“The friend indeed is a friend of the self by which the self can be subdued and the self indeed is the foe of one unsubdued.” Krishna says there are two self's. The capital SELF which is the consciousness and the smaller self which is your mind and senses, also known as the gunas.
When we think about friends, most of us smile. They come with mixed bags, with their own emotions and expectations. If we don’t meet their expectations, they are not our best friends anymore. Always there is a Ahaaa moment or incident that will bond the friendship or break it. Can a friendship sustain with our materialistic expectations?
Sudhama or Kuchela best childhood friend of Krishna who was with him in almost all occasions. When Krishna moved to Mathura, their friendship was tested. Kuchela was very poor with huge family. The poverty was killing him. Pressurized by his wife, he approaches Krishna for help with little rice he had with him to give. Of course there is always that guilt to ask friend for financial help. Kuchela tells his wife, how can I ask my friend, you have so much riches, why wouldn’t share some with me?
Sudhama surprised by the reception and affection that Krishna showed him when he went to see him. He saw the same old friend Krishna. He didn’t ask him anything. Enjoyed guilt fully the hospitalities thinking that his family was starving. Surprisingly when he returned, his family was blessed with riches.
Even a prayer, pooja, friendship, relationships comes with materialistic expectations, a poor man whom can he approach? Krishna.
The funny part is a rich man will act like a poor man so that his friends and relatives don’t ask for monetary help. If there is money many come to exploit.
Why he creates some rich, poor and then approach him with their problems? We will know the answer when Krishna is the friend.
Morals in the Story
The story of Krishna and Sudama contains several hidden lessons that we could learn from.
All are equal in the eyes of the Lord and He does not differentiate between people based on petty caste, wealth and social status. We too should learn to respect each individual, as each one is a creation of that Supreme Being.
God always rewards good deeds; however, He is also bound by the Laws of Karma. He knows when to bestow His grace on us. It may take a while for us to reverse negative karma and start enjoying the fruit of our good deeds, but it is bound to come to us in time. Till such a time arrives, we merely need to keep up with good karma.
Bhakti or devotion toward God is the only thing that will lead us to His grace. Also, praying and conducting elaborate Poojas expecting material gains in return will never help us attain the Lord's grace. Instead, being pure of thought, word and deed and offering our heart and soul to Him will give us everything we would ever need.
Sudama's Friendship
As mentioned above, it was extremely difficult for Sudama to afford even a small packet of rice to offer to his friend Krishna. Krishna, on the other hand, was a King and so, bestowing so much wealth on Sudama was easy for him. Looking at the story from this angle, Krishna was only returning Sudama's favor.
Sudama had come to Krishna, merely to express his love toward him. He had nothing to offer and yet, he did not beg for anything. Instead, he actually ended up feeding the Lord Himself. Krishna too knew very well that true, selfless love and friendship such as Sudama's would only give and never take. The Lord himself was impatiently waiting for his poor friend's arrival, so that He could liberate him from all his negative karma.
While Krishna's gift was rare and precious, Sudama's gift was invaluable and priceless. The Lord knew the amount of difficulty his friend would have gone through in bringing the packet of poha to him. Knowing Sudama's pure and undiluted love and devotion for him, he had to respond with much greater love and affection.
This shows that a true devotee's love invariably forces God to bestow several times more love and grace on him. While God is in no way committed to respond to everyone's prayer, He simply has to respond to a devotee who showers this level of love and bhakti on Him.
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