The Momma Clan

 It was a beautiful morning of the Bhado month. But, it was not any ordinary morning. Amidst the excruciating heat,  it was a festive day for Gokul. And why wouldn’t it be? It was their darling Kanha’s birthday! Kanha’s birthday was celebrated with a lot of pomp and show. Everyone showed immense enthusiasm, of course, everyone loves to make their loved ones feel special. All the residents decorated their houses and prepared for his birthday celebration in the evening. Many wise sages and priests were invited from far off places to seek their blessings. Religious ceremonies were conducted to evoke the gods and demigods.

Every year, Kanha fussed a lot while giving away return gifts to his little friends. He always wanted to give the best return gifts. But, He was always dissatisfied with what his father bought for him to give His friends as return gifts. So, this year, Nanda Maharaj started preparing long before His birthday. He traveled to various places across the seas and collected the  most valuable items from different  countries so that Kanha could give  them to His friends. Therefore, he was quite confident that Kanha would not make a fuss this year.                                            

It was finally evening, and Kanha got ready for the celebration. He wore a new, shiny amber dhoti. His bare, bluish-black arms were embellished with sparkling gold armlets. Beautiful gold necklaces hung from his little neck which reached till his tiny belly button. His chubby, innocent face was decorated with intricately painted patterns which started from over his perfectly shaped eyebrows and ran all the way down to his puffy cheeks. His eyes glowed with happiness and His face was radiant. He wore a tightly tied, vermilion orange colored pagri where he tucked his signature peacock feather. The wide smile on His lips that made cute little dimples appear on His cheek, completed His look.        

 His friends started to come along with their parents. Each of them came to greet Kanha and shower their blessings and good wishes. One of his friends named Bhadra came and wished him. He wanted to give a gift to Him. But, being a little boy of just around four years, he did not know what to give and he did not have any money to buy a gift for Him. So, he just went outside to find something. After a lot of brainstorming, he found a very precious thing. Since they were gwal baals (cowherd boys), cows and cow products were the most cherished items for them. So, he took some cow dung in his little palm and ran all the way to Kanha. He applied some cow dung on his thumb and made a tilak of cow dung on Kanha’s forehead. Kanha was elated. He ran around his palace to show everyone the priceless tilak given to Him by his best friend.

Then, another friend named Madhumangal brought a simple garland of little flowers and leaves. Kanhas heart inflated with euphoria. Again he ran all around his palace to flaunt his invaluable garland. This went on and on as each of the cowherd boys came in and gave their gifts. Though they were so simple and ordinary yet for Kanha they were exquisite and royal as He looked beyond the superficial value and measured those gifts with the love of his friends. 

Now finally it was the time when Kanha had to give them return gifts. Nanda Maharaj proudly unveiled all the precious items that he had collected from around the world. Kanha went near those gifts and started to inspect them with his tiny hands. He saw shiny gems and jewels, antique pieces and many such attractive and glittering objects nobody  had ever seen. But to everyone’s surprise his face showed traces of dissatisfaction and disbelief. He vigorously searched through the gifts with the hope of finding something that could match the valuable gifts of his friends. But alas! He failed and He started to cry.

 Seeing his beloved little brother cry so helplessly, Balram put on his thinking cap. Suddenly, he got an idea. With a smile on his face, he told Kanha that the most precious gift that he could give to anyone is Himself. Kanha loved the idea and He ran to each of His friends, embraced them tightly and whispered, “I am yours.”

And thus the sweet pastime of little Kanha ends with a profound message. Lord Krishna is so merciful. Whoever offers Him even a little flower or leaf, He reciprocates by giving Himself. Even in the Bhagavad Gita, He said,                  

patram puspam phalam toyam

yo me bhaktya prayacchati

tad aham bhakty-upahrtam

asnami prayatatmanah

“If one offers with love and devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or some water, I will accept  it.”

In our day to day life also, we must never measure someone’s  love with the price tags of the gifts they give. It should rather focus on their intention and the underlying love which is extremely valuable and could be matched by no materialistic possession. No matter how expensive or rare, no object is equivalent to true love. So,  instead of trying to give gifts with an expensive price tag, we  should focus on cultivating true love for the person and offer ourselves, which means always being there and loving unconditionally even in the worst of the situations.

-Udeeta Borpujari