Baba's Storytime - The Cow Dung

There was a woman devotee, who was a worshipper of Krishna. Every morning she used to clean the Krishna shrine in her house with cow dung and throw the remnants of the cow dung outside saying "Krishnarpanam Asthu" ("Let this be an offering to Krishna"). 

The priest of the local Krishna temple noticed that every morning, after he had washed and decorated the idol of Krishna with garlands, when he was offering arathi (waving of lights) to the deity, a small lump of cow dung used to fall on the face of the idol. He was deeply distressed over this strange phenomenon and told the village elders about it. They also witnessed the phenomenon in the temple and sent a vigilance squad to find out who was throwing cow dung at that time. 

In one street a scout found a woman throwing cow dung outside her house, uttering the words,"Krishnarpanam." It was found that at the same time she was throwing cow dung, the apparent desecration of the idol by cow dung was taking place in the temple. 

The Lord is not concerned as to what is offered to Him. He accepts whatever is offered to Him with a pure heart. In His eyes there is nothing good or bad in itself. When the woman devotee offered the cow dung as Krishnaarpanam (offering to Krishna), it reached the Krishna idol. The village elders went to the lady and reproached her for her unbecoming conduct in offering cow dung to Krishna. They did not consider how the cow dung thrown outside her house reached the temple. They thought only of the cow dung as such and did not reckon with the power and intensity of the devotion behind the devotees's action. 

The elders summoned the husband and other relations of the old woman to hold an enquiry. The woman pleaded before them: “I am incapable of hurling cow dung on the face of my Krishna. I am ready to lay down my life for Krishna." The elders told her to throw the cow dung and not to utter the words "Krishnaarpanam Asthu." At the instance of her husband and other relations, she agreed to this course. 

But from that day onwards, the doors in the Krishna temple would not open however much the priest and others tried to open them. The village elders realised that they had done a grievous wrong to a great devotee and pleaded for pardon from her. That moment the temple doors opened. 

The ways of devotees can be understood only by devotees. Others cannot understand them. Phenomena such as these are happening all over Bharat. It is because of such devotion that Bharat has remained a holy land through the ages.

(From the Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)