God Teaches a Lesson to a Millionaire

[Guest guest]

In the year 1727 Dhananjay Mehta, a very wealthy man from the

city of Hyderabad in South India came to Puri. He was very proudly

because of his wealth. He had come along with his family, though

personally he had no faith in Jagnnatha. While there he decided to

challenge this strange image made of wood.

 

In the temple, food is offered to the Deities three times daily.

Dhananjay Mehta publicly declared he would make a donation of 100,000

rupees to Jagnnatha if the temple cooks could spend all of it to prepare

one offering of prasada. In those times fruits and vegetables were very

cheap. Even one hundred rupees were enough to buy the ingrdients for one

bhoga, or food offering. One thousand rupees were too much. Therefore

no one in the temple could even imagine what to purchase for 100,000

rupees. This became a great problem for the worshipers of the famous

temple of Lord Jagnnatha. They were undoubtedly sad to see such a

challenging attitude on the part of a so-called devotee.

 

The priest debated, “Should he be told that such a huge amount is

absolutely too much? Should we tell him to give a smaller donation? Will

this be too embarrassing to ask of him? We know Jagnnatha is great- His

temple is majestic, His rituals are mystic and divine-so how we can tell

this man to give less! How rituals are mystic and divine-so how can we

tell this man to give less! How can we tell him to make a smaller

offering so that we ordinary mortals can handle it?”

 

At that time, butter was the most costly of all ingredients, so what

type of prasada could be prepared from only ghee? The most delicious and

costliest prasada could easily be prepared with butter and coconut palm

sweets within 10,000 rupees. But this millionaire from Hyderabad wanted

to offer prasada costing 100,000 rupees!

 

Since the origin of Jagnnatha Temple itself, lakhs of people had been

served maha prasada in the Ananda Bazar of the temple.Many types of

delicacies were in abundance there. In fact, Jagnnatha Temple is the

only temple in the world to have always treated maha prasad as more

valuable than even darsana, or the sight of the Deities. All can eat it,

regardless of caste, color, or creed. Yet never before had such a

problem arisen. The temple cooks were at their wits’ end! There was no

prasada that could be prepared that would cost 100,000 rupees! Finally

they decided, “Let this problem be communicated to the Lord Himself, and

let His will prevail. Lord Jagnnatha is not a man of flesh and blood to

be prayed to for a simple response. Let there be a dharana, or group

prayer, before Him. Nobody can prevail over His wish.” So the panda, or

head priest, made a heart-felt prayer, “Oh Lord, please choose which

food you desire.”

 

At the same time, the wealthy man was anxious to return to his business

affairs in Hyderabad. He did not want to stay in Puri any longer.

Therefore, he asked the panda to come to him in the morning to inform

him about their decision concerning the prasada. The panda replied that

he was waiting for the Lord Himself to give them an answer. This was

exactly to the wealthy man’s liking, so he did not mind extending his

stay in Puri. In this sweet way, the Lord was teaching him. One should

first learn what is the wish of God, and then act.

 

100,000 rupees was a pittance for the Lord who resigns over innumerable

universes. In due time the Lord answered the head priest’s prayer,

speaking to him in a dream, “Let this wealthy person offer me one piece

of pan. But the betel nut within the pan leaf must be smeared not with

lime, but with the powder of a finely ground pearl. More ever this pearl

must be from inside an elephant’s forehead.”

 

Now, one piece of pan could be purchased so cheaply, even today it is

only 50 paisa or less, but with this rarest of ingredients inside, the

cost would be excessive. Immediately, the panda rushed to the wealthy

man and narrated the entire episode. “Is this not a great thing?

Jagnnatha wants a mere betel nut to be offered to Him, but it must be

prepared with the pearl from a bull elephant’s head.”

 

Hearing this, the wealthy man’s face paled. He thought, “A mere betel

nut! Nothing more than that!” It is said that an elephant is worth one

100,000 rupees, dead or alive. How many bull elephants would have to be

killed to find one pearl? Not every bull elephant has a pearl inside its

forehead. It is a rare phenomenon. Indeed, one in a million has a pearl

in its forehead. The man’s head began to reel. He was defeated. He was

incapable of offering even a single betel nut to Lord Jagnnatha.

Unknotting his turban and removing his sandals, he went running to the

Lord with a purse full of 100,000 rupees in his hands. A huge crowd

followed.

 

Everyone stared at this strange sight. The Lord had defeated the

millionaire at his own game of dollars and cents. At last his human

pride was crushed. He started sobbing, reaching out to Jagnnatha, with

unrestrained childlike cries. In total devotion and defeat he prayed,

“Oh Lord, I have made a stupid human blunder, for am totally incapable

of offering you even a single betel nut. What else can be offered to

you? Oh Lord, pardon me. I am a fallen man, insignificant before you,

but made wise before you also. Everything is yours. Take whatever I

have. Please accept the sweet-smelling red betel nut of my heart.”

____________

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a

flower, fruit or water, I will accept it - Lord Krishna [bg 9.26]