Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking to the devotees in San Jose
18 August 2013

Question: When will you come here?

I am always with you, Prabhu. [His Divine Grace chuckles.]

One day, Krishna went to the jungle, forest, with his friends (Madhu Mangal, Balaram, Sridam, Sudam and others), and suddenly the boys got very hungry. They said, "O Krishna, we are very hungry, we cannot walk!" Krishna told them, "There is one brahman village near this place where we have come to. The brahmans are making some yajna (fire-sacrifice), you can go there and ask them for some fruit or sweets. Tell them My name—say Krishna is sitting over there and He has sent you to them."

The cowherd boys went to the place where the brahmans were doing the yajna and said to the brahmans, "Krishna has come here, He is very hungry, He is asking for some fruit or sweets..." The brahmans became very angry, "Hey! What are you doing here?! We are doing Vishnu puja! A cowherd boy has come and He is hungry, so what? Who do you think you are? 'Krishna is hungry!'—why must we give you food? Get out!!"

The boys ran away and returned to Krishna, "They did not give us anything! They kicked us out..." Krishna is very clever, so He told them, "All right. The brahmans are doing their fire-sacrifice, but their wives are all at home. Go to them and say, 'Krishna is very hungry, can you give something for Him?'" Before Krishna could even finish, the boy had already gone to the brahmans' wives.

The cowherd boys came to the houses of the brahmans' wives and said, "Krishna has come, He is here in the forest and He is very hungry..." The ladies became excited, "Oh, Krishna has come?! To our village? He is here nearby? Where? Where is He? We want to see Him! You say He is hungry? Take this, take this." They took whatever food they could find in the house and went with the boys to Krishna.

Suddenly the brahmans saw the cowherd boys walking past—with their wives walking behind them. They were surprised, "Hey, where are our wives going?! It must be another game of Krishna! What if they are going to see Krishna?" They became very angry...

Anyhow, they came to Krishna. They were very happy to see Him, and Krishna was also happy. The ladies gave Krishna some food and asked Him anxiously, "How is it? Is it cooked well?" Krishna said, "Yes, it is very nice, very nice. I am very happy. I was very hungry today and your husbands did not give Me anything, but it is so nice that you have brought some food." Then, Krishna said,

"So, I have finished eating, you can go now..."

"Go?! But we do not want to go! Besides, our husbands have seen us and they will not take us back. They have already divorced us... We do not want to go, please let us stay."

"How can you stay? It is not good. I am a ksatriya and you are brahmans' wives, it does not look right, please go."

"No, no, no! We do not want to go, and our husbands have already seen us coming here." They began to cry so much and said then, "You do not like us... You are always with the gopis, they serve You so much, but because we cannot serve You properly You do not want us to stay... All right, then we will stay and become servitors of the gopis! Can we?"

"Yes, this is the proper line," said Krishna, but then added, "Do not worry, I will make some illusory environment and you can go back to your husbands, they will not say anything to you, they will accept you happily. It is better if you stay far and worship Me from far. You can worship My sach-chid-ananda vigraha, then, through separation, you will feel even happier."

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