Hari Om
Once Lord Krishna was having prasadam (divine offering post a Pooja) while Goddess Rukmini Mata was attending to him, serving him. At the same time, a devotee of Lord Krishna was walking in the forest alone when a wild stray dog, came towards him and started attacking him.
At Dwaraka, Lord Krishna could immediately sense his devotee in discomfort and danger and instantly got up to go help his devotee from his crisis.
However, suddenly Lord Krishna calmed down and sat back, eating his Prasad again. Rukmini mata was completely confused by his behaviour and questioned his sudden change of mind and behaviour. When Lord Krishna explained the whole situation to her, she was further perplexed and asked him why he has decided to not help his devotee?
Lord Krishna enlightened Rukmini mata on the reasons behind his behaviour. While he was ready to protect the devotee immediately, the devotee instead of having unfaltering faith in him, picked up a big stone to attack the dog.
Krishna concluded that while he wanted to protect his devotee his behaviour was similar to that of the dog, aggressive with an intention to hurt another living being. So, he couldn’t justify his attendance in this situation.
Help Ever…..Hurt Never…..
Very often, human beings get frustrated, agitated and angered by not leaving matters to the Lord with complete faith and devotion. It is important to demonstrate unconditional love and trust in Lord Krishna and his ability to protect his devotees. Lord Krishna is ever eager to help his devotees, help us grow love and devotion for him. Although Krishna’s tender concern for his devotees is unconditional, he will not restrict or alter with the free will of the living person. In order to receive his grace and mercy, we must showcase deep level of sincerity or inclination toward Him. His liberal attitude towards his devotees exercising their free will is similar to that of a kind, understanding parent.
In “Sanatana Gosvami’s Brihad- Bhagavatamrita”, after Gopakumara finally returns to the spiritual world, Krishna hugs him and says, “I’m happy that you have come back. For so long I was awaiting an opportunity to bring you to Me.” We should always embrace Lord Krishna’s willingness to protect us and take us to higher levels of enlightenment.
To purify the mind, one should practice noble and sacred thoughts of service to others. One who does not hurt anyone and has feelings of love and compassion to fellow beings is the greatest of men. That is why sage Vyasa gave the essence of the eighteen Puranas (scriptures) in the aphorism: Help Ever, Hurt Never.
It is important to let go of anger and ego while handling people and situations, which often leads to envy of others. Envy stems from pride always and get manifested into full blown anger and rage. This becomes like a poison a person is holding on to, harbouring resentment towards others. It is hence imperative to never hold grudges, as harbouring resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
Some of us may try to justify by saying that they had to intentionally hurt someone else because that someone first hurt them. For this Satya Sai Baba used to respond:
“When the tooth accidentally bites your tongue, do you get angry and break the tooth that hurt it so? No! For, the teeth and tongue are both yours! Similarly, the one hurts you and you, are both limbs of the same body called God.”
We should never hurt anyone as everything we do to others will definitely come back to us after a certain period of time as similar kind of experience.
Help Ever……Hurt Never…..
GF’ Blessings.
