Meditation On The Story Of Kuchela (Kuchela Returns Home)

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The Vedanta Kesari, p. 306-310, August 2005, Ramakrishna Mission

After basking in the sunshine of Krishna"s unbounded love and hospitality for a time, Kuchela takes leave of Krishna and wends his way homeward. Kuchela has had a close and warm interaction with Krishna to his heart"s content. But, what about the prayer for wealth – the crucial task with which he was entrusted by his wife when he set out for Dwaraka? Well, the thought of petitioning Krishna for wealth never crosses his mind. In this, Kuchela may be considered a precursor to Swami Vivekananda.

Urged by Sri Ramakrishna, Swamiji thrice presents himself before Goddess Kali for praying for removal of poverty and bestowal of wealth. But, every time Swamiji stations himself before the Goddess, he forgets to pray for wealth but, instead, prays for wisdom, devotion and dispassion.

Though the ostensible purpose of Kuchela"s journey to Dwaraka is to satisfy his wife"s wish to seek wealth from Krishna. Kuchela does not so much as make even an oblique hint of his dire need for wealth. Even as he departs for Dwaraka, his mind is so fully dominated by Krishna-consciousness, that his wife"s plea hardly registers itself in his mind.

Krishna, the All-knowing, could realize the sense of lack acutely felt by Kuchela"s wife and sets about redressing that lack. He wills instantaneous affluence for Kuchela"s family, as He has the divine certainty of incorruptibility of Kuchela by even an avalanche of affluence. Kuchela is on his homeward trek totally unaware of his sudden prosperity brought about by the divine will of Krishna. Kuchela, it is true, is conscious that he is poor. But, he is, because of the brimming bliss of his Krishna-consciousness, not conscious that poverty is painful. In this he resembles Kunti who prays to Krishna for perpetual adversity. He knows, with Kunti, the secret that the pain of poverty is swept away by the inundating ecstasy of Krishna-consciousness and is not at all an annoying factor.

Enwrapped in Krishna-consciousness, Kuchela reaches his hovel only to be stupefied by the scene that he witnesses. For a moment, Kuchela wonders whether he has strayed from his way and reached a wrong place. For he does not find his rickety and ramshackle house at all, but, in its place, a magnificent mansion. The mansion is so artistic and ornate that it silently proclaims the astounding opulence of its owner. When Kuchela stands, unable to believe his eyes, his wife, well-adorned with precious jewels and attired in glittering costumes, emerges out of the mansion, surrounded by her servant-maids. Then only, the truth dawns on him in a flash that it is all the handiwork of Krishna. Choked with emotion, he soliloquizes, 'Ah, the sole cause of this dazzling affluence that has come upon me, a confirmed pauper, is certainly Krishna, the Scion of Yadus. Ah, what an embodiment of incredible liberality Krishna is! He requites even the trifle that is sincerely offered by a copious shower of rich largesse.

About the author

Mr. Hariharan of Madurai occasionally contributes thoughtful articles to The Vedanta Kesari.