Lord Krishna and his disciple Nara
Were out walking, one day
When Krishna said to Nara
I'll rest in this grove
You please go fetch me
A drink of water

Nara went
To a nearby village
To the well
To draw water
And there met
A comely damsel
Who told him
That their village temple
Needed a priest

Nara went to the village
To the temple
Met the villagers
And soon enough
Assumed duties
As the priest
Soon enough, it seemed
He married the comely damsel
He had met at the well
Soon enough
They had a son
And then, a daughter
Life was pleasant
With some ups and downs
As is usual

Nara became a respected member
Of the community
And was never happier
Than when he was praying
To Lord Krishna
At the temple

As is usual
There were drought years
There were years of flood
But by and large
The village prospered
And the people gave thanks
To their priest
And of course
To their Lord Krishna

One year the monsoon
Was unusually fierce
Thunderstorm followed thunderstorm
The river was in spate
No-one had ever seen such rain
Such floods
People gathered at the temple
To pray for an end
To this ferocious rain
It came to pass that
Nara and his wife
Their son and daughter
Climbed the roof of their house
To escape the fury of the river
Water water everywhere
Soon enough, Nara's wife
Their son and daughter
Were swept away
One by one

Alone, heartbroken
Nara raised his head and cried out
Lord, why have you forsaken me?
From the heavens came
A thunderous voice
Nara
I am thirsty
Where is my drink of water?

That was when Nara realised that
This was samsara
This was maya
He picked up his pitcher of water
And returned to the grove
Where Krishna was waiting
Patiently

May we all realise
Why we are here
May we all do
What we came to do
In this
Our one lifetime