Once, when the sage Narada returned to Vaikuntha after traveling to earth and appeared before Vishnu, he said to him:
- Narada! You seem to have walked around the earth. Is everything okay there? Do the rich give alms? Do the poor respect me?
Narada smiled and replied:
- My lord! You apparently think that mortals think the same way as you, celestial. Since you are the husband of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, it already seems to you that every rich person on earth will give alms. But why am I telling you this? You still won't believe my words. It’s better to visit the earth yourself.
Vishnu heard the resentment in Narada's voice, but did not pay attention to it. “Well, maybe we really should follow his advice,” he thought, “and go see how people live on earth?”
And so, having made a decision, Vishnu said to Narada:
- I agree. I'm ready to come down to earth, but you'll have to come with me. I will be bored without you. We'll leave tomorrow, if you don't mind.
Narada, of course, really wanted to go with Vishnu. It’s not often that you get the opportunity to travel with the Almighty himself. Narada was extremely happy at the invitation.
They both changed their appearance and descended to the ground. They entered the city and approached a large house. The door was closed. Narada came up and shouted loudly:
- Hey! Is there anyone in the house?! Then Vishnu shouted:
- We are wanderers! We need to spend the night!
Nobody answered. They listened. There were people in the house, someone behind the door said:
- If you open it, you’ll have to feed it! The door remained closed.
They both headed towards another house. There the doors were open. Stopping at the threshold, Vishnu and Narada said:
“We are heading to the holy city of Benares and would like to spend the night with you.”
The owner of the house heard this, got angry and slammed the door. Vishnu did not like all this very much. They were denied shelter in two houses in a row! The Almighty began to be tormented by doubts. “Have people really forgotten the age-old rule: “The guest is the god of our home”?” - he thought. Narada turned away and chuckled, but said nothing.
They went around four more houses, but they could not find a place to stay for the night. Everywhere they were told:
- Such healthy guys! Let's go to work better!
“We do not ask for alms,” answered Vishnu. “It will be enough for us if we can rest a little.”
But no one listened to them. Finally, Vishnu and Naryada came to a very poor hut. The roof leaked like a sieve. They began to call the owner. An old man came out and looked to see two travelers standing.
- Come in, come in! - he said. — You seem to be coming from afar. My home is your home. You arrived just in time for lunch. What a joy!
Vishnu and Narada entered the hut with the old man. Poverty reigned in it. The old man’s wife saw the guests enter, brought water to wash their feet, and spread out the mats. Vishnu and Narada washed their hands, washed their feet and sat down on the mats. The old man began to ask who they were, where they came from and where they were going. Then the old lady brought cucumbers.
“You’re obviously tired,” she said. “Eat!” Here's fresh rice. We have our own cucumbers.
Then she brought sugarcane juice in a coconut shell and water in a copper jug. Vishnu and Narada saw how courteous the poor old men were to them, and they were amazed.
Vishnu asked:
- Grandfather! How many children do you have? The reason I ask is because I don't see anyone else here. Is there really no one to help you in your old age?
“We have no children,” answered the old man. “But poor people don’t have relatives.” Nobody comes to us. But, thank God, we are not struggling. If only we could be together - that’s all we ask the Almighty for, because we are each other’s support.
Vishnu and Narada began to eat cucumbers. But as soon as one of them took a slice, another appeared in its place. The old man froze in amazement. What a miracle! He didn't understand anything. “These guests must be wizards,” he thought. “Or maybe it was the Almighty himself who came to test us?”
The old man ran to his wife and said:
-Have you seen what is being done? Our guests are not ordinary people. These are indeed saints! But why would there be such a miracle?
These words surprised the old woman very much. She hurried to look at the miracles herself. The old woman saw an unprecedented miracle with her own eyes, respectfully folded her hands and said:
- What happiness befell us poor people! In our house there are such miracle workers! Forgive me if in our darkness we did something wrong.
Vishnu smiled and said:
- Mother! We appreciated your warm welcome. We had a good time with you. We are glad that you are happy, although you have neither children nor relatives. By the will of the Almighty, you will not have to endure poverty. We've eaten our fill of your cucumbers, we don't need anything else. Farewell!
And Vishnu and Narada left the house. The old man and the old woman went to see them off. And then a strange sight met their eyes: the rich city had disappeared, only the houses of the poor remained. In a large square on the river bank they saw a beautiful temple. The old man and the old woman turned around, but there was no sign of the guests. The old men bowed and said:
- Oh Almighty! You honored the poor with your visit. Our home has now become sacred. We have one desire - to always serve you. You built the temple, and we don’t need anything else, just make sure we die together.
At that same moment a voice was heard from the sky:
“If you serve me as faithfully as you do, you will not lack anything.” After death, you will become trees and will shelter travelers in your shadow.
The old man and the old woman prayed to the god Vishnu until the end of their days. After their death, two spreading trees grew in front of the temple. And travelers still find rest in their dense shade.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru