One day Rakhal was very hungry and mentioned it to the Master. There was no food in his room, so the Master went to the Ganges and called loudly: “Hello, Gaurdasi! Please come. My Rakhal is hungry.” After a short while Gauri-ma and Balaram arrived at Dakshineswar by boat with rasagollas (cheese balls soaked in sweet syrup). Immediately the Master called: “Come, Rakhal! They have brought rasagollas. Come and eat. Didn’t you say you were hungry?” Embarrassed, Rakhal blurted out: “Sir, why are you talking about my hunger in front of others?” “What does it matter?” said the Master. “Since you are hungry, you should eat. What is the harm in saying so?” (Source: God Lived with Them by Swami Chetanananda)
MUKKUNDUR SWAMI AND THE HUNGRY DEVOTEE
There lived a simple saint in Karnataka a few decades back. He was not well known, but those who knew him considered him a jīvanmukta. His name was Mukkundur Swami. Once, this Swami was roaming about through the forest with one of his devotees. After walking for long, the devotee was famished, and at one point, he could not take a single step forward. He said to the Swami, “Master, I am starving, and there is nothing available here to eat. Please help me.” The delightful saint said, “You are hungry? Why don’t you ask the tree, the earth, or the bird flying in the sky? He, our ‘Mother–Father–Friend’, is hiding in all the forms. They are all He, the Lord! You can get help from anywhere.”
The devotee pleaded, “O Master, how do I ask the tree, the earth, or the sky? I do not know that they are God, but you know it, so please ask them for my sake.” The saint laughed and, looking at the eagle flying in the sky, said, “O Lord, this boy is hungry, give him something.” At that very instant, to the astonishment of the disciple, the bird dropped two big bananas! He ate the fruit, and his hunger was gone. Thus, he found a demonstration that the entire universe is Īśvara. If we have faith, He will appear anywhere. Everywhere, He is there to help us. (Source: Srimad Bhagavad Gita – Elixir of Eternal Wisdom | Vol 1)
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- Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Lord and controller of all the worlds, friend of all beings, man attains peace. (Bhagavad Gita 5.29)