Paulo Coelho

Stories & Reflections

Khrisna and the teacher

Author: Paulo Coelho

A widow from a village in Bengal didn’t have the money to pay her son’s bus fare, for she had enrolled him in a school far away from home.

The boy would have to cross a forest all by himself.

In order to reassure him, she said: “Don’t be afraid of the forest, son.

“Ask Lord Krishna to be with you. He will hear your prayer.”

The boy did what his mother told him to do; Krishna appeared and began to take him to school every day.

On his teacher’s birthday, the boy asked his mother for money to buy him a gift.

“We don’t have money, son. Ask your brother Krishna to arrange a gift.”

On the next day, the boy told his problem to Krishna. He gave him a pitcher full of milk.

Cheered up, the boy handed the pitcher to his teacher. But as the other gifts were prettier, his teacher didn’t give any attention to it.

“Take this pitcher to the kitchen,” said the teacher to an assistant.

The assistant did what he was told to do.

As he tried to empty the pitcher, however, he noticed that it would fill up again by itself. Immediately, he went to tell it to the professor, who got perplexed and asked the boy: “Where did you get this pitcher and what is the trick that keeps it full?”

“The one who gave it to me was Krishna, the Lord of the Forest.”

The teacher, the students and the helper, all of them laughed.

“There is no God in the forest, this is superstition,” said the teacher.

“If there is one, let us go outside to see him.”

The entire group went out. The boy began calling for Krishna but he didn’t appear.

Desperate, he made a last try: “Brother Krishna, my teacher wants to see you. Please appear.”

At that moment, a voice that echoed through all corners came from the forest: “How is it that he wants to see me, son? He doesn’t even believe I exist!”

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