Sri Krishna Madbhagavatam
79.
Meeting of Lord Kṛṣṇa with Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa
In this statement, Mahārāja Parīkṣit has used two important words: viṣaṇṇaḥ and viśeṣajñaḥ: viṣaṇṇaḥ means "morose." The materialistic persons are inventing many ways and means to become fully satisfied, but actually they remain morose. The point may be raised that sometimes those who are transcendentalists also remain morose. Parīkṣit Mahārāja has used, however, the word viśeṣajñaḥ. There are two kinds of transcendentalists, namely the impersonalists and the personalists. Viśeṣajñaḥ refers to the personalists, who are interested in transcendental variegatedness. The devotees become jubilant by hearing the descriptions of the personal activities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalists, who are actually more attracted by the impersonal feature of the Lord, are only superficially attracted by the personal activities of the Lord. As such, in spite of coming in contact with the pastimes of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they remain in exactly the same morose position, due to fruitive activity, with the materialists.
King Parīkṣit continued: "The capacity for talking can be
perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The
capacity for working with one's hands can be successful only when one engages
himself in the service of the Lord with those hands. Similarly, one's mind can
be pacified only when he simply thinks of Kṛṣṇa
in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This does not mean that one has to
be very thoughtful, but one simply has to understand that Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, is all-pervasive, by His
localized aspect as Paramātmā. If only one can think that Kṛṣṇa, as Paramātmā, is everywhere, even within the
atom, then one can perfect the thinking, feeling and willing function of his
mind. The perfect devotee does not see the material world as it appears to
material eyes, but he sees everywhere the presence of his worshipable Lord in
His Paramātmā feature."
Mahārāja Parīkṣit continued to say that the function of the ear
can be perfected simply by engagement in hearing the transcendental activities
of the Lord. He said further that the function of the head can be fully
utilized when the head is engaged in bowing down before the Lord and His
representative. That the Lord is represented in everyone's heart is a fact, and
therefore the highly advanced devotee offers his respects to every living
entity, considering that the body is the temple of the Lord. But it is not
possible for all men to come to that stage of life immediately, because that
stage is for the first-class devotee. The second-class devotee can consider the
Vaiṣṇavas, or the devotees of the Lord, to be
representatives of Kṛṣṇa, and the devotee who is just beginning, the
neophyte or third-class devotee, can bow his head before the Deity in the
temple and before the spiritual master, who is the direct manifestation of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the neophyte stage, in the intermediate
stage, or in the fully advanced perfected stage, one can make the function of
the head perfect by bowing down before the Lord or His representative.
Similarly, he can perfect the function of the eyes by seeing the Lord and His
representative. In this way, everyone can elevate the functions of the
different parts of his body to the highest perfectional stage simply by
engaging them in the service of the Lord or His representative. If one is able
to do nothing more, he can simply bow down before the Lord and His
representative and drink the caraṇāmṛta, the water which has washed the lotus feet of
the Lord or His devotee.
On hearing these statements of Mahārāja
Parīkṣit, Śukadeva Gosvāmī became overwhelmed with
devotional ecstasy because of King Parīkṣit's
advanced understanding of the Vaiṣṇava
philosophy. Śukadeva Gosvāmī was already engaged in describing the activities
of the Lord, and when he was asked by Mahārāja Parīkṣit to describe them further, he continued with
great pleasure to narrate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
There was a very nice brāhmaṇa friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
As a perfect brāhmaṇa, he was very elevated in transcendental
knowledge, and because of his advanced knowledge, he was not at all attached to
material enjoyment. Therefore he was very peaceful and had achieved supreme
control over his senses. This means that the brāhmaṇa was a perfect devotee because unless one is a
perfect devotee, he cannot achieve the highest standard of knowledge. It is
stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that a person who has come to the point of
perfection of knowledge surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In
other words, any person who has surrendered his life for the service of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead has come to the point of perfect knowledge. The
result of perfect knowledge is that one becomes detached from the materialistic
way of life. This detachment means complete control of the senses, which are
always attracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the devotee become
purified, and in that stage the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord.
That is the complete field of devotional service.
