Lord Krishna And Sudama

Indian mythology is embellished with vivacious tales of all kinds of relations. One of the most cherished relationships since the age of God is friendship. Krishna-Sudama, Hanuman-Sugriva, and Shri Ram–Sugriva are a few tales of eternal friendship that have been encouraging the world till this age and will continue in the coming ages also. Filled with the emotions of uncompromised love, selflessness, sacrifice, and devotion, Krishna Sudama- is a timeless saga of true friendship.

Also Read: Krishna and Meera- The Undying Love story

Let us delve into an epic story of the friendship of rich and poor, God and Human, devotee and Divinity of Lord Krishna and Sudama-

Sudama– Avatar of Narada (son of Lord Brahma)

Narada, the godly sage and the son of Lord Brahma known for his epic dialogue, “Narayan –Narayan” was born as a Sudama to be part of the journey of lord Krishn, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu. He witnessed Krishna Leela’s, games of lord Krishna during his tenure in Vrindavan and Nanada Village.

Krishna and Sudama- Childhood friends

Born to a poor family, Sudama and Lord Krishna were schoolmates who studied in the ashram of Acharya Sandipan in Vrindavan. Sudama was born in a pitiable Brahmin family with parents named Matuka and Rochana Devi. Whereas, Deity Krishna born to Devaki and Vasu Deva was entrusted to King Nanda of Nand Gaon (Village) to protect him from his maternal Uncle King Kansa. Affluent and poor were best friends irrespective of their financial status in Gurukul and unknowingly marked their imprints in Indian mythology as the epitome of best friends.

Curse, Sudama, and Chickpeas– Devotion of Sudama

Once, an old and poor Brahmini’s chickpeas which she collected after 5 days of begging assistance for food were stolen by thieves. Assuming that they had got the treasure, the thieves ran away and  hid in the ashram of Acharya Sandipan. They ran away from the ashram as well from the fear of getting caught red-handed and forgot their chickpeas there in the ashram. Petrified by the loss, the poor Brahmin gave the curse that “whoever will eat those stolen chickpeas will remain poor throughout their life”.

Guru Mata, the wife of sage Sandipan asked Krishna and Sudama to get wood for Ashram. She gave the bag of Chickpeas to Sudama asking to share with Krishna on being hungry. Sudama learned the curse after holding a chickpeas pouch and decided to eat them completely to protect his dearest friend from the curse of the scarcity of wealth.

Childhood chickpeas tale depicts the protective nature and love of Sudama who ate the cursed chickpeas to protect him from lifelong poverty. They both after completing their education departed to their abodes, where Krishna got the throne of Kingdom of Dwarka and Sudama on the other hand got the thorn of poverty. His devotion, fondness and Krishna Puja continued even after separation.

Sudama And Krishna– Reunion After Years In Dwarka

Sudama spent his life in the religious homam, puja, mantra, etc with his strong memories and love for his childhood friend Lord Krishna. Married Sudama had a family comprising of a wife and kids. Uninterested in earning money, Sudama was always short of money due to curse also. Often his kids slept without food at night. Sudama’s love for Krishna didn’t decline even after years and used to tell the tales of the lord to his kids. His wife Susheela once coerced him to go and meet Lord Krishna to get some household help for his family.

Sudama would always tell his wife that Krishna must be aware of their grief and there is no need to go and meet him in person. Krishna knows everything and get all you ask Krishna even silently. A knight-errant, in the meantime, continued to trouble and attack Sudama since he didn’t believe in Krishna. Every wound was felt by Krishna who was ruling Dwarka, but didn’t come to his help because the thirsty goes to well and the Lord wanted him to be approached.

Under the severe intimidation of the Knight and compulsion of his wife, Sudama finally decided to visit Dwarka to meet his great friend. The thought of visiting a friend’s house without a gift kept him wondering how Lord Krishna’s family would feel. On sharing his grief with Susheela, she came up with a handful of rice packed in a small cloth. Sudama left for Dwarka in his usual torn clothes and completely barefoot. Will lord Krishna recognize him? What would be the reaction of Krishna's on seeing him? Will guards allow him to meet Krishna? Will anyone believe that I am a friend of Krishna? Many questions kept flooding in his mind. Eventually famished and poor Sudama reached Dwarka.

Amazed by the beauty of Dwarka, Sudama kept on looking for the castle of Krishna. Guards insulted and restrained him from entering the castle. They ironically and sarcastically asked, how a beggar can have a royal friend. Krishna got the intuition and asked his people to let the person come inside. Hearing that Sudama was standing at the main gate, Krishna ran away directly to the main gate. With tears rolling from the eyes of Krishna, heart full of emotions, Krishna cuddled Sudama and offered his throne to him. He cleaned the wounds of Sudama with his tears and every drop of tear falling on the feet of Sudama relieved him from pain and suffering.

Lord Krishna mollified Sudama with great hospitality and offered him food. Krishna noticed that Sudama had something in a pouch and was hiding it. Out of curiosity, he asked Sudama to show him the gift, and Krishna was overwhelmed to see the gift that his wife had sent for him. Sudama engulfed the uncooked rice leaving Sudamaand his wife stunned. Krishna secretly decided to pay for every grain of rice that he had eaten. After a few days, Sudama decided to leave Dwarka and return home. Krishna insisted that Sudama stay longer as he wanted to revive his old days and spend more time with his friend. Sudama finally returned with no expensive gifts and cash, neither for his wife nor for his kids. He finally reached his village in an anxious mental state wondering what his family would say since his rich friend returned him empty hand.

A pleasant surprise awaited Sudama

He reached his home location and was perturbed because his old and broken-winded hut was replaced by a lavish palace. Scruffy and dingy surroundings of the house had converted into a vibrant gardens. The locality which had poor-class people was now dwelled by elite-class people. He was dazed and wondering where his house and family had gone. He saw a beautiful lady dressed in an expensive attire no less than a queen comingout. She ran towards him in joy with thankfulness towards almighty Krishna. Sudama understood that it was Leela of his Leela Dhar,  his beloved lord Shri Krishna. With gratitude towards his friend, Sudama spent the rest of his life in luxuries and leisure without losing his modesty. It is believed that Lord Krishna and Sudama reunited on Akshay Tritiya.

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