A Feast of Banana Skins

a story within a story

Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy

A

hot summer afternoon in the park. An occasional cloud drifted lazily in the bright blue sky. The warm breeze carried the scent of peonies, and a cricket was chirping in a bush.

Two figures dressed in Hare Krishna robes walked down a path, a man in orange with a cane and a boy, about eleven, in white. They came to a bench under a tree.

The man stopped. “Why don’t we sit here, Nitai. This tree will give us shade from the heat.”

So they sat down.

The man, Guru-ji, put his hand in his beadbag, fingering his beads as he murmured the Hare Krishna mantra. The boy, Nitai, began playing with his cell phone.

Then a casually dressed man carrying a rolled-up magazine came walking down the same path and stopped in front of Guru-ji. He smelled faintly of cologne, and his red hair was close-cropped. “Excuse me. Are you Mister Guru-ji?”

Guru-ji looked up. “Yes.”

“My name is Joe Peterson. I’m Danny Peterson’s father.”

Guru-ji adjusted his glasses. “Danny Peterson?”

Nitai fumbled with his cell phone and it fell on the bench with a clack. He picked it up and put it in his lap and turned to Guru-ji. “Danny’s the new boy with the red curly hair.”

Guru-ji nodded. “Please sit down, Mister Peterson.”

Peterson sat down, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He took a deep breath. “My son won’t eat meat any more since he’s been seeing you.”

Nitai leaned toward Peterson. “That’s great!”

Peterson shook his head and looked at Guru-ji. “Could you please tell Danny it’s all right to eat meat.”

Nitai looked at Guru-ji. “No. Don’t.”

Guru-ji smiled at Nitai then turned to Peterson. “I cannot rewrite the scriptures, and I don’t want to kill Danny’s enthusiasm. But he’s free to eat what he wants. He hasn’t taken any vows.”

“Yeah, but why don’t you guys eat meat? It’s good for you.”

“We eat what Krishna eats.”

“I thought Krishna was supposed to be God.”

“He is God.”

“Are you telling me God eats? I was raised Christian, and I never heard anything about God eating.”

Guru-ji brushed away a mosquito. “Do you know what George Washington ate?”

Peterson cleared his throat. “Uh…Martha’s cherry pie? No. I dunno.”

“Does that mean George Washington never ate anything? Because you don’t know about it?”

Peterson shrugged. “All right. So God eats. But can’t you just tell Danny to eat some meat?”

“I can’t do that, but Danny can eat what he wants.”

Peterson took a deep breath and stood up so fast he hit his knee against the bench. He shook his fist. “You—You’re just another fanatic!” His face turned red. “You lure innocent kids with your religious mumbo-jumbo, and you ruin their health with your silly rules. I oughtta call the cops on you.”

Nitai stood up. “You can’t say that to my guru.”

“Shut up! I’m not talkin’ to you.”

A few seconds went by. Nobody said anything.

From the lake came the quack-quack of a duck. A sudden breeze carried the scent of lilacs. A child could be heard in the distance. “Mommy! Mommy! I’m over here. And the hot sun kept shining in the blue sky.

Guru-ji lifted his right hand. “Please sit down, Mister Peterson. I understand your feelings. Please let me tell you a true story.”

Peterson took a big breath and exhaled as he sat down on the bench. He leaned sideways against the back and crossed one foot over his other knee. “All right,” he said, his face still pink. “Go ahead, but it won’t change anything.” He pulled out his handkercheif and wiped his forehead.

Guru-ji sat up straight. “So one day Krishna went to visit the king Duryo Dhan. The king was the enemy of Krishna’s devotees, and it looked like a war was brewing, so Krishna went there to try and talk peace. But the king would not listen.”

Peterson nodded. “Sounds like politics today.”

Guru-ji smiled. “So Krishna was getting ready to leave, but the king stopped him. The king said, ‘My cooks have made a feast for you. Please sit down.’”

“Why did he want to give Krishna a feast?”

“The tradition was to always feed a guest, even an enemy. And, well, everyone knew Krishna was an important person.”

“He was God, right? How come they didn’t know?”

Guru-ji nodded. “When God comes into this world, not everybody can recognize him. Like with Jesus.”

“Hmm. O.K. So the king wanted to give him a feast.”

