Once a Brahman was reciting Bhāgavata in the house of a patron. A thief broke into that house and hid himself in the deep corner. Perforce, he had to listen Bhāgavata too.
The reader was now describing the ornaments worn by little Krishna which was adorned by his mother Yashoda. He beautifully described the precious ornaments Yashoda decorated on little Krishna before sending him out with the cows.
The thief got excited and thought that he should meet that lad and rob all the ornaments in one stroke instead of struggling every day with petty stealing. He waited till the entire chapter of Bhāgavata was recited and left the place. The thief wanted to know where this boy was. He, therefore, followed the Brahman and waylaid him. The Brahman was frightened and feared that he would lose even the small amount collected as dakshina and told the thief, “I do not have anything with me”.
The thief replied that he was not keen to have any of his belongings but instead, he wanted some information about that lad he was claiming to have the best ornaments adorned who used to go out for grazing the cows.
Brahman opened his book and replied, that the cute lad lived in a beautiful house in Vṛndāvana. And on the banks of river Yamuna, in a green meadow, two boys come in the morning. One is with a flute and dark like the cloud, and the other one is fair clad in white silk. The dark one will have all the ornaments as I had described.”
The thief believed the brahman and set out to Vṛndāvana immediately. He was full of anxiety and eagerness that “I must see Kṛṣṇa, I must see Kṛṣṇa.”
As per brahman’s description, he located the beautiful place, climbed up a tree, and waited for the boys to arrive. The sun rose. The faint melody of the flute wafted along the morning breeze. The enchanting music could then be heard closer and the thief spotted two boys coming.
He got down from the tree and went near them. The moment he saw the most beautiful appearance of the little Krishna, he forgot himself for a moment, folded his hands, and shed tears of joy. He wondered which wretched mother had sent these radiant boys, chiseled to perfection, loaded with ornaments to the riverbank. He couldn’t take his eyes off the divinity. The transformation started. Tears were rolling. But his wicked thoughts developed in his mind again and he approached the boys….. shouting, “Stop,” he held Krishna’s hand. The moment he touched Lord Krishna all his previous karma was wiped like a cotton getting burnt in a fire and with all humility he inquired lovingly, “Who are you?”
Krishna looks at him innocently and says, “I am frightened by your looks. Please leave my hands..” The thief with remorse tells Krishna, “It is my evil mind which is reflected in my face. If you are frightened I shall go away.”
The natkhat Krishna reminds the thief of the purpose of his arrival which he seems to be forgetting. He cooly mocks at him. “Here, take my ornaments.” Confused thief replies, “Will not your mother scold you if you gift away all your ornaments to me?”
Krishna with a smile says, “Do not worry about that. I have plenty of them. I am a bigger thief than you! But there is a difference between you and me – however much I steal, the owners do not complain. I am lovingly called “chitta chor”. Though you are not aware of it, you have a precious ornament in your possession too, the “chitta”. I shall steal it now and take the same with me.” So saying this, both the boys vanished.
To his surprise, the thief found a bag full of ornaments on his shoulder. He brought it back to the Brahman’s house and told him what had all happened. The Brahmin was now frightened and took the thief inside and opened the bag. To his utter amazement, he saw all the ornaments described by him as being worn by Krishna in the Bhāgavata, in the thief’s bag.
Shedding tears of joy, the Brahmin asked the thief to take him to the same place in Vṛndāvana where he saw the dark boy. The thief obliged and both of them waited in the same place where the thief accosted the boy the previous day. Suddenly the thief exclaimed, “Look, here they come!”
However, the Brahmin could not see anyone. Stricken with remorse, he said, “Hey prabhu, why you decided to give darshana to a thief, and why not me?
Out of abundant compassion, Lord Krishna’s reply was soothing… “You are reading Bhāgavata just as another story whereas the thief, on the other hand, believed what you had told him. I manifest only for those who surrender to me.”
Moral of the story:
Although he was a thief who went Vṛndāvana to catch Kṛṣṇa and plunder his jewels. But his belief was his only qualification that “I must see Kṛṣṇa, I must see Kṛṣṇa.” made it possible that in Vṛndāvana he saw Kṛṣṇa. And by Kṛṣṇa’s association, he became purified.
So, in some way or other, we should come in contact with Kṛṣṇa, become his devotees, then we’ll be purified too. We should first have belief, then he will accept us. Krishna loves us all equally whether it’s a thief or a saint.
