The Sadhu and the Dancing Devotee

A great sadhu, a renunciate deep in meditation and austerity, lived alone in a cave. He had been practicing for lifetimes and believed he was nearing the end of his spiritual journey.

One day, the divine sage Narada Muni passed by. The sadhu bowed and said, "O Narada, you travel to Vaikuntha (eternal spiritual realm). Ask the Lord how many more births I must take before I attain liberation (moksha)."

Narada nodded and continued his journey.

A short distance away, under a large tree, was a devoted bhakta. He wasn’t a scholar, nor did he practice intense sadhana.

He danced and sang the names of the Lord with childlike joy. He too saw Narada and made the same request: "Please ask the Lord how many more lifetimes until I’m free. from samsara"

When Narada returned from Vaikuntha, he met the sadhu first. He said, "The Lord told me you have only four more lifetimes."

The sadhu, expecting immediate liberation, was furious.
"Four more? After all this effort? That’s unbearable!"
He began to doubt the value of his practice.

Then Narada went to the dancing devotee.
"As for you," he said, "the Lord said you will be reborn as many times as there are leaves on this tree."

The devotee’s eyes welled with tears of joy.
He looked up at the tree, smiled, and said,
"So few? I get to be with the Lord after only that many lives? How merciful!"
And he danced with even more devotion and bliss than before.

In that moment, the Lord appeared before him.

The Meaning

This story strikes at the edge between effort and ease, discipline and surrender.

• The sadhu, though sincere, is still attached to progress and reward.
• The bhakta has no demands, his devotion is its own fulfillment.

Where the sadhu's mind counts lifetimes, the bhakta's heart counts blessings.

In Bhakti Yoga, this story teaches that love transcends calculation, and that the Divine responds not to effort alone, but to the openness of the heart.

Name and Origin

This version is widely told in Bhakti Yoga lineages, especially among Vaishnavas, but also in Ramakrishna's teachings. It does not have a canonical name or exact scriptural reference, but it is often classified as a Bhakti parable or Vaishnava folk tale.

It may appear in slightly varied forms in oral teachings of:

• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s tradition (Gaudiya Vaishnavism)
• Bhagavata Purana–inspired satsangs
• Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's storytelling, where joy and innocence of the devotee is the key

There is no single “original text” for it, but its didactic intent is clear: Liberation isn’t earned through calculation. It’s given through surrender.