1. A watermelon from Lord Siva

    There is a story, I may narrate it. One poor man was begging on the street, and Lord Siva and Parvati was passing as ordinary man. So Parvati requested Lord Siva that this poor man, he’s asking, he’s begging, so requested him, “Why don’t you give him something?” And Lord Siva replied, “Even if I give, he’ll not be able to enjoy it. He’s so unfortunate.” “Oh, that we shall see. Why don’t you give?” So Lord Siva, in a watermelon, gave him, say, one thousand dollars. “You take this watermelon.” So he thanked him, and after that he thought, “What I shall do with this watermelon?” So another man came, “Sir, if you take this watermelon and give me one anna.” So he gave one anna and he took the watermelon. Because he had no good fortune to take that money within the watermelon. Our fortune is like that. Krsna is giving us the final benefit, but we are not taking care of it. This is our misfortune.

    (Srila Prabhupada; Evening Darsana — August 10, 1976, Tehran)