Is Stealing money from parents wrong as Krishna too stole butter?
Two devotees had asked similar questions last month:
(1) A male devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare Krishna, Radhe Radhe Sir, I want to ask you a question. I am a student and I have a bad habit of stealing money from my parents purse for eating junk food . I steal small amounts of money, max to max 100 . My parents also later found it many times . I don’t use it for any bad work. I feel guilty . I tried to stop myself from doing it. But now it has become a habit. So my question is Will I acquire bad karma due to this work?? Will I become poor in the next life by stealing money from my parents ? God bless you with good health.”
(2) A Girl devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare krishna prabuji. Why krishna’s mistakes are enjoyed n glorified by devotees as sweet butter thief, but our same mistakes are condemned?
REPLY:
Stealing as a habit is wrong for us wherever it is used.
Though it is your parents or spouse, stealing is a bad habit.
You may have rights to use the resources of parents as a son or spouse or sibling, but, using the habit of stealing must be avoided.
(Krishna’s Lilas in Goloka & Bhuloka Vrindavan – Five doubts! READ HERE!)
We can’t take Krishna as an example in this matter.
Because Krishna performed them as sweet lilas because He is not a conditioned soul.
Krishna is the source of all the resources.
So, He does not need to steal money.
However, He stole butter as a lila, ie, play to make His devotees and associates happy.
Just because Krishna made lilas with the Gopis, we too can’t play with the girls.
Because, Krishna performs such lilas as prayed by those girls in their previous births when those girls were great rishis.
Whatever Krishna does, it is to make others happy and blissful.
You should not imitate Krishna’s activities.
If you imitate, you should also do whatever Krishna did. Then only you are qualified to make such lilas.
You should hold the mountain at the tip of your small finger.
You should marry 16,108 women expanding yourself as 16,108 Krishnas and hide yourself from others when you are with a wife.
You should show the whole creations inside your mouth.
We can give so many examples like these.
(Gopis’ Lilas with Krishna – Right way of understanding them! READ HERE!)
So, just because Krishna stole butter and the clothes of gopis, you too can’t practice the act of stealing.
Instead, you can request your father to give Rs.100 to you whenever required by you.
If he refuses, you can even insist again and get using your closeness as a son.
Or, you can even cry and get money if the need is genuine. Not wrong.
You can openly and frankly discuss with your father to give some small money everyday to manage your small expenses.
Or, the best thing is that you can earn some petty cash by doing some services anywhere and use it.
Do you know how I managed my expenses when I was a student of school?
My family could not afford to give money daily to me.
At the most, my father would give 50 Paise per day. For that 50 Paise, I would buy some fruits, amla, Pen, Pencil, etc during the late 1980s.
When I completed 10th Std in my Village School, I wanted to join in a private school in a nearby town because my Village Government School had started Plus One and Plus Two Studies that year only and I was not sure of its quality.
(Is reading the Personal lilas of Krishna with Gopis is offensive? READ HERE!)
But, the education was free in that Government School.
I got Transfer Certificate from that Government School and joined Plus One in that Private School in the nearby town.
The fee of Rs.80 had to be paid.
I paid getting from my brother who was struggling for managing family expenses at that time.
When I went to the Class on the first day, I could not concentrate in the teacher’s class because my heart was questioning me causing a feeling of guilt.
“Should you study in a private school by getting money from brother who is already struggling to manage the family? Your father has died just recently. Why can’t you study in a Government School free of cost since the God has given you good knowledge? Do you need a study in a private school? You can score well though you study from home.”
Then I did that unimaginable thing that no one would have done in the history of studentship.
I had just joined in the morning and attended the first day class. In the same evening, I went to that School’s office and requested my Transfer Certificate, explaining my guilt feeling because of my poverty at that time. They could not believe that. However, with my insistence, they gave Transfer Certificate again.
Got it and came home.
Next day, I went to my previous Govt School and joined again for Plus One with just about Rs.13 as fee or some charges.
(Krishna’s Rasa Lila on Rasa Purnima – Views of Srila Prabhupada! READ HERE!)
Then, I took tuition classes for the same Plus one & Plus two students when I was studying Plus one and Plus two. I also took classes for 10th Std students. Then, my age was just 16-17. Can you imagine?
I completed whole Plus two and graduation with my own earned money by taking tuition classes every day in the morning and evening after attending my own School/ college classes.
The degree that I have is very valuable because I got them using my own earned money.
Thus, one should have some principles in his life.
We should never like to get money of someone else beyond a certain age and we should do something and earn for our own expenses.
In today’s online world, there are plenty of opportunities to earn from home itself.
So, make some side earnings and manage your expenses.
If you have any difficulty in that, get money from parents by REQUESTING THEM, NOT STEALING.
This character will continue in future too and will affect your image among your friends and relatives.
Be honest and straightforward always.
Hope you are clear
(The secrets behind “Makhan Chor Lila (Stealing butter)” by Krishna! A-Z Details! READ HERE!)