Although the brāhmaṇa friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa
was a householder, he was not busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable
living; therefore he was satisfied by the income which automatically came to
him according to his destiny. This is the sign of perfect knowledge. A man who
is in perfect knowledge knows that one cannot be happier than he is destined to
be. In this material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount of
distress and to enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The amount of happiness
and distress is already predestined for every living entity. No one can
increase or decrease the happiness of the materialistic way of life. The brāhmaṇa, therefore, did not exert himself for more
material happiness, but he used his time for advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Externally he appeared to be very
poor because he had no rich dress and could not provide a very rich dress for
his wife, and because their material condition was not very opulent they were
not even eating sufficiently, and thus both he and his wife appeared to be very
thin. The wife was not very anxious for her personal comfort, but she felt very
concerned for her husband, who was such a pious brāhmaṇa. She was trembling due to her weak health, and
although she did not like to dictate to her husband, she spoke as follows:
In this way, the wife of the brāhmaṇa again and again requested, in great humility and submission, that he go to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇa thought that there was no need to ask any material benefit from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but he was induced by the repeated requests of his wife. Moreover, he thought, "If I go there I shall be able to see the Lord personally. That will be a great opportunity, even if I don't ask any material benefit from Him." When he had decided to go to Kṛṣṇa, he asked his wife if she had anything in the home that he could offer to Kṛṣṇa, because he must take some presentation for his friend. The wife immediately collected four palmsful of chipped rice from her neighboring friends and tied it in a small cloth, like a handkerchief, and gave it to her husband to present to Kṛṣṇa. Without waiting any longer, the brāhmaṇa took the presentation and began to proceed toward Dvārakā to see his Lord. While he was proceeding toward Dvārakā He was absorbed in the thought of how he could be able to see Lord Kṛṣṇa. He had no thought within his heart other than Kṛṣṇa.
It was of course very difficult to reach the palaces of the kings of the Yadu dynasty, but brāhmaṇas were allowed to visit, and when the brāhmaṇa friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa went there, he, along with other brāhmaṇas, had to pass through three military encampments. In each camp there were very big gates, and he also had to pass through them. After the gates and the camps, there were sixteen thousand big palaces, the residential quarters of the sixteen thousand queens of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇa entered one palace which was very gorgeously decorated. When he entered this beautiful palace, he felt that he was swimming in the ocean of transcendental pleasure. He felt himself constantly diving and surfacing in that transcendental ocean.
At that time, Lord Kṛṣṇa was sitting on the bedstead of Queen Rukmiṇī. Even from a considerable distance He could see the brāhmaṇa coming to His home, and He could recognize him as His friend. Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately left His seat and came forward to receive His brāhmaṇa friend and, upon reaching him, embraced the brāhmaṇa with His two arms. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure, and yet He Himself felt great pleasure upon embracing the poor brāhmaṇa because He was meeting His very dear friend.
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Lord Kṛṣṇa
had him seated on His own bedstead and personally brought him all kinds of
fruits and drinks to offer him, as is proper in receiving a worshipable
guest. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the supreme pure, but because He was playing
the role of an ordinary human being, He immediately washed the brāhmaṇa's feet and, for His own purification, sprinkled
the water onto His head. After this the Lord smeared the body of the brāhmaṇa with different kinds of scented pulp, such as
sandalwood, aguru and saffron. He immediately burned several kinds of scented
incense, and, as is usual, He offered him ārātrika with burning lamps. After
thus offering him an adequate welcome and after the brāhmaṇa had taken food and drink, Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "My dear friend, it is a great
fortune that you have come here."
The brāhmaṇa, being very poor, was not dressed nicely; his
clothing was torn and dirty, and his body was also very lean and thin. He
appeared not to be very clean, and because of his weak body, his bones were
distinctly visible. The goddess of fortune, Rukmiṇīdevī personally began to fan him with the cāmara
fan, but the other women in the palace became astonished at Lord Kṛṣṇa's behavior in receiving the brāhmaṇa in that way. They were surprised to see how
eager Lord Kṛṣṇa was to welcome this particular brāhmaṇa. They began to wonder how Lord Kṛṣṇa could personally receive a brāhmaṇa who was poor, not very neat or clean, and
poorly dressed; but at the same time they could realize that the brāhmaṇa was not an ordinary living being. They knew
that he must have performed great pious activities; otherwise why was Lord Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, taking
so much care for him? They were still more surprised to see that the brāhmaṇa was seated on the bedstead of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They were especially surprised to see that
Lord Kṛṣṇa had embraced him exactly as He embraced His
elder brother, Balarāmajī, because Lord Kṛṣṇa
used to embrace only Rukmiṇī or Balarāma, and
no one else.
