ॐ श्री कृष्णः शरणं ममः
Om Sri Krishnah Sharanam Mamah
To the beloved Lord Krishna I pray to take me under your shelter
Today we live in an age called the Kali Yuga. Many, many years ago in Dwapara Yuga, the Kurukshetra war, which all of us know as the Mahabharata war, between the Kauravas and the Pandavas took place.
A war is a terrible occurrence as several hundreds of thousands of people die, leaving their families sad and bereft. Though many attempts were made to settle the dispute between the Kauravas and Pandavas they all failed. The fight between the cousins could not be settled peacefully. The war became necessary.
Kings and princes of different lands supported one side or the other. Some joined the Kauravas who were led by Duryodhana and others joined the Pandavas led by Arjuna. Only the King of Udupi had not joined either side.
Udupi was such a small district that it could hardly even qualify as a kingdom. So the king of Udupi, unlike the other kings who joined the war, was more of a chieftain. However, the Pandavas went and asked the king of Udupi, which side he would wish to support. The Udupi king told them that he did not wish to choose either side but preferred to remain neutral. Then going to meet Lord Krishna he said, “Lord, I prefer to remain neutral in this war. But I would like to contribute in my own way. Those who fight need to eat and I will be honoured to provide the food for all the soldiers.”
Krishna accepted the king of Udupi’s offer saying, “Yes, you are quite right. Someone has to cook and feed the armies. So you go ahead and provide the food for both the sides.
In the time of the Mahabharata war, battles followed a fixed protocol. Battle for the day started only once the sun rose and bugles were sounded to ensure that both opposing sides were ready to commence. By those same rules of war at the end of each day as the sun set and night approached bugles were sounded declaring the end of fighting for that day. Thereafter the soldiers of both sides would sit together and eat their food.
Feeding the armies was not going to be an easy task. There were over 5,00,000 soldiers assembled for the mighty battle. Regardless the king of Udupi was confident that he would be able to cater food for all the men.
The battle lasted for 18 days. Each day thousands of men died which meant that every day the food that needed to be cooked reduced. This meant that the calculations of the amount of food to be cooked each day had to be very precise. If the calculation was incorrect either there would be too much food and it would be wasted or there would be insufficient food to feed all the soldiers.
Surprisingly the king of Udupi managed the proportions perfectly. Everyone was amazed that the food was exactly enough for the soldiers who were alive and not a grain went to waste. This was indeed surprising as no one could predict how many men would die each day. It was only at the end of the day’s battle that the count of dead bodies was made. Sometimes the count was only completed by dawn. Yet, the king of Udupi was able to gauge the deaths and cook just the right amount for the living soldiers with not a morsel wasted on any day. Everyone was bewildered as to how the king of Udupi knew the exact number of men that would die on the battle field each day.
Curious to know how he managed this, the Pandavas went to the kitchens one day and asked the cooks, “Tell us, was any food wasted yesterday?”
The cooks replied, “Oh mighty warriors, not a grain was wasted yesterday or on any of the days since the commencement of this fearsome battle.”
“Surely then”, said the Pandavas “there must have been days when you ran short of food for a few men?”
“No,” replied the cooks, “Until this day we have never had the misfortune of ever letting even a single soldier go hungry.”
“How do you manage to do this?” the Pandavas asked astounded by their reply.
The head cook replied “We do not decide the amounts to be cooked. Early every morning our king, the king of Udupi, tells us how much food must be prepared. He informs us of the number of soldiers we need to provide for. He is always right about the numbers. He seems to know the exact number of men that will survive the day’s battle.”
Now the Pandavas were even more intrigued. Quickly they rushed off to meet the king of Udupi and asked him, “ Your cooks tell us that you know exactly how many men will survive the battle on each day. How is this possible?”
The king smiled and replied, “Oh that’s very simple. I am an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna so every night I go to Sri Krishna’s tent to receive his blessings. As Lord Krishna enjoys eating boiled peanuts, I take a bowl of peanuts with me. Before putting them in the bowl I carefully peel them and count the number of nuts I put into the bowl. Lord Krishna just eats a few peanuts. Every night, after he is done, I count the number that he has eaten. If he has eaten 10 nuts, I know that the next day 10,000 people will die on the battlefield. Accordingly I inform my cooks to cater for 10,000 less men. I have been doing this since the start of the battle and not once have my calculations gone wrong.”
Hearing this the Pandavas prostrated and prayed to Lord Krishna. This incident had taught them that it was the Lord who decided how many men would die each day. It was his will that was being done. Though they fought and thought that they were responsible for having killed or defeated their enemies they were in fact merely performing the actions of a fight. They had no power to decide the fate of their enemy. Clearly even their own fate was not in their hands. From the king of Udupi’s experience the Pandavas realised that only God determines life and death. They had learnt that everything happened only by the will of God. Their only purpose was to do their duty as soldiers and uphold good over evil. The results of their actions would be decided by the Lord.
It is said that from Dwapara Yuga and the Mahabharata battle onwards, as Lord Krishna had assigned the people of Udupi the job of cooking, they acknowledged it as the Lord’s blessings. They accepted it as an honour to be able to cook for those mighty and valiant soldiers.
Even today the people of Udupi continue to cook and cater delicious food for us.
Next time you visit an Udupi restaurant, remember that a long, long time ago the expert chefs of Udupi had cooked food for the Lord himself.
LESSONS LEARNT
1. No matter what the majority are doing we must make our own decisions. All the kings had aligned with either the Kauravas or the Pandavas but the king of Udupi made an independent decision to stay neutral.
2. Each one of us is here in this world to do something important and meaningful. Though the king of Udupi did not wish to fight on the battlefield, he served an important purpose in the Mahabharata war by feeding all the soldiers.
3. We too like the king of Udupi must have complete faith in God.
4. Like the Pandavas we too need to do our duty sincerely and faithfully and then leave the result to be determined by the Lord.
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