The Donkey That Guards Our Becoming
A tale for anyone who’s ever stood at the edge of something beautiful and still held back
In the quiet forests of Vrindavan, Krishna and Balrama once wandered, young, playful, free.
They came upon a grove of Tala trees, their fruits golden, fragrant, heavy with sweetness.
But no one had tasted them, not because they were unripe.
But because the grove was guarded.
A donkey. Snarling. Violent. Possessive.
Not eating the fruit-just making sure no one else could.
This was Dhenuka - a demon disguised as dullness.
Noise guarding stillness.
Fear pretending to be protection.
Until Balrama stepped forward.
Not with rage, but with resolve.
He removed what was false.
And then… the fruits fell.
Not with force- but with grace.
As if they had been waiting for the noise to stop.
This isn’t just a story from an ancient forest.
It’s the story of our inner world.
Of all the sweetness that already exists within us-
and the tired old thoughts that keep kicking it away.
That donkey still lives inside many of us.
He says things like:
“Stay here. Don’t reach.”
“Be quiet. Be small. Be realistic.”
“What if you fail?”
“What if you change and no one understands you anymore?”
And so we circle the same trees -year after year -
seeing beauty, longing for peace, aching for purpose but never tasting what’s already ours.
Why?
Because something in us has made peace with the noise.
But the Bhagwat Puran doesn’t condemn the noise.
It simply shows us what happens when we no longer believe it.
When we stop feeding the voice that says not yet.
When we stop mistaking inner chaos for truth.
When we allow our strength to be quiet -and clear.
Bhagwad Gita also speaks to this moment of shift:
“उद्धरेदात्मनाऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥”
Let one lift the self by the self. Let not the self fall.
The self is the friend of the self. The self is also its enemy.
No one else is guarding your joy.
No one else is standing between you and peace.
Only the donkey you’ve kept fed.
So today, ask gently:
What am I circling but not tasting?
What noise have I mistaken for safety?
What strength - like Balrama- is quiet inside me, waiting for permission to rise?
You don’t need to tear anything down.
Just stop agreeing with what no longer serves you.
The forest has always been ready.
The fruit has always been ripe.
The sweetness was always meant for you.
Don’t let another season pass in silence.
You were not meant to stand at the edge of your own life.
You were meant to step in -fully, gently, honestly
and taste what’s been yours all along.
The sweetness is not somewhere far.
It’s just on the other side of what you’re ready to release.
