The Priest and the Thief

A brahman (priest), whose profession was singing the glories of the Lord, was once reciting Bhagavatham in the house of a pa­tron. A thief broke into the house where the recital was going on and hid himself in the attic. Perforce he had to listen to the Bhagavatham. The singer was describing the ornaments worn by Krishna. He described the various or­naments Yasoda (Krishna’s foster mother) put on Krishna before sending Him out with the cows. The thief thought he should kill the lad Krishna and rob all the ornaments at one stroke instead of struggling every day with petty stealing. He waited until the brahman finished the story, then left the place.

Wanting to know where the boy was, the thief followed the brahman and waylaid him. The brahman, frightened that he would lose the small amount collected as dakshina (reverential offering given to guru/priest), told the thief, “I do not have anything with me.” The thief said, “I do not want any material from you. I only want some information. You were telling of a woman, Yasoda, who adorned a boy, Krishna, with ornaments before she sent him to graze the cows. I want to know where I can find him.” The brahman was in a fix. Cleverly, he told the thief, “There is a book in my house where I keep all these particulars. Come with me.”

He took the thief to his house, looked in a book, and said, “In Brindavan, on the banks of River Yamuna, in a green meadow, two boys will come in the morning—one dark like the cloud with a flute, the other fair, clad in white silk. The dark one will have all the ornaments I described.” The thief believed the story and set out to Brindavan immediately. He located the place, climbed up a tree, and waited for the boys. The sun rose. The faint melody of the flute wafted on the morning breeze. When the enchanting music grew closer, the thief spotted two boys coming. He got down from the tree and went near them. The moment he saw them, he forgot himself, folded his hands and shed tears of joy. He wondered what wretched mother had sent these radiant boys—vigrahas (forms) chiseled to perfection and loaded with ornaments—to the river bank. Since the thief had listened carefully to the story of Krishna as told by the brahman, he noticed that Krishna was not wearing one specific ornament that had been described. He wanted to adorn Krishna with the missing ornament, which he wanted to get even it meant stealing, and enjoy the sight to his heart’s content. Just as a cloud covers the bright sun, wicked thoughts enveloped his mind again. He ap­proached the boys to kill them.

Shouting, “Stop,” he held Krishna’s hand. The mo­ment he touched Krishna, all his previous karma was wiped clean and he inquired lovingly, “Who are you?” Krishna said, “Let go of My hands. I am frightened by your looks.” The thief said, “My evil mind is reflected in my face. If you are frightened, I will go away.” Krishna asked the thief, “Have you for­gotten the purpose for which you have come? Here, take my ornaments.” Confused, the thief said, “Will not your mother scold you if you give all your ornaments to me?” Krishna smiled and said, “Do not worry about that. I have plenty of them. I am a bigger thief than you are. But there is a difference between you and me. However much I steal, the owners do not complain. I am lovingly called chittachora (one who steals the heart). Though you are not aware of it, you have a precious ornament in your possession —the chitta (heart). I shall steal it now and take it with Me.” So saying, both boys vanished.

To his surprise, the thief found a bag full of ornaments on his shoulder. He took it to the brahman’s house and told him what had happened. Frightened, the brahman took the thief inside and opened the bag. To his utter amazement he saw all the ornaments described as being worn by Krishna in Bhagavatham. Shedding tears of joy, the brahman asked the thief to take him to the place where he saw the dark boy. The thief obliged and both of them waited in the spot where the thief had accosted the boy on the previous day. Sud­denly the thief exclaimed, “Look. Here they come!” But the brahman could not see anyone. Stricken with remorse, he said, “Swami, when You can give darsan (sight of a holy person) to a thief, why not to me? If You do not give darshan to me, I shall end my life.” Krishna said, “You were reading Bhagavatham as just another story. The thief, on the other hand, believed what you told him. I manifest only for those who surrender to Me.” Sincere belief takes one nearer to God.