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Lord Krishna's promise to devotees
In a small village of Bengal lived a simple and pious widow affectionately called Durgi Ma. She was poor in worldly wealth but rich in faith. Her entire life was centered on her household deity, Sri Gopala—a small image of baby Krishna that she had inherited from her ancestors.
She treated Gopala not as a statue, but as her own child. Each day she would bathe Him, feed Him, sing lullabies, and even scold Him when she thought He was mischievous. Villagers would often smile and say, "Durgi Ma has truly gone mad in love for her Gopala."
But she paid them no heed. For her, Gopala was as alive as any child.
Though she had little income, Durgi Ma never missed her daily offerings. She would beg or work in the fields just enough to buy some milk, rice, and butter for her beloved Lord. "Gopala must never go hungry," she would say.
At night, she would sit before the small altar, singing softly until sleep overcame her. Her hut was bare, her clothes simple, but her heart overflowed with the sweetness of divine motherhood.
One year, famine struck the region. Crops failed, food became scarce, and hunger spread everywhere. Durgi Ma could find nothing to eat, yet she continued to prepare imaginary meals for Gopala. Placing an empty plate before Him, she wept, "O my darling boy, forgive Your mother! Today she has nothing to give You."
Her tears flowed so freely that they fell onto the plate, filling it like a pool of love.
That night, Durgi Ma heard a gentle knock at her door. When she opened it, she found a handsome cowherd boy standing there, smiling and holding a pot of milk and a basket of food.
"Mother," said the boy, "some men on the road gave these to me, but I have eaten enough. Please take them for yourself."
Durgi Ma looked at Him in wonder. His dark complexion, His curly hair, the peacock feather in His crown—all seemed strangely familiar. Before she could speak, He placed the food on her altar, looked at her with deep affection, and vanished into the air.
Overwhelmed, she fell to the ground crying, "O Gopala! You came Yourself to feed Your mother!"
From that night onward, there was always food in her house. No one knew from where it came. The famine continued to rage outside, but inside her little hut, her Gopala never went hungry again.
When the famine finally ended, the villagers visited her hut and were astonished to see that Durgi Ma looked healthier than before. They asked, "Mother, how did you survive? You had nothing."
She smiled gently and said, "What more does a mother need when her child takes care of her? My Gopala fed me with His own hands."
Many laughed, thinking her words symbolic, but a few devout souls understood that the Lord had indeed revealed His love in a tangible way. Even after her passing, devotees felt a divine presence around her home, and it became a small shrine where people came to pray for faith like hers.
Durgi Ma's story proves that Krishna is both the nourisher and the nourished. When love reaches the state of total surrender, the Lord Himself takes responsibility for His devotee's well-being. Devotion transforms helplessness into intimacy. To Durgi Ma, the famine was not a calamity—it was the Lord's way of revealing His care. Her tears became offerings, and her poverty became her strength.
Lord Krishna's promise to His devotees is this:
"To those who are constantly devoted and who worship Me with love, I give what they lack and preserve what they have."( Bhagavad-gita 9.22)
Courtesy: https://www.bhagavatam-katha.com/gopala-and-durgi-ma/