but I would just like to know, all the same."

Narada - "No problem dear sir, I’ll ask the Lord when I see Him."

Further along down the river, a lowly cobbler lived, he was fixing shoes, he also stopped Narada as he was passing and humbly approached the great Sage. 

Cobbler - Dear great soul, 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 of this troublesome temporary material world, and I’d just like to know how many more lifetimes I am doomed to suffer in this horrible material world?"

Narada - "I’ll be sure to pass on your message."

Narada continued on, passing through to the spiritual world of Vaikuntha. 

When he saw the Lord Narayana, he bowed to His lotus feet, as is the custom in approaching the Supreme Lord or a great spiritual teacher. The Lord then asked if there was anything He could do for Narada.

Narada then proceeded to put forth the concerns of both the priest and the cobbler.

As Lord Narayana can see through the barriers of past, present and future, He knows all. With a brief pause, He informed Narada of the destiny of his devotees-

Lord Narayana said - "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 astonished 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 of having another 100 births in the material creation.

The proud Brahmin priest said - "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 said - "The Lord was 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 Lord in Vaikuntha 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 - "Lord Narayana was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle."

Cobbler - "Such a wonderful thing the Lord can do! Absolutely amazing, yes Lord Narayana can do anything He pleases."

Narada - "You mean, you believe that?"

Cobbler - "Yes, why not? We see that huge old oak tree up the hill 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 proud priest and the humble cobbler and why the priest was not ready to go back home back to Godhead.^.