The Power of Prayer

Audience: Gurudev, today is Kanakadas Jayati.

There was a great saint in India. He was a shepherd in the 12th century Karnataka. He was called Kanakadasa.
The 12th century was a time when there was a wave of devotion that swept through India, in fact the whole world. I think the Francesco d'Assisi (widely known as Saint Francis of Assisi, an Italian saint), they were all during that time only, between the 12th and 15th century.

Kanakadasa was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. He has written many beautiful songs in Kannada. So, everyone in Karnataka knows about these songs.

The story goes that he was not allowed in a temple because he was poor and from a lower caste. So he stayed on the outside of the temple and prayed, because the temple was mainly for the rich and upper class people.
So what happened is that the wall (of the temple) broke and the statue of Lord Krishna turned and gave Kanakasada Darshan. And the people who were doing pooja on the other side, they were all startled. This is a very well known fact here.
Even today, in the Udupi Krishna Temple, you will find that when you enter the temple, the deity is facing the other way around. There is a broken wall, and it is from the broken wall only that you can see the deity. This is said to be The Window of Kanakadasa, from where he stood and prayed.
It is said that from then on the caste and class discrimination was done away with.

There are many people who have fought against class and caste discrimination. He was one of them, and he was adored by everybody.
That is the story.

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