CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE The Lord Blesses Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa

According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the words sarva-bhūta-mano-’bhijña indicate that since Lord Kṛṣṇa knows the minds of everyone, He could tell at once that His friend Sudāmā had brought some flat rice for Him and was ashamed to present it. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s further explanation of this verse, Lord Kṛṣṇa smiled at this moment, thinking “Yes, I am going to make you show what you brought for Me.” His smile then turned to laughter as He thought, “How long are you going to keep this precious gift hidden in your cloth?”

Kṛṣṇa glanced toward the bundle hidden inside His friend’s garment, telling Sudāmā by His loving glance, “The veins showing through your emaciated skin and your ragged clothes astonish everyone present, but these symptoms of poverty will last only until tomorrow morning.”

Although Lord Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān, the supreme, independent Lord, He is always pleased to reciprocate with those who are priya, His cherished servants. As the indulgent patron of the brāhmaṇa class, He especially enjoys favoring brāhmaṇas who are additionally qualified by unconditional devotion to Him.

These famous words are also spoken by the Lord in Bhagavad-gītā (9.26); the translation and word meanings here are taken from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.

In the context of the current episode of Sudāmā’s visit to Dvārakā, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī has kindly continued his explanation of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s statements: This verse is a reply to Sudāmā’s anxiety that his bringing such an unfit offering was ill-considered. The use of the words bhaktyā prayacchati and bhakty-upahṛtam may seem redundant, since they both mean “offered with devotion,” but bhaktyā can indicate how the Lord reciprocates the devotional mood of whoever offers Him something with love. In other words, Lord Kṛṣṇa here declares that His reciprocation in a pure loving exchange is not dependent on the external quality of what is offered. Kṛṣṇa says, “Something may or may not be impressive and pleasing in its own right, but when My devotee offers it to Me in devotion, with the expectation that I will enjoy it, it gives Me great pleasure; in this regard I make no discrimination.” The verb aśnāmi, “I eat,” implies that Lord Kṛṣṇa eats even a flower, which is supposed to be smelled, bewildered as He is by the ecstatic love He feels for His devotee.

Someone might then question the Lord, “So, will You refuse an offering made to You by a devotee of some other deity?” The Lord answers, “Yes, I will refuse to eat it.” This the Lord states by the phrase prayatātmanaḥ, implying “Only by devotional service to Me can one become pure in heart.”

According to Ācārya Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the description here of Kṛṣṇa as “the husband of the goddess of fortune” implies that Sudāmā questioned himself, “How can the Lord of Śrī eat this hard, stale rice?” By bowing his head, the brāhmaṇa revealed his meditation: “My dear master, please do not make me ashamed. Even if You request it from me repeatedly, I will not give this to You. I have made up my mind.” But the Lord countered with His own thought: “The intention you had fixed in your mind while coming here must not be frustrated, for you are My devotee.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that the Lord momentarily wondered, “How has it come about, despite My omniscience, that this devotee of Mine has fallen into such poverty?” Then, quickly understanding the situation, He spoke to Himself the words related in this verse.

But someone may point out that Sudāmā should not have been so poverty-stricken, since appropriate enjoyment comes as a by-product of service to God even for a devotee who has no ulterior motives. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.22):

“But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form — to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.”

In response to this point, a distinction must be made between two kinds of renounced devotees: one kind is inimical to sense gratification, and the other is indifferent to it. The Supreme Lord does not force sense gratification upon the devotee who is extremely averse to worldly enjoyments. This is seen among such great renouncers as Jaḍa Bharata. On the other hand, the Lord may give limitless wealth and power to a devotee who is neither repelled nor attracted by material things, such as Prahlāda Mahārāja. Up to this point in his life, Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa was totally averse to sense gratification, but now, out of compassion for his faithful wife — and also because he hankered to have Kṛṣṇa’s audience — he went to beg from the Lord.

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “It is understood from this statement that Kṛṣṇa, being the original source of everything, is the root of the entire creation. As watering the root of a tree immediately distributes water to every part of the tree, so an offering made to Kṛṣṇa, or any action done for Kṛṣṇa, is to be considered the highest welfare work for everyone, because the benefit of such an offering is distributed throughout the creation. Love for Kṛṣṇa becomes distributed to all living entities.”

Queen Rukmiṇī took hold of Kṛṣṇa’s hand to prevent Him from eating any more of the flat rice. According to Śrīpāda Śrīdhara Svāmī, with this gesture she meant to tell the Lord, “This much of Your grace is sufficient to assure anyone vast riches, which are merely the play of my glance. But please do not force me to surrender myself to this brāhmaṇa, as will happen if You eat one more handful.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that by taking hold of the Lord’s hand Rukmiṇī implied, “If You eat all of this wonderful treat Your friend brought from his house, what will I have left for my friends, co-wives, servants and myself? There will not be enough left to distribute even one grain to each of us.” And to her maidservant companions she said by her gesture, “This hard rice will upset my Lord’s tender stomach.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments that “when food is offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa with love and devotion and He is pleased and accepts it from the devotee, Rukmiṇīdevī, the goddess of fortune, becomes so greatly obliged to the devotee that she has to go personally to the devotee’s home to turn it into the most opulent home in the world. If one feeds Nārāyaṇa sumptuously, the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, automatically becomes a guest in one’s house, which means that one’s home becomes opulent.”

We are here reminded that Lord Kṛṣṇa maintains the supply of desirable objects for the whole universe. Therefore it is to be understood that He was about to manifest for Sudāmā opulence greater than Indra’s. Being sva-sukha, perfectly complete in His own bliss, the Lord has an unlimited capacity for bestowing gifts.

