Story 10 Dinabandhu dada
PRABHUPĀDA: So Kṛṣṇa is never diminished.
There is a little story, very interesting.
So, one poor boy, he was student in a school,
and the teacher’s annual ceremony of father’s death would be held.
So he requested all his student, “What you will give me, contribution?”
Formerly the teacher was not taking any salary.
But whatever he wanted,
the students will bring either from parents’ house or by begging.
That was the system.
The teacher would not charge anything.
A brāhmaṇa cannot be… charge anything.
Generally, the brāhmaṇas were teachers.
That is one of the profession of the brāhmaṇa.
Everyone must have livelihood.
So brāhmaṇa livelihood is paṭhana pāṭhana.
He must become a learned scholar, and he will make others also learned scholar.
That is brāhmaṇa’s business.
paṭhana pāṭhana yajana yājana dāna pratigrahaḥ [?]
Ṣaṭ-karma.
Six kinds of profession for the brāhmaṇas.
And Kṣatriya’s profession
is to give protection to the citizen and levy some tax,
twenty-five percent, not more than that.
Whatever is income your, give twenty- five percent to the kṣatriya king.
That’s all.
That includes sales tax, this tax, that tax, so many tax, income tax.
All finished.
You give twenty-five percent.
And if you have no income, no tax.
Not like that even you have no income, “No, last year you gave so much tax.
You must give it.
Otherwise your property will be sold.”
Not like that.
So that is kṣatriya’s income.
Similarly, vaiśya’s income, Kṛṣi- go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam [Bg. 18.44],
agriculture, cow protection,
and if there is excess foodstuff, then he can sell, make trade.
And śūdras, they will simply help.
So this teacher, the original story, the teacher asked the student for…
Somebody said, “I will contribute this cloth,”
somebody said, “I’ll [contribute some] rice,”
somebody said something, something, something.
No, there was one poor student, he had no means.
He was very poor.
So when he was asked, so he replied that,
“I cannot say anything without asking my mother.”
“All right, you ask your mother and tell me tomorrow.”
So he asked,
“My dear mother,
all my class friend has promised the teacher to contribute this, that, this, that.
So my turn is there; what can I promise?”
The mother said, “My dear son, we are so poor, we cannot give anything.
But if Kṛṣṇa gives, He is dīna- bandhu, the friend of the poor.
So if He gives something to you, you can promise.”
“Oh, where is Kṛṣṇa, and what is His name?”
“Now, His name is Dīnabandhu, friend of the poor.”
“Where He is?”
“I understand that He is in the forest.”
So, he went to the forest and called,
“Dīnabandhu brother, Dīnabandhu brother, where are You?”
He began to cry.
So Kṛṣṇa came.
When a devotee is very much eager to see Him, Kṛṣṇa comes.
He [is very] kind.
So “Why you are asking?”
“My mother… You are Dīnabandhu?
So this is my condition, sir; what can I promise?”
So, He said that “You promise that you will supply yogurt, dahi.
You will supply dahi.”
So, he was very much satisfied.
And he came to the teacher that,
“My Dīnabandhu brother, dādā,
He’ll supply dahi, or yogurt, for whatever you require.”
“Oh, that’s nice; very good.”
So on the day of ceremony, say…
He went to the forest again and called Dīnabandhu dādā,
and He gave him a small pot of dahi, yogurt, a small pot.
Oh, he was a child; he did not know.
And he brought it to the teacher, “Now, this is my contribution.
My Dīnabandhu brother has given.
So you take.”
“The hundreds and thousands of people will be given foodstuff
and this much dahi?”
He became very angry.
He became angry; he did not care,
and the pot fell down, and the yogurt also fell down.
But after some time,
when he came, he saw that although the yogurt has fallen down, the pot is full.
Then he again dropped it; again it is full.
He dropped it; again it is full.
Then he could understand it is spiritual.
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation]
You take the whole thing; still, the whole thing is there.
That is Kṛṣṇa.
Not that because you have taken something, one minus one equal to zero.
No.
In the spiritual world, one minus one equal to one.
And one plus one equal to one.
That is called advaya-jñāna.
There is no duality.
Plus and minus, they are two things.
But in the spiritual world, either plus or minus, the same.
That is to be understood.
That is called Absolute, advaya.
Subtitles by Pratyatoṣa Dāsa, Causelessmercy.com