After receiving the brāhmaṇa nicely, and seating him on His own cushioned
bed, Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "My dear brāhmaṇa friend, you are a most intelligent personality,
and you know very well the principles of religious life. I believe that after
you finished your education at the house of our teacher and after you
sufficiently remunerated him, you must have gone back to your home and
accepted a suitable wife. I know very well that from the beginning you were
not at all attached to the materialistic way of life, nor did you desire to
be very opulent materially, and therefore you are in need of money. In this
material world, persons who are not attached to material opulence are very
rarely found. Such unattached persons haven't the least desire to accumulate
wealth and prosperity for sense gratification, but sometimes they are found
to collect money just to exhibit the exemplary life of a householder. They
show how by proper distribution of wealth one can become an ideal householder
and at the same time become a great devotee. Such ideal householders are to
be considered followers of My footsteps. I hope, My dear brāhmaṇa friend, you remember all those days of our
school life when both you and I were living together at the boarding house.
Actually, whatever knowledge both you and I received in our life was
accumulated in our student life.
"If a man is sufficiently
educated in student life under the guidance of a proper teacher, then his
life becomes successful in the future. He can very easily cross over the
ocean of nescience, and he is not subjected to the influence of illusory
energy. My dear friend, everyone should consider his father to be his first
teacher because by the mercy of one's father one gets this body. The father
is therefore the natural spiritual master. Our next spiritual master is he
who initiates us into transcendental knowledge, and he is to be worshiped as
much as I am. The spiritual master may be more than one. The spiritual master
who instructs the disciples about spiritual matters is called śikṣa-guru, and the spiritual master who initiates
the disciple is called dīkṣā-guru. Both of
them are My representatives. There may be many spiritual masters who
instruct, but the initiator spiritual master is one. A human being who takes
advantage of these spiritual masters and, receiving proper knowledge from
them, crosses the ocean of material existence, is to be understood as having
properly utilized his human form of life. He has practical knowledge that the
ultimate interest of life, which is to be gained only in this human form, is
to achieve spiritual perfection and thus be transferred back home, back to
Godhead.
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"My dear friend, I am Paramātmā,
the Supersoul present in everyone's heart, and it is My direct order that human
society must follow the principles of varṇa
and āśrama. As I have stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, the human society should be
divided, according to quality and action, into four varṇas. Similarly, everyone should divide his life into
four parts. One should utilize the first part of life in becoming a bona fide
student, receiving adequate knowledge and keeping oneself in the vow of
brahmacarya, so that one may completely devote his life for the service of the
spiritual master without indulging in sense gratification. A brahmacārī is
meant to lead a life of austerities and penance. The householder is meant to
live a regulated life of sense gratification, but no one should remain a
householder for the third stage of life. In that stage, one has to return to
the austerities and penances formerly practiced in brahmacārī life and thus
relieve himself of the attachment to household life. After being relieved of
his attachments to the materialistic way of life, one may accept the order of
sannyāsa.
"As the Supersoul of the living
entities, sitting in everyone's heart, I observe everyone's activity in every
stage and order of life. Regardless of which stage one is in, when I see that
one is engaged seriously and sincerely in discharging the duties ordered by the
spiritual master, and is thus dedicating his life to the service of the
spiritual master, that person becomes most dear to Me. As far as the life of
brahmacarya is concerned, if one can continue the life of a brahmacārī under
the direction of a spiritual master, that is extremely good; but if in
brahmacārī life one feels sex impulses, then he should take leave of his
spiritual master, satisfying him according to the guru's desire. According to
the Vedic system, a gift is offered to the spiritual master, which is called
guru-dakṣiṇā. Then the
disciple should take to householder life and accept a wife according to
religious rites."
hese instructions given by Lord Kṛṣṇa while talking
with His friend the learned brāhmaṇa are very good for the guidance of human society.
A system of human civilization that does not promote varṇa and āśrama is
nothing but polished animal society. Indulgence in sex life by a man or woman
living single is never acceptable in human society. A man should either
strictly follow the principles of brahmacārī life or, with the permission of
the spiritual master, should get married. Single life with illicit sex is
animal life. For the animals there is no marriage institution.
