Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

The Secret of the Gift

Toronto, Ontario

I’ve known Leena Taneja since she was a little girl. She is the daughter of the temple president here in Toronto – Subuddhi, and she has become a theologian, a scholar and a teacher at Stetson University in Deland Florida. I really enjoyed reading her recent paper “The secret of ‘The gift’ in the Bengali Vaishnava Tradition.” It has appeared in the journal of Vaishnava Studies, volume 18 no.1

It is December and in Canada where 60% of the people claim to be Christian there is in their tradition the enactment of gift giving although the exchange of presents is not exclusive to the Christian world.

Here is an excerpt from that paper that I found very endearing.

“After recalling these childhood days together, Krishna cheekily asked his friend (Sudhama): “What present have you brought for me? Even the slightest offering- a particle given with affection from my devotee is considered by me as very great.” Embarrassed by his paltry gift, Sudama merely hangs his head. Krishna understanding his mind, snatches the gift of parched rice (which was tied up in a rag) from under the clothes of Sudama, and begins eating it with great satisfaction. Krishna takes a second handful of rice to eat when he’s stopped by Rukmini who tells him the handful of rice he has eaten is more than sufficient in granting Sudama all kinds of wealth and prosperity in return.

The next morning Sudama sets off for his return journey home. He did not ask anything from Krishna in return but was satisfied thinking about the time they spent together.

When he arrives home, he discovers that his old dwelling has been replaced by a palace surrounded by pleasure gardens, pools, and many attendants. The Brahmin’s wife is marvelously transformed in to a beautiful maiden. Sudama realizes that his unexpected prosperity is due to his dear friend Lord Krishna. The story ends with Sudama thinking the following words, ”Although what he gives is immensely abundant, he looks upon it as very little. And whatever insignificant gift is offered by his friend, he regards as very great. That high-souled affectionate friend accepted with pleasure the meager handful of parched, flattened rice that I offered him.”

4 Km