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Saturday, 8 February 2014

Sudama's Story

Extracted from Shirdi Sai Satcharitra, Chapter XXIV

Shri Krishna and His elder brother, Balarama, were living with a co-student, named Sudama, in the ashram of their Guru, Sandipani.

Once Krishna and Balarama were sent to the forest for bringing fuel. Then the wife of Sandipani sent also Sudama for the same purpose with some quantity of grams for the three.

When Krishna met Sudama in the forest, he said to him - "Dada, I want water as I am thirsty".

Sudama replied - "No water should be drunk on an empty stomach, so it is better to rest a while". He did not say that he had got grams with him and that He should take some.

As Krishna was tired, He lay down for rest on the lap of Sudama and was snoring. Seeing this, Sudama took out the grams and began to eat.

Then Krishna suddenly asked him - "Dada, what are you eating, whence is the sound?"

He replied - "What is there to eat? I am shivering with cold and my teeth are chattering. I can't even repeat distinctly Vishnu-Sahastra-Nama".

Hearing this, the Omniscient Krishna said - "I just dreamt a dream, in which I saw a man, eating things of another, and when asked about this, he said ,‘What earth (dust) should he eat?’, meaning thereby that he had nothing to eat. The other man said – ‘Let it be so’. Dada, this is only a dream. I know that you won't eat anything without Me; under the influence of the dream I asked you what you were eating?"

If Sudama had known a bit of the Omniscient, Shri Krishna and His Leelas, he would not have acted, as he did. Therefore, he had to suffer for what he did.

Though he was a chum of Shri Krishna he had to pass his later life in utter poverty.

But when he later offered Krishna a handful of parched rice, earned by his wife with her own labour, Krishna was pleased and gave him a golden city to enjoy.

This story should be remembered by those who have the habit of eating things alone without partaking them with others.

"All food emanated from God. As it has come from the Divine, it should be offered to God and only then be taken. Then it becomes Satwik food. There are many impurities associated with the grains and vegetables you purchase. These impurities enter inside you. To remove the various types of defects associated with food, offer it to the Lord and then partake of it as Prasadam. When the food is offered to God , there will no longer be any defects in it. Meera was a great devotee of Lord Krishna.  When the Maharana asked his associates to give her very strongly poisoned milk, Meera was unaware of it. As is her habit, she offered the milk to Lord Krishna and took it, and remained unharmed. Thus any type of food, once offered to the Lord will turn nectarous, even if it is poisonous."
- Divine Discourse by Sathya Sai Baba, 'My Dear Students', Vol 2, Ch 2.   

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