Modern society does not aim at
fulfilling the mission of human life. The mission of human life is to go back
home, back to Godhead. To fulfill this mission, the system of varṇa and āśrama
must be followed. When the system is followed rigidly and consciously, it
fulfills this mission of life. When it is followed indirectly, without guidance
of superior order, it simply creates a disturbing condition in human society,
and there is no peace and prosperity.
Kṛṣṇa continued to talk with His brāhmaṇa friend:
"My dear friend, I think you remember our activities during the days when
we were living as students. You may remember that once we went to collect fuel
from the forest on the order of the guru's wife. While we were collecting the
dried wood, we by chance entered the dense forest and became lost. There was an
unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the sky and the
explosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came, and we were lost in the dark
jungle. After this, there was severe rainfall; the whole ground was overflooded
with water, and we could not trace out the way to return to our guru's āśrama.
You may remember that the heavy rainfall--it was not actually rainfall but a
sort of devastation. On account of the dust storm and the heavy rain, we began
to feel greatly pained, and in whichever direction we turned we were
bewildered. In that distressed condition, we took each other's hand and tried
to find our way out. We passed the whole night in that way, and early in the
morning when our absence became known to our gurudeva, he sent his other disciples
to search us out. He also came with them, and when they reached us in the
jungle they found us to be very distressed.
"With great compassion our
gurudeva said, 'My dear boys, it is very wonderful that you have suffered so
much trouble for me. Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first
consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru that without
caring for bodily comforts you have taken so much trouble for me. I am also
glad to see that bona fide students like you will undergo any kind of trouble
for the satisfaction of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide
disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty
of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master. My
dear best of the twice-born, I am greatly pleased by your action, and I bless
you: May all your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding of
the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to remain within your
memory, so that at every moment you can remember the teachings of the Vedas and
quote their instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be
disappointed in this life or in the next.'"
Kṛṣṇa continued: "My dear friend, you may remember
that many such incidents occurred while we were in the āśrama of our spiritual
master. Both of us can realize that without the blessings of the spiritual
master no one can be happy. By the mercy of the spiritual master and by his
blessings, one can achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the
mission of human life."
On hearing this, the learned brāhmaṇa replied,
"My dear Kṛṣṇa,
You are the Supreme Lord and the supreme spiritual master of everyone, and
since I was fortunate enough to live with You in the house of our guru, I think
I have nothing more to do in the matter of prescribed Vedic duties. My dear
Lord, the Vedic hymns, ritualistic ceremonies, religious activities and all
other necessities for the perfection of human life, including economic
development, sense gratification and liberation, are all derived from one
source: Your supreme personality. All the different processes of life are
ultimately meant for the understanding of Your personality. In other words,
they are the different parts of Your transcendental form. And yet You played
the role of a student and lived with us in the house of the guru. This means
that You adopted all these pastimes for Your pleasure only; otherwise there was
no need for Your playing the role of a human being."
80. The
Brāhmaṇa Sudāmā Benedicted by Lord Kṛṣṇa
Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
the Supersoul of all living entities, knows very well everyone's heart. He is
especially inclined to the brāhmaṇa devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa is also called brahmaṇyadeva, which means that He is worshiped by the brāhmaṇas. Therefore it is understood that a
devotee who is fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead has
already acquired the position of a brāhmaṇa. Without becoming a brāhmaṇa, one cannot approach the Supreme Brahman, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is especially concerned with vanquishing the distress of His
devotees, and He is the only shelter of pure devotees.
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Lord Kṛṣṇa
was engaged for a long time in talking with Sudāmā Vipra about their past
association. Then, just to enjoy the company of an old friend, Lord Kṛṣṇa began to smile, and asked, "My dear
friend, what have you brought for Me? Has your wife given you some nice
eatable for Me?" While He was addressing His friend, Lord Kṛṣṇa was looking upon him and smiling with great
love. He continued, "My dear friend, you must have brought some
presentation for Me from your home."
Lord Kṛṣṇa
knew that Sudāmā was hesitating to present Him the paltry chipped rice which
was actually unfit for His eating, and understanding the mind of Sudāmā Vipra
the Lord said, "My dear friend, certainly I am not in need of anything,
but if My devotee gives Me something as an offering of love, even though it
may be very insignificant, I accept it with great pleasure. On the other
hand, if a person is not a devotee, even though he may offer Me very valuable
things, I do not like to accept them. I actually accept only things which are
offered to Me in devotion and love; otherwise, however valuable the thing may
be, I do not accept it. If My pure devotee offers Me even the most
insignificant things--a little flower, a little piece of leaf, a little
water--but saturates the offering in devotional love, then I not only gladly
accept such an offering, but I eat it with great pleasure."
