The Greatest Devotee

At Kodaikanal, Baba spoke about Arjuna’s ego, to show that even great people in a moment of ignorance can make mistakes.

One day, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna, “My dear Lord, do You have a devotee who is as close to You as I am?” Lord Krishna was standing on top of a hill and He said, “Do you see the man working in the field there? Go to him and he will give you the answer.” Arjuna found the man busily consuming dried grass, though he was working in a green vegetable garden. Arjuna wondered why Krishna had sent him to a mad man. Anyway, he asked him, “Dear sir, will you tell me what you are doing?” The man turned around and said “Can’t you see? I am enjoying my lunch.” Then Arjuna asked him “There are many green vegetables over here. Why are you eating the dried grass?” The man said, “God has created the plants, animals, and human beings. Human beings have human life, animals have animal life, and plants have plant life. I do not want to destroy any more life and create karma which I will have to pay back. Lord Krishna is here and I want to merge in this life with God. Therefore, I am consuming this dried grass. It has the nutrition to keep me alive.”

Arjuna was amazed at his devotion. Then he found that the man carried a sword, so he asked him what that was for. The man quickly drew his sword out and said, “Oh, I am just waiting to kill those four people.” Arjuna was shocked at this; he could not understand all this. “Here is a man who did not want to consume green vegetables, yet he is carrying a sword to kill four people. What kind of devotion is this?” Arjuna wondered.

Then he asked him, “Please, tell me who is the first person you want to kill?” He said, “I want to kill Narada.” Arjuna was shocked because Narada was a very great devotee, a messenger of God who traveled from one plane to another. So Arjuna asked him, “Why are you eagerly waiting to kill Narada?” He said, “Narada doesn’t give the Lord a moment of peace. He keeps on chanting ‘Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.’ My poor Lord doesn’t have a few minutes rest as a result of this.”

Then Arjuna asked him, “Who is the second person you want to kill?” He said, “I want to kill Prahlada.” Arjuna said, “What, you want to kill a little boy, what for?” He said, “Prahlada humiliated my Lord. He made Him take the form of half lion and half human and go into a pillar.”

Arjuna asked, “Who is the third person?” He replied, “Oh, that lady, Draupadi.” Arjuna was shocked, “What, you want to kill such a great lady, so close to Lord Krishna?” The man replied, “One day, my Lord took a handful of food, brought it to His mouth, but, instead of putting it into the mouth, He had to take the food and put it back on to the plate and rush off to help Draupadi when she was stripped of her sari. So, for worrying my Lord at a time when He sat down to have His meal, I will kill her. My poor Lord cannot even enjoy His meal.”

Arjuna then asked the next question, “Who is the fourth person you want to kill?” The man said, “Oh, he is the person that I hate the most. Do you see this sword, I will cut him into pieces for the way he worried my Lord. I have not seen him as yet but let someone show me who he is and see what I will do to him. Arjuna asked, “Who is that person?” He said, “That person is Arjuna.” A cold shiver ran down Arjuna’s spine and he asked, “Why do you want to kill Arjuna?” The man replied “For eighteen long days, he humiliated my Lord. He made my Lord his charioteer. My Lord had to go on His knees and he would place his foot on my Lord’s shoulder and get on to the chariot. Then, with his foot, he would press on to the Lord’s shoulder and say—turn right, turn left, stop, go faster, and so on. For abusing my Lord like that, I hate him most and I will kill him the moment I see him”.

Arjuna realized that there were very great devotees of Lord Krishna who may not be close to Him physically. He went up the hill to Lord Krishna and he put his head down and said, ‘Thank you, my Lord. Now I know that you have very great devotees.” Lord Krishna told him, “Arjuna, no man has a yardstick to measure the devotion of any human being. I only have that yardstick.”