Narada is a timeless and ageless sage who wanders all across the universe, chanting the name of Lord Vishnu with every breath. One day while wandering, a thought struck him. It was so powerful that it dragged him to the doorsteps of Lord Vishnu. After offering his respects, he bowed down and asked him the following question. “Who is the bhakta you most cherish, dear lord? I hope it’s me because I chant your name every moment.” Lord Vishnu pondered for a moment and said, “It’s hard for me to say that because very few people visit me here. You should go to earth, where my avatar Rama is ruling. He will help you with question.” Narada bows down to Lord Vishnu and hurries off to earth, where he happens to meet Hanuman.
Hanuman is the Rama’s divine vanara (monkey) companion and was known as his greatest devotee. When Narada explains his mission, Hanuman immediately advises that Rama maintains a small diary where he has written the name of his greatest devotees. Narada takes this as a divine sign and hurries on to meet King Rama, who is holding court. Rama welcomes him and asks him the purpose of his visit. After exchanging pleasantries, Narada requests him to share this red diary that includes the name of his greatest devotees. Rama informs him that he has such a diary, and it’s locked in his treasury. Since he is busy, he instructs his minister to escort Sage Narada to the treasury. Narada can barely contain his excitement when the treasury is opened. He holds the diary gently and strokes it before opening it. On the first page, written in bold letters, he sees his name “NARADA.” His heart is bursting with pride. His thoughts are racing, and he mutters, “The Lord really does know his greatest devotees.” He flips through the diary and sees other names such as Dhruva, Prahlad, and Shabari. After admiring his name to his heart’s content, Narada returns the diary and hurries off to meet Hanuman.
“I have some awful news for you,” he tells Hanuman mournfully. Hanuman, resting and chanting the name of Rama, looks up enquiringly. “The diary does not have your name in it. My name is first, but your’s is missing”. Hanuman beamed and asked him which diary he had seen? When Narada mentions that he saw the diary in the treasury, Hanuman laughs and tells him Rama keeps a small diary on him. “That’s the one that matters,” Hanuman whispered.
Narada was crestfallen and hurried back to Rama. He waited for Rama to finish his morning assembly and met him in his private chambers. Rama smiled and pulled out a small diary he always kept on himself. Narada took a long breath and opened the first page. He saw “HANUMAN” written in bold letters. His heart sank, but he thought being second best was good enough and turned the page. “BHARAT” was the next name. He flipped through and saw that the whole diary was full of these two names. Puzzled, he looked at Rama and asked him the purpose of maintaining two diaries.
“The first diary is full of people who remember me every moment of their lives. I am an inseparable part of their life. They are very dear to me. That’s why your name is on top of the list”.
Lord Rama paused and added, “The second diary includes the people I remember every moment because their devotion to me knows no boundaries.”
Sage Narada silently absorbed this lesson and walked away, chanting the name of Narayan.
When I became a people manager, it took me a year to realize that a significant part of my job was managing people’s egos. When you manage upstream, you have to manage the ego of your leadership chain, who have their careers and ambitions. When you manage downstream, you must deal with individual egos within your team. Some people feel they deserve better work, others want more recognition, while others want to coast on their previous accomplishments. A manager’s job is to prick the ego bubble enough to make them uncomfortable but not enough to make them pack up and leave.
As we went through merit and promotion cycles, I realized almost all managers have an invisible graph in their heads.
High Ego Low Skills — Fire at First Opportunity
If you fall in this category, you will constantly be let go by various organizations. Most managers don’t provide honest feedback regarding ego because it’s a very painful activity. However, if someone has to reduce headcount by 20% and you are on the list more than thrice, it’s time to examine yourself with a microscope. There are always unique circumstances, such as a project to skills fit, but you would be amazed at how much flexibility managers provide when you are considered easy to manage. Every manager can instantly tell you the people they would let go if asked to reduce headcount by 10%, and the first names on the list are people high on ego and low on skills.
High Ego High Skills — Keep Them Happy
Many high achievers fall into this area. They have worked hard to prove their value to the management chain and the organization. They are subject matter experts in their domain and feel they are invulnerable. That’s true to a certain extent. Most managers and organizations would pander to someone’s ego to a certain degree as long as it does not significantly impact the team’s morale. However, you would be surprised how replaceable you are once you cross a line in the sand. Managers would be happy to work with someone with 70% of their skill and significantly lesser ego.
Low Ego Medium Skills — Keep Them Around and Groom Them
Approximately fifty percent of any functional organization falls in this category. They are perfectly happy to come to work and deliver whatever is expected from them. They laugh, take feedback on board, and gradually improve their skills. Good managers ensure they mentor such individuals and help them improve their skills without inflating their egos. Some people in this quadrant rise to become replacements for the high skills and high ego individuals.
Esoteric Meaning of the Story
The truth covered in this story also plays out in the Mahabharata. When Arjuna needed Sri Krishna to fight on his side, he went to meet and plead for his case. However, when Sri Krishna needed Hauman before the war, he went personally to request Hanuman to guard Arjuna’s chariot. That is precisely the difference between knowledge and bhakti. Arjun knew Sri Krishna was special and could help him, so he went to him. However, Sri Krishna knew Hanuman was the greatest bhakta of Rama (Vishnu), so he visited him personally.
When you are a true devotee, the object of the devotion comes to visit the devotee because it melts the divine. It turns even the shallow-minded into a genius and grants peace to the most restless people. Every person has only one expectation from the divine, and it’s very difficult to rise above that. People want the divine to demonstrate some miracle to prove their divinity. Hence, we establish a transactional relationship with the divine. When one wish is granted, we are happy and ready with the next one in a few months. You cannot establish a bond with the divine when you constantly live in this state. That’s why most people can never recognize divinity even if it walks amongst us.
I heard this story on an Audible Audiobook, Srimad Bhagwat Gita, by my guru Om Swami.
We often hear the glorious stories of the various sages that have graced the Bharatvarsha and feel intimidated. Their tapasya and their discipline seem untouchable. Yet, it helps to remind yourself that a journey of a million miles begins with the first step. Take your first step with the free and incredible Vedic Sadhana app. The app helps you identify your ishta and then perform daily rituals that deepen your relationship with them. It also makes the ancient rituals and practices followed by the sages of India available to you.