Lord Kṛṣṇa
assured Sudāmā Vipra that He would be very glad to accept the chipped rice
which he had brought from home, yet out of great shyness, Sudāmā Vipra
hesitated to present it to the Lord. He was thinking, "How can I offer
such insignificant things to Kṛṣṇa?"
and he simply bowed his head.
Lord Kṛṣṇa,
the Supersoul, knows everything in everyone's heart. He knows everyone's
determination and everyone's want. He knew, therefore, the reason for Sudāmā
Vipra's coming to Him. He knew that, driven by extreme poverty, he had come
there at the request of his wife. Thinking of Sudāmā as His very dear class
friend, He knew that Sudāmā's love for Him as a friend was never tainted by
any desire for material benefit. Kṛṣṇa
thought, "Sudāmā has not come asking anything from Me, but being obliged
by the request of his wife, he has come to see Me just to please her."
Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore decided that He would give more
material opulence to Sudāmā Vipra than could be imagined even by the King of
heaven.
He then snatched the bundle of
chipped rice which was hanging on the shoulder of the poor brāhmaṇa, packed in one corner of his wrapper, and said,
"What is this? My dear friend, you have brought Me nice, palatable
chipped rice!" He encouraged Sudāmā Vipra, saying, "I consider that
this quantity of chipped rice will not only satisfy Me, but will satisfy the
whole creation." It is understood from this statement that Kṛṣṇa, being the original source of everything, is
the root of the entire creation. As watering the root of a tree immediately
distributes water to every part of the tree, so an offering made to Kṛṣṇa, or any action done for Kṛṣṇa, is to be considered the highest welfare work
for everyone, because the benefit of such an offering is distributed
throughout the creation. Love for Kṛṣṇa
becomes distributed to all living entities.
While Lord Kṛṣṇa was speaking to Sudāmā Vipra, He ate one morsel
of chipped rice from his bundle, and when He attempted to eat a second
morsel, Rukmiṇīdevī, who is the goddess of fortune herself,
checked the Lord by catching hold of His hand. After touching the hand of Kṛṣṇa, Rukmiṇī
said, "My dear Lord, this one morsel of chipped rice is sufficient to
cause him who offered it to become very opulent in this life and to continue
his opulence in the next life. My Lord, You are so kind to Your devotee that
even this one morsel of chipped rice pleases You very greatly, and Your
pleasure assures the devotee opulence both in this life and in the
next." This indicates that when food is offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa with love and devotion and He is pleased and
accepts it from the devotee, Rukmiṇīdevī,
the goddess of fortune, becomes so greatly obliged to the devotee that she
has to personally go to the devotee's home to turn it into the most opulent
home in the world. If one feeds Nārāyaṇa
sumptuously, the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī,
automatically becomes a guest in one's house, which means that one's home
becomes opulent. The learned brāhmaṇa
Sudāmā passed that night at the house of Lord Kṛṣṇa,
and while he was there he felt as if he were living in a Vaikuṇṭha planet. Actually he was living in Vaikuṇṭha, because wherever Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original Nārāyaṇa, and Rukmiṇīdevī,
the goddess of fortune, live is not different from the spiritual planet,
Vaikuṇṭhaloka.
The learned brāhmaṇa Sudāmā did not appear to have received anything
substantial from Lord Kṛṣṇa while he was at His place, and yet he did not
ask anything from the Lord. The next morning he started for his home,
thinking always about his reception by Kṛṣṇa,
and thus he became merged in transcendental bliss. All the way home he was
simply remembering the dealings of Lord Kṛṣṇa,
and he was feeling very happy to have seen the Lord.
The brāhmaṇa began to think as follows, "It is most
pleasurable to see Lord Kṛṣṇa,
who is most devoted to the brāhmaṇas.
How great a lover He is of the brahminical culture! He is the Supreme Brahman
Himself, yet He reciprocates with the brāhmaṇas.
