The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity 4.3 - Swami Krishnananda.

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Monday 13, May 2024 07:25.
The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity
The First Six Chapters of the Bhagavadgita: 
Chapter 4: Stories from the Aranya Parva - 3.

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Do you know what kind of boon Duryodhana asked for? “I would very much wish that your holiness extend this kind of blessing to my brethren in the forest. They too will be happy to receive you and to extend to you this same hospitality. What can be a greater satisfaction to me than the same blessing be given to them also?” Look at this man. He knew that they could not give anything because they were beggars, and the sage would be so angry. Nobody could encounter Durvasa's anger, and the Pandavas would be destroyed by the curse of this man. So this was the very shrewd suggestion Duryodhana gave. “O your Holiness, please bless them also.”

The holy sage went at midday, with eighty thousand disciples. Yudhisthira, who was extremely kind, received the great sage. “Blessed is this spot at this moment to have your divinity here. You shall receive my hospitality today.” The good man sometimes spoke without proper understanding. What kind of hospitality could he give to eighty thousand disciples? And they have to be served lunch. Well, you may say, there is an inexhaustible vessel, so why not serve? But unfortunately the queen had eaten, and there was nothing left there. And the sage said, “Yes, I shall have my bath and come.” He went to the river for a bath, along with his eighty thousand disciples.

Draupadi, poor lady, knew the predicament. “What have you done?” she asked her husband. “You have said, 'Please come for lunch.' What will we cook? And you know the consequence of his displeasure.”

Yudhisthira said, “Now I have spoken, and what I have said, I have said.”

“Oh Lord, protect us!” she wept inside the house.

Now this is another miracle which we will not be able to understand, and because we cannot understand, we cannot appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. She had bolted the door from inside, and was weeping. Again there was another knock, two knocks, three knocks. When she opened the door, it was Sri Krishna standing there. Sri Krishna said, “I am hungry. I want some food.”

Draupadi said, “I am crying with sorrow. Don't come and taunt and tease me at this moment. I have now a need for help from people like you.”

“Now don't talk of help and all that. Give me some food,” Krishna said.

“Food? Where is the food?” she asked. “My vessel is empty.”

“No, your vessel is not empty. There is some food in it. Bring the vessel,” said Krishna.

Draupadi brought the empty vessel. It so happened there was a little leaf of vegetable sticking to it, which she had not washed properly. Krishna ate a piece of that little leaf. “Let the Universal be satisfied,” he said, and then he vanished. Where he went, nobody knows. He was not there afterwards.

Now, the interesting part of the story is what happened to these disciples and the Guru taking a bath in the river, who were expected back for lunch? One hour passed, two hours passed, three hours passed, and they did not come. Yudhisthira, the good man, thought they may be annoyed or that something is wrong. He sent Bhima. “Please go and find out what has happened, why they are not coming.” When they saw Bhima, they ran from there. The more he called them, the more they ran. What was the matter? Why did they run? Because when they were taking a bath, they felt their stomachs bloating with satisfaction as if they had eaten food up to the nose. They said, “Now if we go back and he serves a meal, how will we eat? It will be a disrespect that we don't eat, so we will go from here.” And when that man called them, they all bolted away.

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Continued

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