Baby Krishna with a plate of sweets

---

Guru-ji continued. “Now we cannot imagine how delicious that feast would have been. Five thousand years ago. No chemicals, just black dirt and rainwater and bright sunshine. And the best cooks in the kingdom.”

“What about the meat?”

“No meat. Only the lowest of the low would eat meat in those days. Meat was for tigers and dogs.”

Peterson shook his head. “Couldn’t be much of a feast without meat.”

“Next time we serve a feast at the temple I’ll tell Danny to bring you, and you’ll see.”

Suddenly Peterson looked down. A hairy striped caterpillar was crawling up his pants leg. Peterson opened his eyes wide. “How did that get there?”
Nitai looked over. “Don’t kill it.”

Peterson laughed. “Who cares about a caterpillar?”

Guru-ji answered. “It also has a right to live. Krishna’s in the caterpillar’s heart the same as he is in yours.”

“Huh?” Peterson said. “Sounds strange to me, but all right.” He picked up the caterpillar and set it on the ground.

He turned to Guruji. “O.K. So Krishna ate the feast with no meat.”

“No. Krishna wouldn’t touch it. Krishna only eats what his devotees set before him, and the king was an enemy of the devotees. So Krishna left the king’s palace.”

“Well, no meat. Can’t say I blame him.”

Guru-ji stifled a laugh. “Now listen to this. On another occasion, Krishna went to visit his devotee Vidura, who lived in a cottage. Vidura was delirious with joy when he saw Krishna in his house. He loved Krishna so much. He washed Krishna’s feet and wanted to give Krishna a feast, but all he had was bananas. So took a banana and peeled it. But then he… he…”

“He what?”

“Well… he was so overcome with happiness, he didn’t know what he was doing, so he…he threw away the fruit and handed Krishna the skin.”

“Is it really possible to be that happy?”

“When you love Krishna.”

“Then what did Krishna do?”

“He ate the banana skin.”

“Oh come on! Who can eat a banana skin?” Peterson shook his head from side to side. He began fanning himself with his magazine.

Guru-ji continued. “Krishna is God. He can eat the whole universe if he wants. A banana skin is nothing for him. In fact, he thought it was delicious.”

“How can a banana skin be delicious?”

Guru-ji continued. “Because Krishna tasted the love of his devotee, and that’s the most delicious thing for him. Well, Vidura peeled more bananas, but he was still overcome with happiness, so he threw away the insides and handed the skins to Krishna. And Krishna was enjoying the feast.”

“Hard to imagine.”

“Not if you know Krishna. He wouldn’t touch the opulent feast of the king. but he happily ate the devotee’s feast of banana skins.”

A dog barked in the distance. Peterson took out his hankerchief and wiped his forehead. Guru-ji took out his own handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his hands. Nital did the same.

A leaf fluttered down from the tree above onto Guru-ji’s head, and he brushed it away. “Well, Vidura came back to his senses, and when he saw all the banana-fruits on the floor, he realized what he had done. He was aghast, but Krishna was smiling. He had enjoyed feasting on his devotee’s love. Wouldn’t you want Danny to love a God as nice as Krishna?”

Peterson nodded. “That’s a sweet little story, but I still wish Danny would eat meat.”

Nitai laughed. “Meat’s not good for you.”

Peterson laughed. Then he stood up. “Well thanks for your time Mister Guru-ji. I have to be on my way now.” He reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Can I offer you a cigarette?”

“No thanks. I don’t smoke.”

“O.K. I guess that’s why Danny stopped. Nice meeting both of you.” He shook hands with Guru-ji, then with Nitai. Then he left and started walking up the road. A white cat got out of his way.

Guru-ji turned to Nitai. “Well that was nice.”

Nitai looked up. “Nice? But he wasn’t convinced. He still wants Danny to eat meat.”

Guru-ji opened his hands. “But he listened to an act of Krishna, and he said it was sweet. So his spiritual journey has begun.”

“Yeah. But he still has a long way to go.”

“Do you know the Chinese proverb ‘A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step’? Well he took that first step today.”

Guru-ji turned toward the disappearing figure of Peterson on the road. “Have a nice journey, Mister Peterson. Till we meet again—some day, some lifetime—in the spiritual kingdom…The best to you.”

⁓Umapati Swami January 4, 2026

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© Umapati Swami 2026

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 89 years old, he maintains this blog to share what he has learned.