According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, the word abhivanditaḥ indicates that Śrī Kṛṣṇa accompanied Sudāmā on the road for a short distance and finally parted with the brāhmaṇa after bowing down to him and speaking some respectful words.

This translation is from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English rendering of Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 7.143).

Sudāmā was so humble that he considered his poverty to be his own fault, a result of sin. Such a mentality is in accord with the saying, dāridrya-doṣo guṇa-rāśi-nāśī: “The discrepancy of being poor ruins heaps of good qualities.”

Sudāmā’s statement that Lord Kṛṣṇa bestowed on him “not even a little wealth” may also be taken to mean that instead of giving him wealth that was abhuri, “slight,” the Lord in fact gave him the immense treasure of His association. This alternate meaning has been suggested by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī gives the sequence of the brāhmaṇa’s thoughts: First, seeing a great, unfamiliar effulgence, he thought, “What is this?” Then, noting the palaces, he asked himself, “Whose place is this?” And recognizing it as his own, he wondered, “How has it become so transformed?”

As explained by Ācārya Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the word pratyagṛhṇan (“they acknowledged in turn”) indicates that first Sudāmā accepted the servants within his mind, deciding “My Lord must want me to have them,” and in response to the visible change in his attitude, they approached him as their master.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī points out that since Lord Kṛṣṇa had turned Sudāmā’s home into a heavenly abode, everyone living there now possessed beautiful bodies and attire appropriate to the residents of heaven. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī adds this insight: The night before, Sudāmā’s poor, emaciated wife had been sleeping in rags under a crumbling roof, but when she woke in the morning she found herself and her house wonderfully changed. Only for a moment was she confused; she then realized that this opulence was the Lord’s gift to her husband, who must be on his way home. Thus she prepared to greet him.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that up to now the Supreme Lord had kept the brāhmaṇa in his wretched state so that his wife could recognize him.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that Sudāmā was simply astonished at the sight of his wife. As he wondered, “Who is this demigod’s wife who has approached such a fallen soul as me?” the maidservants informed him, “This is indeed your wife.” At that very moment Sudāmā’s body became young and beautiful, bedecked in fine clothing and jewelry. The word prītaḥ here indicates that these changes gave him considerable pleasure.

The famous “Thousand Names of Viṣṇu” hymn of the Mahābhārata immortalizes Sudāmā’s sudden opulence in the following phrase: śrīdāmā-raṅka-bhaktārtha-bhūmy-ānītendra-vaibhavaḥ. “Lord Viṣṇu is also known as He who brought Indra’s opulence to this earth for the benefit of His pitiful devotee Śrīdāmā [Sudāmā].”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is bhūri-bhoja, the unlimited enjoyer. He did not tell Sudāmā how He was going to fulfill his unspoken request because, according to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, He was thinking at the time, “My dear friend has given Me these grains of rice, which are greater than all the treasures I own. Even though in his own house he had no such gift to bring Me, he took the trouble of begging it from a neighbor. Therefore it is only proper that I give him something more valuable than all My possessions. But nothing is equal to or greater than what I possess, so all I can do is give him such meager things as the treasures of Indra, Brahmā and other demigods.” Embarrassed at being unable to properly reciprocate His devotee’s offering, Lord Kṛṣṇa bestowed His favor on the brāhmaṇa silently. The Lord acted just like a magnanimous rain cloud which provides the necessities of life for everyone near and far but feels ashamed that its rain is too insignificant a gift to give in return for the abundant offerings that farmers make to it. Out of shame the cloud may wait until nighttime, when the farmers are asleep, before watering their fields.

The chiefs of the Dāśārha clan, with whom Lord Kṛṣṇa is identified in this verse, were especially renowned for their generosity.

As explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, sauhṛdam here signifies affection toward Him who is so compassionate to His devotees, sakhyam is affinity manifested in the desire to live in His company, maitrī is the attitude of intimate comradeship, and dāsyam is the urge to do service.

As explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the humble brāhmaṇa Sudāmā considered himself unworthy of the Supreme Lord’s most rare and valuable benediction, pure devotional service. He reasoned that if he had any true devotion, the Lord would have granted him perfect, unflinching devotion rather than the material riches and servants he had received. Lord Kṛṣṇa would have protected a more serious devotee by denying him such distractions. The Lord will give a sincere but less intelligent devotee not as much material wealth as he desires, but only what will promote his devotional progress. Sudāmā thought, “A great saint like Prahlāda Mahārāja can avoid becoming contaminated by immeasurable wealth, power and fame, but I must always be wary of temptation in my new situation.”

We may understand that this humble attitude assured Sudāmā Vipra final success in his execution of bhakti-yoga by the standard process of hearing and repeating the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that even though Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the supreme ruler of creation, He accepts the brāhmaṇas as His masters; even though He is the God of all gods, the brāhmaṇas are His deities; and even though He is the Lord of all sacrifices, He performs sacrifices to worship them.

Sudāmā’s earthly fortune has been described, and now Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the treasure the brāhmaṇa enjoyed in the next world. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī mentions that Sudāmā’s last trace of illusion lay in the subtle pride of being a renounced brāhmaṇa. This trace was also destroyed by his contemplating the Supreme Lord’s submission to His devotees.

In the introduction to the chapter of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead that describes this pastime, His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of all living entities, knows everyone’s heart very well. He is especially inclined to the brāhmaṇa devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa is also called brahmaṇya-deva, which means that He is worshiped by the brāhmaṇas. Therefore it is understood that a devotee who is fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead has already acquired the position of a brāhmaṇa. Without becoming a brāhmaṇa, one cannot approach the Supreme Brahman, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is especially concerned with vanquishing the distress of His devotees, and He is the only shelter of pure devotees.”