“The learned brahmana Sudama passed that night at the house of Lord Krishna, and while he was there he felt as if he were living in a Vaikuntha planet. Actually he was living in Vaikuntha, because wherever Lord Krishna, the original Narayana, and Rukminidevi, the goddess of fortune, live is not different from the spiritual planet, Vaikunthaloka.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 26)

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1. What is he doing here?

“Seriously, this is not a good time. Why is he here? There must be some trouble in his home. You notice that he came alone. His wife is not with him. He must be expecting something from us. He has disrupted our entire day. He is only looking for attention, and the fool that you are, you are ready to give it to him.”

2. Why are you ignoring me?

“Let me get this straight. This friend of yours from childhood pays us an unexpected visit and you suddenly drop everything for him? What exactly makes him so special? You have never shown me this level of attention. I think you are using this as an excuse to ignore me. I’ve never seen you this happy before. Not even on our wedding day.”

3. Why is he asking for stuff?

“I knew it. He came here because he knows that you have money. Do you see how poor he looks? He must be spending lavishly. Perhaps his wife has high tastes and she is depleting their reserves. He is not really your friend, you see. He is only pretending so that you will be generous with him.”

4. Why are you so happy to see him?

“I get it. He is your friend. I have friends, too, you know. You don’t see me jumping up to cater to their every need. You just wait. One day I will have a friendship just like yours. They will come here and I will ignore you the entire time. Then you will get a taste of what it is like.”

5. When is he leaving?

“He has been here forever. It is getting late now. We have to sleep. What? You mean he is staying the night? Why? Can’t he go somewhere else? Great, now we have to prepare a room for him. At this rate he will eat all of our food. We will have nothing left.”

…

There is the saying, “It takes two to tango.” In a particular household, one person may be generously inclined. They deeply wish to follow the advice of the Mahabharata given to householders. They want to feed the devas and the guests. The two are actually on an equal level, in the eyes of the ideal grihastha.

The issue is that the other person in the partnership might not have the same inclination. They are not welcoming of others, especially if the guest is a dear friend to the husband. There is a made-up rivalry, rooted in jealousy lacking any sort of intelligence.

In such cases, the husband has no choice. They can try to fulfill their obligations, but the offended party will likely get in the way. They live in the same house, after all. If the friend should happen to visit, things might not go well. There might be so much turmoil that it would have been better to avoid the interaction altogether. Once the wife starts throwing things, the husband really knows that there is no hope.

From that situation we transition to the setting of the ancient city of Dvaraka, during the time of Shri Krishna. He is living in that city with His chief queen, Rukmini Devi. They happen to get a surprise visit one day from Sudama Vipra. He is an old friend, from during the time of school age. Krishna is so happy to meet Sudama.

To highlight the glories of Rukmini, we see that there was not a hint of jealousy in her. She treated her husband’s friend as if he were the most exalted royal leader, kindly paying a visit to purify their home. Sudama actually came with an intention. He was sort of nudged along by his wife, who knew that Krishna could help their poverty-stricken condition.

Krishna discovered that Sudama had brought with him an offering of chipped rice, which Sudama happened to keep hidden due to shame. Krishna accepted and enjoyed a single morsel of that rice. Rather than be jealous that someone else was feeding her husband, that her beloved was pleased from a loving exchange with a friend, Rukmini herself became full of joy.

“What the devotee actually offers the Lord is not needed by the Lord. He is self-sufficient. If the devotee offers something to the Lord, it acts for his own interest because whatever a devotee offers the Lord comes back in a quantity a million times greater than what was offered. One does not become a loser by giving to the Lord, but he becomes a gainer by millions of times.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 26)

The queen of Dvaraka felt the need to reciprocate. The brahmana later returned home to discover that his life had been transformed. It was by the grace of Rukmini Devi, who is the goddess of fortune. Since her husband, Narayana, was pleased, Rukmini agreed to live in the home of the devotee making the offering. She extended herself through opulence.

In Closing:

Not hint of jealousy shown,
That pleased husband her own.

Despite that rice to hide,
Krishna with morsel to decide.

Such that Sudama amazingly blessed,
Home of opulence and wife beautifully dressed.

Because Rukmini her opulence extending,
From joy of her husband ascending.

Categories: the five

Tags: hare krishna, krishna book, poem, poems, poetry, rukmini, sudama