He also respects the brāhmaṇas so much that He
embraced to His chest a poor brāhmaṇa
like me, although He never embraces anyone to His chest except the goddess of
fortune. How can there be any comparison between me, a poor, sinful brāhmaṇa, and the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the only shelter of the goddess of
fortune? And yet, considering me as a brāhmaṇa,
He embraced me with heartfelt pleasure in His two transcendental arms. Lord Kṛṣṇa was so kind to me that He allowed me to sit
down on the same bedstead where the goddess of fortune lies down. He
considered me to be His real brother. How can I appreciate my obligation to
Him? When I was tired, Śrīmatī Rukmiṇīdevī,
the goddess of fortune, began to fan me, holding the cāmara whisk in her own
hand. She never considered her exalted position as the first queen of Lord Kṛṣṇa. I was rendered service by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead because of His high regard for the brāhmaṇas, and by massaging my legs and feeding me with
His own hand, He practically worshiped me! Aspiring for elevation to the
heavenly planets, or liberation or all kinds of material opulences, or
perfection in the mystic yoga powers, everyone throughout the universe
worships the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Yet the Lord was so kind to me that He did not give me even a farthing,
knowing very well that I am a poverty-stricken man who, if I got some money,
might become puffed up and mad after material opulence and so forget
Him."
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The statement of the brāhmaṇa Sudāmā is correct. An ordinary man who is very
poor and prays to the Lord for benediction in material opulence, and who
somehow or other becomes richer in material opulence, immediately forgets his
obligation to the Lord. Therefore, the Lord does not offer opulences to His
devotee unless the devotee is thoroughly destitute. Rather, if a neophyte
devotee serves the Lord very sincerely and at the same time wants material
opulence, the Lord keeps him from obtaining it.
Thinking in this way, the learned
brāhmaṇa gradually reached his own home. But on reaching
there he saw that everything was wonderfully changed. He saw that in place of
his cottage there were big palaces made of valuable stones and jewels,
glittering like the sun, moon and rays of fire. Not only were there big
palaces, but at intervals there were beautifully decorated parks, in which many
beautiful men and women were strolling. In those parks there were nice lakes
full of lotus flowers and beautiful lilies, and there were flocks of
multicolored birds. Seeing the wonderful conversion of his native place, the
brāhmaṇa began to think to himself, "How am I seeing
all these changes? Does this place belong to me, or to someone else? If it is
the same place where I used to live, then how has it so wonderfully
changed?"
While the learned brāhmaṇa was
considering this, a group of beautiful men and women with features resembling
those of the demigods, accompanied by musical chanters, approached to welcome
him. All were singing auspicious songs. The wife of the brāhmaṇa became very
glad on hearing the tidings of her husband's arrival, and with great haste she
also came out of the palace. The brāhmaṇa's wife appeared so beautiful that it seemed as if
the goddess of fortune herself had come to receive him. As soon as she saw her
husband present before her, tears of joy began to fall from her eyes, and her
voice became so choked up that she could not even address her husband. She
simply closed her eyes in ecstasy. But with great love and affection she bowed
down before her husband, and within herself she thought of embracing him. She
was fully decorated with a gold necklace and ornaments, and while standing
among the maidservants she appeared like the wife of a demigod just alighting
from an airplane. The brāhmaṇa was surprised to see his wife so beautiful, and
in great affection and without saying a word he entered the palace with his
wife.
When the brāhmaṇa entered his
personal apartment in the palace, he saw that it was not an apartment, but the
residence of the King of heaven. The palace was surrounded by many columns of
jewels. The couches and the bedsteads were made of ivory, bedecked with gold
and jewels, and the bedding was as white as the foam of milk and as soft as a
lotus flower. There were many whisks hanging from golden rods, and many golden
thrones with sitting cushions as soft as the lotus flower. In various places
there were velvet and silken canopies with laces of pearls hanging all around.
The structure of the building was standing on first-class transparent marble,
with engravings made of emerald stones. All the women in the palace were
carrying lamps made of valuable jewels. The flames and the jewels combined to
produce a wonderfully brilliant light. When the brāhmaṇa saw his
position suddenly changed to one of opulence, and when he could not determine
the cause for such a sudden change, he began to consider very gravely how it
had happened.
