One time Narada approached Lord Vishnu. He said "Lord! Am I not your greatest devotee? I am chanting your glorious name 24 hours a day.
Lord Vishnu said "Oh Narada! You are dear to me. But you are not my greatest devotee. If you wish, I will show him to you."
Narada agreed he wanted to see this great person. So Vishnu took him to Earth, where they hovered in the air above a farmer's cottage.
Vishnu said "Watch this farmer carefully and see and what he does". Narada agreed to watch. As the dawn came up, they saw the farmer open his eyes. "Vishnu, Vishnu" he said as he rolled out of bed. He then began the day's activities, eating breakfast, then taking care of the livestock, ploughing the fields, having dinner, and finally retiring for the night. Before he closed his eyes and fell asleep, once again the farmer said "Vishnu, Vishnu".
Narada was puzzled. Was the Lord playing a trick on him? "How is it that you call this man your greatest devotee? He only said Your name four times!" asked Narada.
"Come here the next day and I will show you" said Lord Vishnu.
The next day, Lord Vishnu set Narada's feet firmly on the Earth. "Here, take this spoon of water" He said. "What I want you to do is walk around this field during the rest of the daylight hours. DO NOT SPILL A DROP OF THE WATER!" Vishnu said. Narada did as he was told. The whole day he walked around the field, with complete concentration holding the spoon so that no water fell on the ground.
As sunset came, the Lord returned. "Have you done as I said?" Vishnu asked. "Yes, I have faithfully carried this spoon with water the whole day. I have not spilled a drop!" said Narada. "And how many times have you uttered my name during the day?" asked Lord Vishnu.

"Why none, Lord, I was too busy concentrating on the spoon to think of anything else!"

"So now you know why the farmer is a greater devotee than yourself! The farmer has so many responsibilities, and yet he manages to say My name four times. You on the other hand, were too busy to say My name once!"