Saturday, March 24, 2018

Raghu dasa and Lord Jagannath steal jackfruit.
Once Jagannath came to Raghu and told him to go with Him to steal jackfruit from the Kings garden. Raghu said, “Why do You want to steal jackfruit? If You have a desire to eat jackfruit, then let me know and I will get a nice jackfruit for You.” Lord Jagannath replied, “In this way I am getting everything from My devotee. In fact, I have everything. Mother Yasoda would feed Me so much butter and give Me pleasure. But still I go to the homes of others for the purpose of stealing butter. There is a special pleasure in eating stolen things. Today I want you to experience that pleasure of stealing. Please come with Me!"
Helpless, Raghu agreed to the Lord’s proposal and accompanied Him. Both of them entered the King’s garden. Jagannath told Raghu, “You should climb the tree. I will stand on the ground. You will pluck the best and biggest jackfruit and throw it down. I will stand here and catch it. Then both of us will run away.” Raghu followed the order of the Lord exactly as He had instructed. He climbed the jackfruit tree and located the best and biggest jackfruit and plucked it. “Jagannath!” he called out. “Are You ready?” Jagannath replied, “Yes! I am ready, throw it.” Raghu threw the jackfruit down, expecting Jagannath to catch it. But where was Jagannath? He had run away. No one was there to catch the jackfruit. It crashed to the ground, making a big sound and split open. When the King’s gardener heard the sound, he understood that someone had entered the garden to steal jackfruit. He immediately ran to the spot and found the big jackfruit lying split open on the ground, yet he didn’t see anyone around. When he looked up he saw Raghu Dasa sitting in the tree. The gardener immediately ran to the King and told him that Raghu Dasa was stealing jackfruit from his garden. “He is still there sitting on the top of the tree!” he told the King excitedly. The King could not believe that Raghu had entered his garden to steal jackfruit. So the King gathered his ministers and went to the spot where the gardener indicated. He was surprised to see Raghu Dasa sitting on the tree and the jackfruit lying on the ground. On the request of the King, Raghu came down from the tree. The King asked Raghu, “My dear . Prabhu, if you desired to eat jackfruit, why have you gone to the trouble of coming to my garden in the middle of the night and climbing a tree? You could have told me. I would have picked the jackfruit and sent it to your house.” Raghu told the King the whole story about how he was cheated by Lord Jagannath. Everyone enjoyed hearing the pastime of the Lord, and they all laughed. They glorified Raghu for his greatness. In this way, Raghu would have pastimes with Lord Jagannath in the mood of friendship..
Courtesy - Sugathi Krishna dasa

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