Butter is Knowledge
Wednesday March 9 2005 12:48 IST
By Karmayogi
There was a period when Mother was giving flowers spiritual names. She once smelt tulasi and said it was devotion. Later She was told that in our tradition tulasi symbolises devotion. Her knowledge was subtle, occult, comprehensive and consummate. She thus named 800 flowers with spiritual names. In that parlance, cow is light, milk is light and butter is knowledge churned out of light.
Our scriptures, especially the Puranas, are full of such symbolisms. Krishna stole butter from the houses of the gopis is the story. When Kuchela came to Krishna asking for a boon, his wife offered some flattened rice to be taken to Krishna. Kuchela was overwhelmed by the kindness and friendship of Krishna and forgot all about the aval, rice.
The rule of life demands that nothing can be given without taking something else in return. It is the rule of cosmic equilibrium. Krishna may confer on Kuchela immense wealth. What he receives may be aval. Still, the token aval is necessary to make that wealth flow from Krishna. Seeing Kuchela was oblivious, Krishna himself made for the bundle of aval in Kuchelas dhoti and took a handful to be eaten.
The gopis loved Krishna and Krishna desired to bless them with divine knowledge. To do so he needed to receive that offering which symbolised knowledge. Butter symbolised knowledge in the occult world. The gopis had no idea of offering butter to Krishna, as they were ignorant. To them, butter was a milk product.
Sometimes the Divine has to steal an offering from an ignorant devotee to confer on him the blessings He chooses. So Krishna stole the butter. This is the significance of Krishna stealing butter. On rare occasions, Mother found ardent devotees oblivious of this requirement of token offering. At such times, She asked for a small service or a particular flower. Then the life of the devotee flowered.
Life has several mechanisms and channels, which permit the Divine to steal the offering from a devotee so that he may be given an immense prosperity. It comes through a loan forgotten, an investment that fails, etc. What is seen as a loss of capital in a certain given circumstance becomes an invisible offering. That is seen in the events that follow.
What monies are lost over several years will be recovered in as many months in the subsequent venture. Sometimes for each rupee that was thus lost, in a friendly transaction, the loser will earn as many lakhs or even crores in the subsequent decades. Such events can even transfer luck from one to the other.
Spiritual life has many facets, all of which are known to us Indians. We not only forget them but are proud of having forgotten our valuable treasure.