Khirachora Gopinatha - The Sweet Rice Thief

Dadi: "Guddu beta, do you want to hear about a time when God himself became a thief?"

Guddu: "God stealing? That doesn't sound right!"

Dadi: "Ah, but He stole for the sweetest reason! This happened about 500 years ago to a great saint named Madhavendra Puri."

Guddu: "Who was he?"

Dadi: "A devotee who loved Lord Krishna so much that he spent his life traveling and singing His name. One day, Madhavendra Puri was on an important mission - he had to bring sandalwood paste from Orissa to cool the body of a special deity he had discovered."

Guddu: "Why did a deity need cooling?"

Dadi: "The deity had appeared to him in a dream, asking for sandalwood! So Madhavendra Puri traveled through Bengal and reached a village called Remuna, where there was a famous temple of Gopinatha - a beautiful deity of Krishna."

Guddu: "Was the temple special?"

Dadi: "Very special! Every night, the priests made something called "amrita-keli" - the most delicious sweet rice with condensed milk in twelve earthen pots. It was famous throughout the land!"

Guddu: "Mmm, sweet rice... I love kheer!"

Dadi: "So did Madhavendra Puri! When he heard about this offering, he thought, "I wish I could taste it, so I could make the same for my deity back home." But then he immediately felt ashamed."

Guddu: "Why ashamed?"

Dadi: "Because that food was made for God, not for him! To desire it seemed selfish. So he pushed the thought away, ate his simple meal, and went to sleep in the marketplace."

Guddu: "Did he forget about the sweet rice?"

Dadi: "HE did, beta. But the Lord didn't forget about him! That night, the temple priest had a dream. In the dream, Lord Gopinatha himself spoke to him!"

Guddu: "What did He say?"

Dadi: ""Wake up! Behind my garments, I've hidden a pot of sweet rice. Take it to the devotee sleeping in the marketplace.""

Guddu: "Krishna hid food? Like a secret snack?"

Dadi: "(laughing) Exactly like a secret snack! The priest woke up confused, went to the altar, and found a pot of khira exactly where the deity said it would be - hidden behind his cloth!"

Guddu: "The deity actually hid food!"

Dadi: "He ran to find Madhavendra Puri and woke him up. "Here," the priest said. "Sri Gopinatha has stolen khira for YOU.""

Guddu: "He said the deity STOLE it?"

Dadi: "Yes! From His own offering! The Lord was supposed to receive this food, but instead He saved it for His devotee. That's why this deity is called "Khirachora Gopinatha" - Khira means sweet rice, Chora means thief!"

Guddu: "God became a thief because He loved His devotee so much?"

Dadi: "That's the beauty, beta! Madhavendra Puri was too humble to ask for himself. He felt guilty even thinking about the sweet rice. But Krishna saw his secret desire and fulfilled it anyway!"

Guddu: "What did Madhavendra Puri do?"

Dadi: "He wept with joy! He ate the divine sweet rice, and then - this is beautiful - he broke the earthen pot into small pieces and tied them in his cloth. For the rest of his life, he would eat a tiny piece of that pot each day, remembering how God had become a thief for his sake."

Guddu: "He ate the POT?"

Dadi: "It had touched the sacred sweet rice! To him, even the clay was precious. That's true devotion, beta - finding holiness in everything connected to God."

Guddu: "Did he finish his sandalwood mission?"

Dadi: "Yes! And on his return journey, he stopped at Remuna again. In another dream, Gopinatha told him, "I am the same as the deity in Vrindavan. You can smear the sandalwood on Me here." So the precious sandalwood found its purpose at Khirachora Gopinatha's temple!"

Guddu: "Everything connected!"

Dadi: "The story teaches us something beautiful, beta. God knows our hearts - even the desires we're too shy to express. And He loves His devotees so much that He'll break His own rules to make them happy!"

Guddu: "Like when Mummy saves the last ladoo for me even though she loves sweets too?"

Dadi: "(laughing) Exactly like that! Love makes us thieves, beta - stealing moments, saving treats, hiding surprises. And if God Himself can be a sweet rice thief, then surely love is the highest law of all!"

Guddu: "I want to visit that temple someday and eat that khira!"

Dadi: "They still make it, beta, after 500 years! The same recipe, the same twelve pots. Some traditions are worth keeping. Now sleep, and may your dreams be as sweet as Gopinatha's stolen khira!"