Narayana Krishna

As directed by Krishna, the cowherd boys arrived at the place where the priests were conducting the Yagna rituals. They prostrated before the Vedic scholars and said, “O learned scholars, we are here at the behest of Balarama and Krishna. Krishna is our God whose command we abide by at all times. The brothers are here in a nearby forest. Akin to us they too are extremely hungry and are waiting for the food that you provide. All of you are masters in the knowledge of righteousness (dharma). If you have faith and dedication, then please feed them and us.

O meritorious ones! Barring the soutramani Yagna and the Yagnas that involve animal sacrifice, no sin accrues due to consuming the food from the house of the performer of the Yagna”.

They were repeating the words that Krishna had said.

Maharishi Śuka continued, “Even after hearing about the desire expressed by the Lord, the Brahmins who were engaged in the Yagna paid a deaf ear”.

They cared not for the desire expressed by the Lord. They went about their Yagna activities unconcerned with the request put forth by the boys. They were more concerned about their disciplines and were unhappy that the boys had entered the sacred sacrificial hall. Their hearts did not melt when the small boys mentioned that they were hungry.

“Even though the Supreme Lord had sent these boys, these foolish men ignored the request. They were performing Yagnas seeking heavens and other insignificant desires. The realization that the Lord had sent the boys did not even dawn in them, engrossed as they were in their Yagna, which consisted of many painstakingly difficult procedures, for the attainment of heaven.”

Their activities were comparable to a person who digs up an entire mountain merely to catch a mouse. A person who conducts the Yagna has to adhere to many stringent disciplines such as fasting, chanting the stipulated mantras throughout the time and taking up the deeksha disciplines. These Brahmins were aware that Krishna had killed many a demon in the past but ignored them as some illusion created by the Lord. They concluded that the Lord would have triggered the boy to act in such fashion.

“Although these Brahmins had no knowledge of the Supreme Essence, they prided themselves to be the most learned”.

‘We can chant the Vedas night and day for 7 continuous days. The knowledge we have is vast. Such is our memory. We have an in-depth understanding of all the verses in the Vedas and our knowledge spans all the branches of the Vedas. We are conducting the most-supreme Yagna. All the Vedas are at the tip of our tongue. We are performing the homa seeking to reach heavens’ – were the arrogant thoughts.

“Due to this arrogance, they failed to understand that the Supreme Lord himself was in their vicinity. The knowledge of the time and place conducive for performance of Yagna, the mantras, the ingredients to be used for the Yagna, the process of completion of all rituals, the different priests who perform the Yagna, the sacred fires to be invoked for the Yagna, the various Devatas who had to be invoked, the Yagna, the performer of the Yagna and the resultant merit earned due to the Yagna – all these are nothing but manifestations of the Supreme Lord! Every ingredient that exists within the Sacrificial hall is a form of Supreme Lord.

Srikrishna, the Supreme Lord who cannot be perceived through the senses, had incarnated in a form that was visible to senses. However, the Brahmins who considered this perishable body to be the Self were of limited wisdom.

These Brahmins were deluded due to mistaking their body to be their Self. They believed that their austerities would cause a celestial plane to arrive and welcome them to heaven. They had forgotten the Supreme Essence of the Lord.

For this reason, they mistook Krishna to be an ordinary human and thus ignored him. It was their misfortune. They ignored the cowherd boys who were messengers of that Lord.

O Emperor Parikshit, neither did they say ‘yes’ nor did they say ‘no’. Remaining silent, they continued their Yagna activities”.

Neither did they promise to supply the required food nor did they reject the request.

“Disappointed, the cowherd boys returned to Krishna and Balarama and reported accordingly. Seeing the boys who were wailing upon not being offered food, Srikrishna, the Lord of the universe, laughed loudly and, with the idea of teaching them the way of the world which stipulates that it is the lady of the house who supplies food, he said,

“You went and approached the men who were engrossed in yagna. From where would they get food to feed you, when they are engrossed in their activities? One who needs food must approach the lady of the house. Hence approach the wives of those Brahmins and inform that I, together with Balarama, am sitting in this forest. It is always the mother who feeds. Being mothers, their hearts naturally overflow with love. A mother always satisfies the hunger of the child”.

Krishna Krishna Srihari