a question

ok this is similar to manigma’s post under title Om also in the satsang cafe…who can explain the following story…? it is an easy one cause very well known story…but dont google it on the web :grin: …just give ur spontaneous explanation…
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Lord Krishna and Arjuna passed by a rich man who accumulated lots of monney.The rich man treated them well…Lord Krishna thanked him for his hospitality then He blessed the rich man by telling him he will get more and more money
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then Lord Krishna and Arjuna passed by a poor man who only had a cow.The poor man treated them well…Lord Krishna thanked him for his hospitality then He blessed the poor man by telling him that his cow will die soon.
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Arjuna was puzzled by Lord Krishna behavior…so u should be :grin: …any interpretations??

the rich man knows ONLY his worldly business
in the case of the poor man with one cow… well, the cow is a holy symble, this mans blessing is on his spiritual wealth, not his material gain, he is even wealthier than the rich man,

The rich man and the poor man both treated Krishna and Arjuna well, in return Krishna blessed both by telling them their near future. Arjuna found this blessing puzzling because of the content of the predicted future: the hospitable rich man was destined to become richer – that appears to be a blessing – whereas the hospitable poor man was destined to became poorer. That appears unfair! How might Krishna interpret such apparent unfairness to Arjuna? My guess: Krishna neither made the rich man richer, nor the poor man poorer. He only told them both what would happen in the near future, and that alone was his blessing. Riches do not signify divine blessing, nor does poverty signify divine curse.

A poor man is more likely to be spiritual than a rich man. The rich man has many more distractions.

The past life bad Karmas of the poor man were supposed to result in worst deeds (like his own death) but because of his present day good Karmas, his punishment got reduced to just the death of his cow.
The rich man due to his past life good Karmas, was supposed to be a King, but because of his bad present day Karmas, the reward was reduced to just getting richer.
So, the poor benefited a lot more than the rich.

Krishna found that the rich man’s desires were oriented towards money, so he bestowed on him more riches. Since the poor man did not have money or riches, his desire was to end his suffering and attain the Lord’s feet. So the death of his cow will put him through more misery and more search for God!
my 2 cents! :stuck_out_tongue:

Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement

In many ways, it is like the story of Job in the Old Testament. True blessings come from giving up our attachments/desires and surrendering. Maybe he was ready to give up his last major attachment and surrender.
As Jesus pointed out, it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of needle then a rich man (full of attachments) to get into heaven.
Peace & Love.

Hi Maheswari!
Will you be sharing the traditional, or the official, or orthodox interpretation? I am curious what it is. I tried googling it and could not find it.
Be

that question is still on…o.k! i would say both rich n poor are given more challenge to proof their Love!each according to his attachment…God know! :grin:

This is a story about karma and the ego. Whether you call it the higher ego
or the lower ego is of no importance.
The sun comes up on the morning… is that good karma? is that bad karma?
So it is with the rich man and the beggar.
Life flows and does not need labels for it to be valid. It does not need
a complex explanation in terms of karma for it to be valid.
For an enlightned person, karma or lack of karma are one and the same thing,
both are equivalent to the sun coming up in the morning.
This was an opportuity for Arjuna (Arjuna is a metaphor you know) to learn.
Namaste,
Kevin Cann