18 Jun 2022
[Smt. Chhanda asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, while going through the discourse of Approach to God, I got the following two doubts.
In one place it is written that when approaching Lord Krishna, Sudama was prepared to undergo the result of his sins and suffer in poverty and at the same time he also did the highest sacrifice in the form of ahandful of rice. In this way a devotee should not ask or even think about the removal of his difficulties by God. He should be prepared to undergo the results of his sins. He should offer Guru Dakshina (donation) to the human form of God to his level best. Then God will remove his difficulties. In another place it is written that Sudama went back home without begging anything from the Lord. Yet Sudama wanted to beg to Krishna in the heart of his heart. That is not nishkama yoga (desirelessness). He was caught by the influence of prestige. While going home to his place, he was suffering mentally, thinking about his poverty. In these two places, is it not looking contradictory? This is where exactly I am not able to understand these two.
Swami replied:- The story of Sudama as happened is recorded in the holy scripture. Regarding the mentality of Sudama, different scholars have interpreted in their own ways. If you take all these interpretations to be true, certainly contradictions will appear. Sudama was a sinner by stealing the food of God Krishna. But he repented a lot before the teacher immediately confessing his sin. Hence, the punishment for the sin of Sudama was given in this life itself and the punishment took a right and beneficial angle for Sudama. Due to poverty, Sudama was always worshipping God Krishna, having recognized Him as the contemporary human incarnation. He stole the food of God Krishna since he was thinking that Krishna is an ordinary human being. After this sin only, he could recognize Krishna as God. He did not treat Krishna as human friend and hence, the question of prestige does not arise at all. He was not going to Krishna for help because he knows that Krishna is omniscient. He knows that Krishna is allowing the punishment of his sin to be cleared as early as possible and hence, he did not mistake the omnipotent Krishna. His understanding of Krishna was knowledge based and was not based on sentiments and emotions. He surrendered his Guru dakshina by bringing it on loan due to extreme poverty. He never asked Krishna for anything. God Krishna showed infinite grace on him. The story of Sudama is very important for every devotee. We are approaching God due to the only reason of begging something from God. Devotion or love is false if we aspire for some fruit in return. True love or devotion is based on sacrifice from our side to God in one way traffic without aspiring anything in return from God. This is the life and essence of devotion, which can be learnt from the story of Sudama.
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