Krishna Story 11
The Fruit Basket
by J.K. Sivan
Before we open the basket to see what is in it, we have to move to the two villages where Krishna lived most in his
childhood. As you would by now understood, the villages
Gokulam and Brindhavan are closeby and these
two were very popular and mostly busy
villages.
Among
the cowherds, there lived in Brindhavan village, a ripe old woman who lived all by herself. She
made her living by selling fruits. She would collect fruits from the nearby
forests and from the gardens of many cowherds in Brindhavan
She
used to collect various seasonal fruits, carry them in a basket on her head,
and roam about in the streets of
Brindhavan and sell them. Her
special technique was to sing various
spiritual songs instead of crying and selling the fruits. Whenever
her voice is heard, people would call her and buy whatever fruits they want giving her money or food
stuffs or grains.
If
she had enough fruits unsold in
Brindhavan, she would walk upto Gokulam also and sell them. Thus she used to go to Gokuam from time to
time. I
must mention here that this grand old lady had a special liking for children
and did not mind giving the fruits free
of cost to children when she saw them
and could not buy fruits from her.
News
of Krishna and Balaram reached even this old lady in the Brindhavan
village and she wanted to see them after hearing earful of their supernatural
feats. And
she was already informed of the beauty of
Krishna. She felt like giving
very good fruits to Krishna as her gift to him.
One
day her desire was fulfilled. That day
she picked up good red pomegranate fruits and guavahs wishing to give some of
these to Krishna at Gokulam. With fruit
basket on her head, she walked to Gokulam village and waited in front of the gate of Nandagopan palace. There was a guard on duty.
Nowadays, strangers are not allowed to enter the palace
and have access to the children after so many attempts were made to kill
Krishna by Kamsan.
When
the fruit vendor waited for long the guard took pity on her and asked her:
- What
do you want and why are are you waiting here?
-
Are
Krishna and Balaram living in this house?
-
Yes
-
I
want to see them and give some fruits
-
No.
You cannot. Better you go back.
She
waited for some time and returned back and was unhappy that she could not see the children whom she loved most.
She
made another visit after a few days this time with some more fresh fruits
including some jamboo fruits and was determined to somehow wait ande see Krishna at least from a distance from the
main door. Luckily
for her, this time the main door was open and she could see movement of people
inside Nandagopan palace. Suddenly the guard appeared there
And
the moment he saw her, he chided her “Paatti! (granny) how many times to tell you not to come and
disturb us. Get away.”
The
old woman was clever. She just moved a
few inches from the gate and began singing loud
some songs on Narayana. Her voice was vibrant and this attracated Rohini
who was in the palace to come out and see who was singing so nicely. The moment she saw the fruit vendor,
she moved in and told Yasodha about the
old woman with the basket waiting out.
Yasodha
came out carrying Krishna. He was very
tired that day after hours of playing .
When
Yasodha met the old woman, she recognized her because she had known her for
long and many times bought fruits from her in the village.
- How
are you patti. Still you are selling
fruits?
-
Yes
. I have not seen you for a long
time. Is this little boy in your arms, the
famous Krishnaa. I
have heard enough of
him and it kindled the desire in me to see him somehow.
-
Yes this Is Krishna, my son, replied the proud
mother.
Meantime,
while the two women were talking, Krishna
slipped down and slowly walked towards the basket which was kept on the
floor. He looked at the fruits and was attracted by the
red pomegranate fruit and without any hesitation went near the basket and
grabbed a good one.
The
old woman caught hold of his hand and
embraced him and told strictly
- No
little fellow, You cannot have the fruit
without paying for it. Go and get
something in return
to own this fruit for you
Krishna took the fruit and walked inside while the
women were still speaking of their old days of association. Krishna looked for rice and found it stored in a
container and picked up a handful of the rice grains and walked to where the
old woman was waiting.
By
the time he reached the vendor, almost all grains in the closed fist had
spilled down and when he opened the palm there were only a few grains which he
dropped into her basket. The old woman
was thrilled.
- My
darling, you are so responsible and honest.
I wanted to give you the fruit without
anything from you in return and
just kidded but you took it seriously.
Again she hugged him and felt very
happy.
When
she returned from Gokulam she was the most happiest person on earth as she was
lucky to see Krishna, hug him and give him a good fruit she selected for
him. Though she had disposed of all the
fruits she was singing until she reached home.
She
did not realise that her basket was still heavy until then. She wondered why
still heavy even after selling the fruits?
When the basket was taken off her head and put down on the pial of her
house, she looked for the cause of the
weight and was astonished to find the basket full of precious stones like rubies, emeralds,
corals, pearls and so many other stones the names of which both she and I
don’t know! She recognized that all the rice grains which were dropped down into her basket by
Krishna had turned into these precious stones.
-
Krishna, is this what I demanded from
you for parting with my fruit?
No, it is no bargain. Krishna knew what brought her to him. She wished to give him what best she had, out
of her pure love without seeking money in return, and He rewarded her for such
an act.
The
old woman was stunned and tears dropped down from her eyes in gratitude as the words came out from the deep recesses of
her heart “K R I S H N A A A !”
Dear
children, you know that Krishna worships His devotees more than
their worshipping Him!
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