a short story
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy
G
ladys Murphy opened her front door. There on the porch stood her daughter Lauren.
Gladys smiled. “Oh it’s you. I was expecting the repairman. Come on in, honey.”
Lauren took a few steps inside, then stopped and inhaled deeply. A smell of strawberries was drifting in from the kitchen.
“Did you make jam today, Mom?”
“I just finished. It’s cooling on the countertop now.”
They sat down on the sofa. Gladys took Lauren’s hand. “Nice to see you. What brings you here?”
“I need to use your sewing machine.”
“The sewing machine’s not working. That’s why I was expecting the repairman. Your father’s in the other room now, trying to fix it. I’ll call him to let him know you’re here.”
She turned her head. “Herbie! Herbie! Lauren’s here!”
Herbie came into the room. “Hi, babe.” He smiled. “What’s your Hare Krishna name again?”
“Lalita.”
“ ‘Lalita.’ Hmm. I think I like ‘Lauren’ better. But if it makes you happy…”
Herbie pulled up a chair and sat in front of them.
“She needs to use the sewing machine,” Gladys said. “I told her it’s not working.”
“I need to finish the outfit today,” Lalita said. “There’s a festival at the temple tomorrow. It’s Krishna’s birthday.”
Herbie pointed an index finger up in the air. “I… I got an idea.”
“What idea?
“I’ll tell you in a minute. But first I wanna find out why you’re always makin’ clothes for statues.”
“They’re not just statues.”
“Maybe, But…but they sure look like statues.”
“ It’s on purpose. Krishna comes looking like a statue because we don’t have the eyes to see his spiritual form. So he comes in a form that we can see. We call them deities.”
“Wait. You… You say Krishna comes like that. But Krishna didn’t just come here. Somebody made that statue, er, deity.”
“Of course. But by making the deity, the sculptor served Krishna by becoming Krishna’s medium.”
“I… I thought God didn’t have a form. So you invent a statue and call it God’s form.”
Krishna with his Queen Rukmini, ISKCON Los Angeles
Gladys reached over and put a hand on Herbie’s knee. “Come on, dear. Let her have her belief.”
Lalita turned her head from side to side. “It’s not just a belief. And we didn’t invent anything. The scriptures tell us about Krishna’s form.”
Herbie took a deep breath. “Why do you believe the scriptures? Me, I believe what I can see.”
“Oh? Do you believe they went to the moon?”
“Of… Of course. It was in the news.”
“Yes. But you didn’t go. You only saw it in the news.”
“Yeah, yeah. But why shouldn’t I believe the news?”
“Sure, Dad. But if you can believe the news, why can’t I believe the Bhagavad-Gita?”
“Hmm. I… I guess you got a point, babe. But I still believe somebody invented Krishna and made him look like a man.”
Gladys suddenly leaned forward. “Did you hear that! Outside!”
Through an open window came the distant rumbling of thunder.Then a flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed by a roar of thunder.
“Did you see that!”
Lalita nodded. “I saw it, Mom. Who could miss it?”
She turned to Herbie. “But Dad, the Bible says so too, that man was created in God’s image, not the other way around. And the Bible and the Bhagavad-Gita were written by different people.”
“May… Maybe they knew each other?”
“Come on, Dad. The Bible was written thousands of years after the Bhagavad-Gita and thousands of miles away from India.”
“Yeah. O.K. But if Krishna has a body, does he get old and fat like me?” Herbie chuckled and patted his stomach.
Lalita smiled and blew a kiss at Herbie. She leaned forward. “Krishna is eternally young and beautiful. He never grows old.”
“But… But that ain’t fair. Why am I the poor jerk who has to get old and fat?”
Lalita chuckled. “No. You also have a body that never gets old and fat. It’s waiting for you in the spiritual world.”
“Then I… I’m gonna be as handsome as Krishna?”
“You’ll be like Krishna, yes, but like a pebble of gold next to mountain of gold. They’re both gold, but the mountain has more than the pebble.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Even now, with your belly, you’re kind of cute. So you have some beauty too, but Krishna’s beauty is infinite.”
Herbie scratched his head and moved his chair forward a bit. “What?”
“It’s like this. You’re a strong guy. I’ve seen you lift heavy things. So you’re strong. But Krishna is stronger. He can lift up the whole universe on his left pinky and hardly feel the weight.”
“I think I understand… uh… kind of.”
“Think of it like this. You have a pebble of beauty; Krishna has a mountain of it. You have a pebble of strength; Krishna has a mountain of it. Like that. Beauty, strength, knowledge, whatever.”
Herbie scratched his head. “O.K. I gotta think about that.”
Lalita stood up and turned toward the door. “I’ll go to the temple. They probably have a sewing machine there that I can use. I’d better go before the rain starts.”
Herbie stood up and took Lalita’s wrist. “Wait. We have something for you. It’s your birthday present.”
“But my birthday’s not till next month.”
“We were saving it till then, but I think you can use it now.”
“What is it?”
“Wait.”
Herbie went into the next room and came out holding a bulky box and set it on a table. “Open it, babe.”
Lalita opened the box. “Why… it’s a portable sewing machine!”
Herbie smiled. “You’re always sewing clothes for the statues, er, deities, so we thought we’d get you this.”
Lalita shook her head. “Well you’re just the greatest mom and dad ever.”
Gladys stood up and touched Lalita’s hair. “Use it in the best of health, honey.”
“I can’t wait to get started.”
Gladys motioned toward the dining room. “Set the sewing machine in there, on the table. Don’t go outside. You’ll get caught in the rain.”
“Love you, Mom. Love you, Dad.”
Gladys took Lalita by the arm. “I’ll help you finish the outfit, dear. And you can have some toast and strawberry jam.”
Herbie chuckled. “You’re always talkin’ about how Krishna comes like a, um, deity, and you gotta make clothes for him. So I thought, ‘Well, I don’t know, but what if she’s got a point? I better get on the right side just in case.’ ”
⁓Umapati Swami December 1, 2025
Eternally touching my head to the floor at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada.
Notes:
The Hare Krishna Mantra: Haré Krishna, Haré Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Haré Haré / Haré Rama, Haré Rama, Rama Rama, Haré Haré.
All characters and incidents in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual incidents is purely coincidental.
The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organization or any other person.
Scriptural passages © Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Photo top: Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy (Jishnu Das)
Links:
See my post “The Brahmana”
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ove it? Hate it? Got a question? Write to me: hoswami@yahoo.com
© Umapati Swami 2025
Srila Prabhupada
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the teacher who brought Krishna Consciousness from India to the West and then to the rest of the world. He is the founder of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement as well as the author and compiler of many works of Vedic knowledge. He left this world in 1977.
Umapati Swami
One of the first American devotees of the Hare Krishna Movement, he became Srila Prabhupada’s disciple in 1966. Since then, he has preached Krishna Consciousness in many countries and is the author of “My Days with Prabhupada,” available from Amazon. Now 88 years old, he maintains this blog to share what he has learned.
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