Canto Ten - Chapter 81

Śrī Śuka said: As Hari conversed in this way with the foremost brāhmaṇa, He, who knows the minds of all beings, smiled and addressed him.

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord who cherishes the brāhmaṇas and is the ultimate refuge of the saintly, laughed gently as He gazed with love upon His dear brāhmaṇa friend.

The Supreme Lord said: O brāhmaṇa, what offering have you brought Me from your home? Even the smallest gift offered lovingly by My devotees becomes great in My eyes, while even a great gift from a nondevotee cannot satisfy Me.

Whoever offers Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I accept that devotion-filled offering from the pure-hearted person.

Though addressed in this way, the embarrassed brāhmaṇa lowered his face and did not offer that handful of flattened rice to the husband of Śrī, O King.

The Lord, who directly sees the heart of every being, understood why he had come and thought, 'In the past he worshiped Me without desiring opulence.

'But now, wishing to please his devoted wife, My friend has come to Me. I shall give him riches difficult even for the immortals to obtain.'

Thinking thus, the Lord Himself snatched from the twice-born man's garment the flattened rice tied within a rag, asking, 'What is this?'

'My friend, surely you have brought Me this offering, which gives Me the highest pleasure. Indeed, these grains of flattened rice will satisfy both Me and the entire universe.'

After saying this, He ate one handful. When He took a second handful to eat, Śrī, wholly devoted to the Supreme Lord, seized His hand.

'Soul of the universe, this much is enough to bring a person every abundance in this world and the next, for Your satisfaction is itself the cause of all prosperity.'

The brāhmaṇa stayed that night in Acyuta's residence. Eating and drinking there, he felt as though he had entered heaven.

The next morning, the Lord of the universe honored him with the joy of His own presence. Then, dear king, after Kṛṣṇa delighted him by accompanying him some distance on the road, he departed for home.

Although he had received no wealth from Kṛṣṇa, he had not personally asked for any. Filled with the joy of seeing the great Lord, he returned home, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

He reflected, 'Ah, I have directly witnessed how the Lord of the brāhmaṇas cherishes them! Though I am the poorest of men, He embraced me to the very chest where Lakṣmī resides.

'What am I, an impoverished sinner, and what is Kṛṣṇa, the abode of Śrī? Yet He embraced me in His arms, though I am merely a brāhmaṇa by birth.

'He seated me upon the couch enjoyed by His beloved, as though I were His brother, and when I was tired His queen personally fanned me with a yak-tail fan in her hand.

'The God of gods, the Lord of the brāhmaṇas, worshiped me like a deity through the highest service, massaging my feet and rendering other honors.

'Worship of His feet is the root of heaven and liberation, of all prosperity in the subterranean realms and on earth, and of every spiritual perfection.

'The compassionate Lord must have thought, "If this poor man receives wealth, he may become intoxicated with pride and cease remembering Me." Therefore He did not give me abundant riches.'

Thinking thus within himself, he reached the vicinity of his home and found it surrounded on every side by palaces radiant like the sun, fire, and moon.

There were wondrous groves and gardens filled with flocks of singing birds, and ponds whose waters bore fully blossomed kumudas, lotuses, kahlāras, and utpalas.

The place was filled with beautifully adorned men and doe-eyed women. He wondered, 'What is this? Whose residence is it? How has all this come to be?'

As he considered these questions, men and women radiant like immortals welcomed that greatly fortunate brāhmaṇa with abundant song and instrumental music.

Hearing that her husband had arrived, his wife rushed out of the house in joyful excitement, like the goddess Śrī herself emerging from her abode.

Seeing her husband, the devoted wife lowered her closed eyes, which were filled with tears of loving longing. She bowed to him in thought and embraced him within her heart.

He was astonished to see his wife shining like a goddess from a celestial aircraft amid maidservants wearing golden necklaces.

Delighted and accompanied by her, he entered his own residence, which was furnished with hundreds of jeweled pillars and resembled the palace of Mahendra.

There were beds white as milk foam, ivory couches with golden furnishings, bedsteads, golden-handled yak-tail fans,

golden seats with soft coverings, and radiant canopies hung with strands of pearls.

Upon transparent crystal walls and immense emerald surfaces, jewel lamps shone beside women adorned with jewels.

Seeing there the full abundance of every kind of wealth, the unagitated brāhmaṇa considered the unearned cause of his prosperity.

'Surely no cause other than the merciful glance of the greatly opulent best of the Yadus could account for the prosperity of one so unfortunate and perpetually poor as me.

'Though I did not ask, He has given me abundant wealth in plain sight, just as a rain cloud freely pours upon one who seeks water. The generous lord of the Daśārhas is truly my friend.

'He magnifies even the smallest gift offered by a friend and makes much even of what is meager, while considering His own immense gifts insignificant. That great soul lovingly accepted the single handful of flattened rice I brought Him.

'May I have loving affection, friendship, companionship, and service to Him alone, birth after birth. May I remain attached to that greatly powerful abode of virtues through association with His devotees.

'The unborn Lord does not grant a devotee wondrous riches, sovereignty, and opulence when the devotee lacks mature understanding. In His wisdom He sees how the pride born of wealth leads to downfall.'

Resolved in this understanding and deeply devoted to Janārdana, the brāhmaṇa enjoyed the sense objects together with his wife while remaining detached and never becoming indulgent.

For that God of gods, Lord Hari, master of sacrifice, the brāhmaṇas are His revered masters and His very divinity; He recognizes nothing higher than them.

Thus the brāhmaṇa, the Lord's friend, saw unconquered Ajita conquered by His own servant. The force of meditation upon Him untied the bonds of the brāhmaṇa's heart, and before long he attained the Lord's abode, the destination of the saintly.

A person who hears of the Lord of the brāhmaṇas and His devotion to them develops loving feeling for the Supreme Lord and is freed from the bondage of karma.