In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna declaring a very important pointer as to how He’s easily approachable for His ardent “Bhaktas”. We’ve witnessed a famed shloka from the ongoing ninth “Adhyaaya” of the Bhagawad Gita wherein we’ve seen how Bhagawan voluntarily comes forward and fulfils all the needs and requirements of His ardent “Bhaktas” and ultimately grants the “Yoga-Kshemam” (Fulfilment of the “Yogam” that they are doing). Further, we’ve also witnessed how Bhagawan’s heart melts towards those people who are sincere in their approach towards “Bhakti”. In fact, Bhagawan accepts anything and everything from “Bhaktas” gleefully, even if it is a small flower or a leaf or a fruit. We’ve seen the example of Kuchela, who was Bhagawan Krishna’s childhood friend pertaining to this point. We’ve seen how Kuchela offered a handful of poha (puffed rice) to Bhagawan Krishna as a token of respect and love for Him. Even when Kuchela least expected Bhagawan to accept it, to his dismay, Bhagawan gleefully accepted it and started eating it as if He had been hungry for several days together! Thus, if a devotee takes even a small step towards Bhagawan, Bhagawan is not going to sit quiet. Instead, He’s going to run towards His devotee to receive him / her with a big embrace!
This point needs a bit more of an enhanced discussion here – So when Bhagawan explains that He would be ready to accept anything and everything from His ardent “Bhakta”, He means to say that whatever we offer should be pure and should be with 100% dedication towards Him. This is also very important. In the previous episode, we’ve witnessed the “quantity” part of this pointer, but now we’re witnessing the “quality” of the offering that we do. Before the commencement of the Kurukshetra war, we’ve seen Bhagawan Krishna visiting Hastinapura to meet Duryodhana and King Dhritarashtra for one last time, in an attempt to broker peace between the two rival camps. During that time, when Bhagawan Krishna makes His way to meet Duryodhana, we’ve seen how Duryodhana wanted to offer a great meal to Bhagawan Krishna with all possible dishes. However, Bhagawan Krishna did not accept the meal and instead, chose to go to Vidura’s place to have His meal! Vidura was not as rich and royal as compared to Duryodhana, and was able to only offer a few bananas to Bhagawan Krishna as a meal. However, Bhagawan accepted it wholeheartedly and gleefully spent time with Vidura while consuming them! From this instance, we can see that Duryodhana tried to offer the best of the best dishes of food, but with a wicked intention – To somehow capture Bhagawan Krishna and to bring Him on the Kauravas’ side during the war! Bhagawan Krishna knew this very well and if He would have consumed any of the dish that Duryodhana would have offered, He would have been automatically indebted to Duryodhana to fight for his cause! Hence, Bhagawan smartly avoided Duryodhana’s hospitality and offering and preferred to stay with Vidura for that evening, isn’t it?
Thus, when Bhagawan came to Vidura, initially Vidura was extremely shocked and surprised to have Bhagawan at his small house. However, calming himself down, Vidura received Bhagawan Krishna and started offering a few bananas. Now comes the main catch – In the flow of the conversation between him and Bhagawan, Vidura was peeling the bananas one by one and instead of handing over the fruit portion to Bhagawan, he was happily handing over the skins to Him! Bhagawan Krishna also knew this, but He did not utter a single word! Instead, He was very happy eating the skins of the bananas, rather than the fruits! As Vidura’s wife identifies this gross blunder, she shrieked with fear and alerted her husband! By the time Vidura was about to hand over the fruit portions, Bhagawan exclaimed that His hunger was satisfied! Upon Vidura questioning Bhagawan on this, Bhagawan clearly explains thus, “Oh Vidura! Your ardent “Bhakti” was the one which satisfied my hunger and not the bananas and their skins that you offered me! I came to your house to meet you, not for these bananas, but to enjoy and experience your ardent and pure “Bhakti” towards me! Hence, it is not the bananas that fulfilled my hunger, but your innocence and ardent devotion!”
Hence, from this anecdote too, we can realise that Bhagawan looks for the quality of our offering, more than the quantity of what we offer. If our offering is of pure love and innocence towards Him, Bhagawan is never going to say a “No” to us! He will gleefully accept whatever we give. However, if our offering is not with a pure heart and even if it is a great feast / meal, Bhagawan is straightaway going to reject it! So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and we shall continue this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 