Bhakta Charitra – Punch Line - The Story of a Devotee

So, before you guys watch ‘Raktha Charitra’ and start posting your views on facebook. And before you start thinking that history is full of negativity and bloodshed. And before you start falling into the trap thinking that ‘Revenge is the purest emotion’. And before you forget that ‘Mother’s love and devotion are the purest emotions’. Here is a positive story of a great devotee who lived in the 20^th Century and changed your world. His sacrifices had revolutionized the way we live and yet very few remember him. He was considered Mad by his contemporaries and criticized for his dreams. There was only a small portion of time before his death that he was considered a genius and now he is nearly forgotten. And yet he was devoted to his goal, so much so that he did not have time to get married. Even ‘his story’ is a part of ‘history’ but alas there is no director to make a movie on such stories.

If you guys have figured out by now who I am talking about then I bow to you. But I think you will have to read on a little more to actually know him. Ok if you are thinking that I’m going to tell you a story about Prahlada, Dhruva, Hanuman or Narada they did not live in 20^th Century. If you think I will tell you something about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or some other saint you are still wrong though they are related. Generally we assume that only saints are great devotees and eliminate many other possibilities. This devotee was devoted to Science and Engineering and he courageously built a system which forms the basis of our lives today. I know you are getting little anxious to know the name so here is a hint. He was from Serbia and he got the patent for the invention of the radio. No it is not Marconi. He was a great friend of Mark Twain and when they met Swami Vivekananda he was influenced greatly and remarked that ‘Electricity and Hindu Vedic thought are so related’. He was a major influence in commercializing electricity and he emerged the winner in the ‘War of Currents’. The unit of magnetic field is named after him and he is the Father of AC Induction motors. He is none other than Nikola Tesla.

Tesla’s inventions, patents and life history are all available on the internet you should be able to find them if you have sometime. But I’m more interested in to showing the purest form of devotion with which he pursued Science and Engineering without thinking about money. Tesla initially worked under Edison who was already rich and famous for the invention of light bulb. Edison was working on the commercialization of electricity and proposing a DC Transmission system. Tesla soon realized that the DC transmission system was not very efficient and proved mathematically that AC Transmission was more efficient and cheap. You all know the solution for all life’s problems ‘All Things Cheap Always Win’ but then AC Transmission did not win solely for one reason. DC Motors were already in vogue and the vision behind commercializing electricity was to use the MOTORS to do the mechanical work. And it was not possible to convert AC to DC back then so basically you couldn’t use a DC Motor with AC Transmission. So ‘All Things Cheap Don’t Always Win. You Have to Make Them Win’.

Tirumala (The world’s most famous temple) was built by a King Tondaman who was great devotee of Lord Venkateshwara (the deity). Legend has it that Tondaman had a profound dream in which he saw God who asked him to build the temple. We don’t know if the dream part is true but the temple was built and still exists and is the most visited place of worship in the world. Tesla, the devotee also had a dream in which he saw the exact construction of AC Induction Motor. We don’t know if the dream part is true but the AC INDUCTION MOTOR was built and still exists and is the most widely used MOTOR in the world. Its design hasn’t changed much over time and the New MOTOR could do all the work and hence AC Current won the ‘War of Currents’. If Tondaman built the Temple, Tesla built the Electric Grid and we get to use all our electrical appliances. Their devotion is their secret which immortalized them.

We have Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s degrees and other higher degrees but it is mostly to show that we have some knowledge and to make a living. Is a Bachelor of Science guy devoted to Science like a Bachelor or the Master’s of Science guy really a Master? Are we devoted to a Goal, why a goal, are we atleast devoted to a field of interest, are we devoted to anything but money and lust. There is inherent negativity within us which makes us ‘Lazy Consumers lacking devotion and a goal’ and smart directors capitalize on that portraying all the negative emotion ‘Rakthi and Raktha Charitra (History of Lust and Blood)’. But luckily for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction so we also have an inherent positivity within us. But very few have the courage to capitalize on the positive emotion but smart saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did that by creating the ‘Bhakti and Bhakta Charitra (History of Devotion and Devotee)’. So the choice to excite the inherent negative or positive emotion is yours but blood breeds fear, devotion breeds love. For everything negative on the internet there is always a positive alternative. What you see, that you become.