At home, Prem serves customers in the antique shop he runs in Mumbai (Bombay). At the grand Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in the city of Ujjain, Prem serves his god.<\/p>\n
It’s no burden, insists the intelligent, well-spoken 21-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has given us a chance to serve,\u201d Prem explains, pointing to his god’s temple, one of many overlooking the river in Ujjain. \u201cIt’s not what we have done. It’s what he has done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prem’s god — a latter-day incarnation of the Hindu deity Shiva — is a deceased guru his grandparents knew and served personally. This holy man, they taught, meditated for 12 years in the water, 12 years in a cold land and 12 years in the baking desert. He lived well past the age of 100.<\/p>\n
He lives on, Prem believes, in the hearts of his followers.<\/p>\n
At the Kumbh Mela camp in Ujjain dedicated to his god, Prem rises each day at 5:30 a.m. He brushes his teeth, then \u201cawakens\u201d the idol representing his deity. He brings it to the sacred river, dips it five times and returns to camp, where he and other devotees chant to the god.<\/p>\n
Then he serves food to wandering holy men who visit the camp, feeds the poor — and finally feeds his fellow disciples.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of us has some work,\u201d Prem says. \u201cIt lessens our sins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later he returns to the river for another \u201cbath with the god,\u201d then returns to camp to relax or play cricket. In the evening, the god sleeps. Prem and the others sing a lullaby to the idol and serve him milk, then eat and prepare for the night’s rest.<\/p>\n
Why does Prem believe in this god?<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he is there,\u201d Prem replies, eyes shining. \u201cWhenever I’m in trouble he helps me. He comes when I call his name. You have to believe. If you have faith, he will come and help you. If you take one step toward him, he will take 10 steps to you. He doesn’t force you to come. He says, ‘Everyone in the world is my child.’\u201c<\/p>\n
He reflects for a moment, then adds, \u201cYou need a pure heart when you believe.\u201d Prem certainly believes, and he wants his heart to be pure.<\/p>\n
He seems close to the Kingdom of God — but as far away as eternity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At home, Prem serves customers in the antique shop he runs in Mumbai (Bombay). At the grand Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in the city of Ujjain, Prem serves his god. It’s no burden, insists the intelligent, well-spoken 21-year-old. \u201cHe has given us a chance to serve,\u201d Prem explains, pointing to his god’s temple, one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2255,896,1000,220,2256],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}