23 / Delivering the Wives of the Brāhmaṇas Who Performed Sacrifices
The morning passed, and the cowherd boys were very hungry because they had not eaten breakfast. They immediately approached Krṣṇa and Balarāma and said, “Dear Krṣṇa and Balarāma, You are both all-powerful; You can kill many, many demons, but today we are much afflicted with hunger, and this is disturbing us. Please arrange for something that will mitigate our hunger.”
Requested in this way by Their friends, Lord Krṣṇa and Balarāma immediately showed compassion on certain wives of  brāhmaṇas  who were performing sacrifices. These wives were great devotees of the Lord, and Krṣṇa took this opportunity to bless them. He said, “My dear friends, please go to the house of the  brāhmaṇas  nearby. They are now engaged in performing Vedic sacrifices known as  ānigirasa , for they desire elevation to heavenly planets. All of you please go to them.” Then Lord Krṣṇa warned His friends, “These  brāhmaṇas  are not Vaiṣṇavas. They cannot even chant Our names, Krṣṇa and Balarāma. They are very busy in chanting the Vedic hymns, although the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to find Me. But because they are not attracted by the names of Krṣṇa and Balarāma, you had better not ask them for anything in My name. Better ask for some charity in the name of Balarāma.”
Charity is generally given to high class  brāhmaṇas , but Krṣṇa and Balarāma did not appear in a  brāhmaṇa  family. Balarāma was known as the son of Vasudeva, a  kṣatriya , and Krṣṇa was known in Vṛndāvana as the son of Nanda Mahārāja, who was a  vaiśya . Neither belonged to the  brāhmaṇa  community. Therefore, Krṣṇa considered that the  brāhmaṇas  engaged in performing sacrifices might not be induced to give charity to a  kṣatriya  and  vaiśya . “But at least if you utter the name of Balarāma, they may prefer to give in charity to a  kṣatriya , rather than to Me, because I am only a  vaiśya .”
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