Krishna sees the Heart – Story
One of the 108 Divya desam temples in Kerala is Thiruvalla.
There was a man there who could live by eating dead bodies.
He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva called Kandakarna.
He used to chant the name of Shiva all the time.
Not only that, he could not tolerate the name of any other god falling in his ears.
Therefore, he had two bronze bells tied around his ears.
One day, while this Kandakarna was worshipping God, a desire arose in him to attain salvation.
He performed severe penance towards Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva asked, “What boon do you want?”
Kandakarna asked that he wanted liberation.
To this, Lord Shiva said, “Dear devotee! That is not possible for me. Only Krishna can grant liberation. Go and ask him!”
He also suggested something to Kandakarna like this:
“Sri Narayana has now incarnated on earth as Sri Krishna. I had once asked him to receive a boon from me as I like to give one to Him. He agreed and said that he would once come to Kailash as Krishna and receive that boon from me. So, He will come here as assured. If he comes here and you pray to him, you will get what you want.”
He also described the form of Krishna in a way that would make him recognize Krishna upon seeing him.
After thanking Lord Shiva and removing the bronze beads hanging from his ears, Kandakarna also set out to see Narayana.
One day, on his way, he saw Krishna coming in the opposite direction.
Normally, when one goes to someone’s house, he usually buys some sweets or fruits.
But this this person goes to see the Lord. Should he go empty-handed?
What should he take with him?
He is an aghori. All he knows is dead bodies.
What does Sabari know, except the fruits in the forest?
When she learned that Rama was coming, she gathered fruits from the forest to feed Him. She could have given them to Him as they were. But she didn’t. She tasted each fruit and gave the sweetest ones to Rama.
Didn’t Rama, who accepted even those few fruits without refusing, granting her salvation?
So, he thought: ‘We are going, we will take the dead body of a good brahmana as a gift for Krishna”
Then, Kandakarna cut the body of a brahmana into pieces and carried it with him.
He stopped Krishna and said, “Lord, I have heard from Lord Shiva that you are the only one who can grant salvation. I killed this brahmana a while ago and brought this for you. Please accept this with all your heart!”
He pleaded with him.
Krishna did not see the gift that Kandakarna had brought for himself.
He saw his devotion.
He accepted the gift and granted him salvation.
In addition, Krishna also granted salvation to the brahmana who was killed by Kandakarna.
For the Lord, there is no discrimination between the one who gives nectar and the one who gives a feast to the corpse. All he knew was the pure mind of the devotee!
Once even a sinful person surrenders to Him in any stage, Krishna accepts him and liberates him. Even the demons get liberated when they come in contact to Krishna and even when they are killed by Krishna.
In brief, anyone of any state will get liberated if he comes in contact to Krishna. Krishna sees the Heart. Kandakarna was the one who demonstrated this in practice.
(Lord can do anything – Story! READ HERE!)