He thus began to think, "From the
beginning of my life I have been extremely poverty-stricken, so what could be
the cause of such great and sudden opulence? I do not find any cause other than
the all-merciful glance of my friend Lord Kṛṣṇa, the chief of the Yadu dynasty. Certainly these
are gifts of Lord Kṛṣṇa's
causeless mercy. The Lord is self-sufficient, the husband of the goddess of
fortune, and thus He is always full with six opulences. He can understand the
mind of His devotee, and He sumptuously fulfills the devotee's desires. All
these are acts of my friend, Lord Kṛṣṇa. My beautiful dark friend Kṛṣṇa is far more
liberal than the cloud which can fill up the great ocean with water. Without
disturbing the cultivator with rain during the day, the cloud brings liberal
rain at night just to satisfy him. And yet when the cultivator wakes up in the
morning, he considers that it has not rained enough. Similarly, the Lord
fulfills the desire of everyone according to his position, and yet one who is
not in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness considers all the gifts of the Lord to be less than his desire.
On the other hand, when the Lord receives a little thing in love and affection
from His devotee, He considers it a great and valuable gift. The vivid example
is myself. I simply offered Him a morsel of chipped rice, and in exchange He
has given me opulences greater than the opulence of the King of heaven."
What the devotee actually offers the
Lord is not needed by the Lord. He is self-sufficient. If the devotee offers
something to the Lord, it acts for his own interest because whatever a devotee
offers the Lord comes back in a quantity a million times greater than what was
offered. One does not become a loser by giving to the Lord, but he becomes a
gainer by millions of times.
The brāhmaṇa, feeling great
obligation to Kṛṣṇa,
thought, "I pray to have the friendship of Lord Kṛṣṇa and to engage
in His service, and to surrender fully unto Him in love and affection, life
after life. I do not want any opulence. I only desire not to forget His
service. I simply wish to be associated with His pure devotees. May my mind and
activities be always engaged in His service. The unborn Supreme Personality of
Godhead Kṛṣṇa
knows that many great personalities have fallen from their positions because of
extravagant opulence. Therefore, even when His devotee asks for some opulence
from Him, the Lord sometimes does not give it. He is very cautious about His
devotees. Because a devotee in an immature position of devotional service may,
if offered great opulence, fall from his position due to being in the material
world, the Lord does not offer opulence to him. This is another manifestation
of the causeless mercy of the Lord upon His devotee. His first interest is that
the devotee may not fall. He is exactly like a well-wishing father who does not
give much wealth into the hand of his immature son, but who, when the son is
grown up and knows how to spend money, gives him the whole treasury
house."
The learned brāhmaṇa thus concluded
that whatever opulences he had received from the Lord should not be used for
his extravagant sense gratification, but for the service of the Lord. The
brāhmaṇa
accepted his newly-acquired opulence, but he did so in a spirit of
renunciation, unattached to sense gratification, and thus he lived very
peacefully with his wife, enjoying all the facilities of opulence as prasādam
of the Lord. He enjoyed varieties of foodstuff by offering it to the Lord and
then taking it as prasādam. Similarly, if by the grace of the Lord we get such
opulences as material wealth, fame, power, education and beauty, it is our duty
to consider that they are all gifts of the Lord and must be used for His
service, not for our sense enjoyment. The learned brāhmaṇa remained in
that position, and instead of deterioating due to great opulence, his love and
affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa
increased day after day. Material opulence can be the cause of degradation and
also the cause of elevation, according to the purposes for which it is used. If
opulence is used for sense gratification, it is the cause of degradation, and
if it is used for the service of the Lord, it is the cause of elevation.
Sudāmā Vipra realized that although Lord Kṛṣṇa is unconquerable, He nevertheless agrees to be conquered by His devotees. He realized how kind Lord Kṛṣṇa was to him, and he was always in trance, constantly thinking of Kṛṣṇa. By such constant association with Lord Kṛṣṇa, whatever darkness of material contamination was remaining within his heart was completely cleared away, and very shortly he was transferred to the spiritual kingdom, which is the goal of all saintly persons in the perfectional stage of life.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī has stated that all persons who hear this history of Sudāmā Vipra and Lord Kṛṣṇa will know how affectionate Lord Kṛṣṇa is to the brāhmaṇa devotees like Sudāmā. Therefore anyone who hears this history gradually becomes as qualified as Sudāmā Vipra, and he is thus transferred to the spiritual kingdom of Lord Kṛṣṇa
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations H H Swami Sri Prabhupada ji, Sri Krishnalilas
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