184 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Lord Krsna assured Sudama Vipra that He would be very glad to accept
the chipped rice which he had brought from home, yet out of great
shyness, Sudima Vipra hesitated to present it to the Lord. He was
thinking, ‘““How can I offer such insignificant things to Krsna?” and he
simply bowed his head.

Lord Krsna, the Supersoul, knows everything in everyone’s heart. He
knows everyone’s determination and everyone’s want. He knew, there-
fore, the reason for Sudaéma Vipra’s coming to Him. He knew that, driven
by extreme poverty, he had come there at the request of his wife. Thinking
of Sudama as His very dear class friend, He knew that Sudima’s love for
Him as a friend was never tainted by any desire for material benefit. Krsna
thought, ““Sudama has not come asking anything from Me, but being
obliged by the request of his wife, he has come to see Me just to please
her.” Lord Krsna therefore decided that He would give more material
opulence to Sudima Vipra than could be imagined even by the King of
heaven.

He then snatched the bundel of chipped rice which was hanging on the
shoulder of the poor brahmana, packed in one corner of his wrapper, and
said, “What is this? My dear friend, you have brought Me nice, palatable
chipped rice!” He encouraged Sudama Vipra, saying, “I consider that this
quantity of chipped rice will not only satisfy Me, but will satisfy the
whole creation.” It is understood from this statement that Krsna, being
the original source of everything, is the root of the entire creation. As
watering the root of a tree immediately distributes water to every part of
the tree, so an offering made to Krsna, or any action done for Krsna, is to
be considered the highest welfare work for everyone, because the benefit of
such an offering is distributed throughout the creation. Love for Krsna
becomes distributed to all living entities.

While Lord Krsna was speaking to Sudama Vipra, He ate one morsel of
chipped rice from his bundle, and when He attempted to eat a second
morsel, Rukminidevi, who is the goddess of fortune herself, checked the
Lord by catching hold of His hand. After touching the hand of Krsna,
Rukmini said, ‘My dear Lord, this one morsel of chipped rice is sufficient
to cause him who offered it to become very opulent in this life and to
continue his opulence in the next life. My Lord, You are so kind to Your
devotee that even this one morsel of chipped rice pleases You very greatly,
and Your pleasure assures the devotee opulence both in this life and in the
next.” This indicates that when food is offered to Lord Krsna with love
and devotion and He is pleased and accepts it from the devotee, Rukmini-
devi, the goddess of fortune, becomes so greatly obliged to the devotee
