Story:
Krishna Only Accepts Love And Affection - Krishna’s visit to
palace of Duryodana and house of Vidura
Krishna
will only accept an offering that is made with love and
affection.
One incident that shows this took place in Hastinapura.
It is
well known that Arjuna and his four brothers were Krishna’s
very
dear friends and devotees.
Duryodhana,
who also lived in Hastinapura, was the sworn enemy of
Arjuna
and his brothers(later they fought each other at the Battle of
Kurukñetra),
but he
wanted to invite Krishna to a feast.
Duryodhana
was very wealthy, so he served preparations of delicious foodstuffs
such as
ladu, pera, kachori, sandesh and makhan — in golden dishes, and
water
in
golden cups.
Then he
requested Krishna, “Please come and take Your meal with Me.”
Krishna
objected, “I can’t eat anything, because I have no
appetite.
I only eat anything where there is love and affection, I
can
never eat with you, because you have no love and affection
for Me!
I came to Hastinäpura to ask you to make peace with
Arjuna
and his brothers, but you have not complied. How can
I take
My meal with you? I’m not a beggar, and I’m not hungry.”
Shortly
after rejecting Duryodhana’s opulent feast, Krishna
went to
Vidura’s house. Vidura was Krishna’s devotee, and was
also
very affectionate to Arjuna and his four brothers.
In fact,
on several occasions he had saved them from great danger.
Because
of this, Krishna was very fond of Vidura. When
Krishna
got to Vidura’s house, Vidura was not there, so Krishna
pleaded
with his wife Viduräëé, “Oh, Vidurani Maiya, I am so
hungry!
Please give Me something to eat.”
Vidurani
was very affectionate to Krishna, and she was anxious to serve Him.
She
began to offer Him bananas, but in her confusion, she threw
away the
fruit and gave Him the peels.
Krishna
affectionately accepted the peels, and relished them joyfully.
They
tasted sweeter to Him than all the preparations and offerings made in
Dvaraka
by his chief queens Rukmini and Satyabhama.
While
Krishna was completely absorbed in accepting Viduräëé’s
offering
of banana peels, Vidura came in.
He was
astonished at what he saw, and exclaimed, “Oh, Vidurani! What are
you doing?”
Krishna
tried to caution him, “Don’t speak to her. She is not
in her
external senses. She is fully absorbed in transcendental
love and
affection.”
Vidurani,
however, came back to external consciousness when she heard her
husband speak,
and soon
realised what was happening.
She then
gave Krishna the fruit of the bananas and threw away the peels.
Krishna
was a little disappointed. “Oh! This fruit is not as tasty
as the
peels were.”
Spiritual
lesson:
From
this pastime, we can see that Krishna never becomes
hungry.
He doesn’t want to taste banana, or sweets, or milk or
anything.
He just
wants to take the essence of all the fruits.
What is
that essence?
It is
simply love and affection, the mood of bhakti in the offering.
Krishnawill
never accept anything from someone who has no deep love and affection
for Him.
On the
other hand, He will forcibly take what He wants from a devotee
who has
love and affection for Him, if that devotee does not give
Him
enough.
That is
Krishna’s nature. Krishna is not a beggar. He is full in all
opulence, but still He comes to his devotees and serve them.
In
Bhagavad gita Krishna says:
patram
pushpam phalam toyam
yo me
bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham
bhakty-upahritam
asnami
prayatatmanah
If one
offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I
will accept it.
So in
wathever we do we should add bhakti and our life will be perfect. As
Krishna says in Bhagavad gita 9.27:
yat
karosi yad asnasi
yaj
juhosi dadasi yat
yat
tapasyasi kaunteya
tat
kurusva mad-arpanam
O son of
Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give
away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done
as an offering unto Me.
