Once, Lord Vishnu was seated in his abode, Vaikuntha, along with his beloved wife, Goddess Lakshmi. Suddenly, without any warning, he stood up.
Lakshmi had been pressing his feet. She asked, “Lord, where are you going?”
Lord Vishnu replied, “One of my devotees is in great danger. I must save him.” With these words, he rushed out. But again he came back immediately.
Lakshmi asked him, “Lord, how come you have returned so soon?”
Lord Vishnu smiled and said: “My devotee was going along the road overwhelmed with love for me and chanting my name. Some washermen were drying clothes on the grass by the side of the road and he walked over them. At this, the washermen chased him with sticks and were about to beat him. So I ran out to protect him.”
“But why have you come back?” asked Lakshmi.
Lord Vishnu laughed and said, “I saw the devotee himself picking up a brick to throw at them. So I came back.”
– Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886) was a Hindu mystic from India whose parable-based teachings espoused the ultimate unity of diverse religions as being means to enable the realisation of the same God. After his demise, his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda popularised his ideas and founded the Ramakrishna Order, which provides spiritual training for monastics and householder devotees, and the Ramakrishna Mission, which is involved in charity, social work and education.