One Sankaranti day, Rukmini, Sathyabhama, Jambavati, Gopikas, and Draupadi among others were with Lord Krishna, joyously munching sugarcane. Krishna, in order to test them, pretended as if His finger was cut. God always tests His devotees. Test is nothing but a taste of God. If the devotee is successful in the test, he/she receives God’s bounteous Grace. God does not conduct tests as a sign of hatred or enmity; He always does it out of intense love and compassion. As soon as Krishna’s finger was cut, it started bleeding. Sathyabhama asked a servant to quickly get a piece of cloth. Rukmini ran herself. Draupadi saw this and immediately tore a piece of her own sari and tied it to Lord Krishna’s thumb to stop the bleeding. Witnessing this, Rukmini and Sathyabama were ashamed that their love and actions did not match Draupadi’s love. Later Lord Krishna showered infinite grace when Draupadi needed it the most.

- ‘My Dear Students’, Vol 3, Ch 3, Jun 30, 1996.