Scene I
(The home of two devotees, husband and wife.)WIFE: Kali, Kali, all the time Kali! What has Kali ever done for us? She has only created untold problems.
HUSBAND: Krishna, Krishna, all the time, all the time! What has Krishna done for us? He has only deceived the world, and he is deceiving you.
WIFE: Krishna has deceived the world? My Krishna has deceived the world? My Krishna is all love, all love for mankind. Your Kali is ruthless. She kills people, she destroys people. She is called destruction. I have lost my only daughter because of her. When she was seriously ill you prayed to Kali. You assured me that Kali would cure our daughter. Now we have lost our only daughter. (Cries.)
HUSBAND: Why didn’t you pray to your Krishna? If he is so kind, so generous, so compassionate, why didn’t you call on him? Why didn’t you pray to him to cure our daughter?
WIFE: I didn’t invoke Krishna because I did not want to conflict with your prayer. I thought that since you were praying most ardently to your Kali, your Kali would cure our dearest, sweetest daughter. We have lost our daughter because of Kali. Now if our son gets even a headache I will not allow you to pray to Kali. I will pray to Krishna, my Krishna. He will cure our son. There is no danger on earth which I cannot conquer with my prayers to Krishna. Our son will remain on earth, happy and prosperous, all by Krishna’s Grace. Our son will become great, very great. And I know it is Krishna’s Grace that will make him great.
HUSBAND: I also want our son to be happy and great. If you feel that your Lord Krishna will make our son happy and great, then you pray to Krishna and I shall remain silent. I shall silently pray to my Kali to give me joy, to give me peace of mind, so that I can bear your constant scoldings and insults.
WIFE: If I scold you, then you have to know that you deserve it. You are callous, useless, hopeless in every way.
HUSBAND: Let us not quarrel. Let us not fight in front of our son. I wish you to be happy; I wish my son to be happy; I wish my Kali to make me happy.
SON: How I wish I could do something so that all our problems would be solved! Father is fond of Kali; Mother is fond of Krishna. I do not know of whom I am fond. No, I do know of whom I am fond. But if I say I am fond of Krishna, Father will be displeased; and if I say I am fond of Kali, Mother will be displeased. So I won’t say.
WIFE: All right, keep it secret.
HUSBAND: Even if you say you are fond of Krishna, I will not be displeased. You are free to choose.
WIFE: I also want to tell you, my son, that if you are fond of Kali, you must not think I will be displeased with you. You have a free choice. But it is better for you to be fond of one particular deity, to have total faith in him and love and adoration for him. You should worship only one deity, and that deity will make you really happy, great and prosperous.
