Krishna and Sudama

Long ago, two boys studied together at the forest school of the sage Sandipani, near the city of Ujjain.

One of them was Krishna, a prince. The other was Sudama, the son of a poor Brahmin family. But at the hermitage, nobody was a prince and nobody was poor. They swept the floors together, fetched water together, studied together and laughed together. They became the best of friends.

When their schooling was over, they hugged each other goodbye and went their separate ways.

Two different lives

The years passed.

Krishna became the king of Dwarka, a beautiful city of gold by the sea, full of palaces and gardens.

Sudama stayed poor. He was a gentle, learned man, but he never asked anyone for anything. He lived with his wife and children in a small hut, and often there was not enough food to go round. His clothes were old and torn.

One day, his wife said to him, "You always tell me that King Krishna of Dwarka was your dearest friend. Why don't you go and see him? He is kind and generous. Surely he would help us."

Sudama was shy. He didn't want to go to his friend asking for help. But his wife was worried about the children. And Sudama thought, "At least I'll see Krishna's face again."

"I can't go empty-handed," he said. "What gift can I take to a king?"

His wife went to the neighbours and borrowed four handfuls of poha, flattened rice. She tied it up in a small piece of old cloth. It was all they had.

At the golden gates

Sudama walked for many days to reach Dwarka. When he arrived, he stared at the golden palaces and the fine guards at the gates. He looked down at his dusty feet and his torn clothes, and he held the little bundle of rice tightly under his arm.

"Krishna is a great king now," he thought. "Perhaps he won't remember me at all."

But when Krishna heard that a poor Brahmin called Sudama was at the gate, he jumped up from his throne and hurried out to meet him.

He threw his arms around his old friend and held him for a long time. There were tears in his eyes.

The king washes his feet

Krishna led Sudama inside by the hand. He sat him down on his own royal bed. With his own hands, he washed Sudama's tired, dusty feet, while the queens of the palace fanned him and brought him food.

The two friends talked for hours about their schooldays: the time they had been caught in a terrible storm while gathering firewood for their teacher, and how they had held hands through the night until help came.

Then Krishna smiled. "And what have you brought me, my friend?"

Sudama felt ashamed. How could he offer a few handfuls of plain flattened rice to a king who had everything? He hid the little bundle behind him.

But Krishna saw it. He reached over and took it, laughing, and untied the old cloth.

"Poha!" he said, as if he had been given the finest treasure in the world. And he ate a handful with great delight.

He reached for a second handful. But Queen Rukmini gently held his hand, as if to say: one handful is enough. Already, Krishna had given his friend everything he needed.

Going home

Sudama stayed the night in the palace. The next morning, Krishna walked with him to the gate and said goodbye with great love.

He gave Sudama nothing to carry home. And Sudama, who had never asked for anything, did not ask. He walked away happy, thinking, "How kind my friend is. He did not give me riches, perhaps so that I would not become proud."

But when Sudama reached his village, he could not find his little hut.

In its place stood a beautiful house, shining like a palace, with gardens all around. His wife and children came out to meet him, dressed in fine clothes, laughing with joy.

Krishna had quietly given his friend everything, without saying a word, so that Sudama would never have to feel that he had asked.

Sudama looked at his new home with tears in his eyes. But he lived simply, as he always had. What he treasured most was not the riches. It was knowing that, after all those years, his friend still loved him just the same.

About this story

This story comes from the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, one of the best-loved sacred texts of India. In the original, Krishna's poor friend is described simply as a Brahmin friend; the name Sudama comes from later tradition, in which this story has been sung, painted and retold countless times. This version is a shortened, simplified retelling.