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KB 1970-1-9 / Mother Yasoda Binding Lord Krsna
9 / Mother Yasoda Binding Lord Krsna
Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in
different household duties, mother Yasoda personally took
charge of churning butter. And while she churned butter, she
sang the childhood pastimes of Krsna and enjoyed thinking of
her son.
The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and
on account of her intense love for her son, milk automatically
dripped from her breasts which moved as she labored very hard,
churning with two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands
tinkled as they touched each other, and her earrings and
breasts shook. There were drops of perspiration on her face,
and the flower garland which was on her head scattered here and
there. Before this picturesque sight, Lord Krsna appeared as a
child. He felt hungry, and out of love for His mother
, He wanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her
first business was to let Him suck her breast and then
churn butter later.
Mother Yasoda took her son on her lap and pushed the nipples of
her breasts into His mouth. And while Krsna was sucking the
milk, she was smiling, enjoying the beauty of her
child's face. Suddenly, the milk which was on the oven began
to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling, mother
Yasoda at once put Krsna aside and went to the oven. Left in
that state by His mother, Krsna became very angry, and His lips
and eyes became red in rage. He pressed His teeth and lips
, and taking up a piece of stone, He immediately broke the
butter pot. He took butter out of it, and with false tears in
His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place.
In the meantime, mother Yasoda returned to the churning place
after setting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the
broken pot in which the churning yogurt was kept. Since
she could not find her boy, she concluded that the broken pot
was His work. She began to smile as she thought, "The child is
very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this place,
fearing punishment." After she sought all over, she found
a big wooden grinding mortar which was kept
upside down, and she found her son sitting on it. He was taking
butter which was hanging from the ceiling on a swing,
and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Krsna looking
this way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious
of His naughty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she
very silently approached Him from behind. Krsna, however,
quikly saw her coming at Him with a stick in her hand, and
immediately He got down from the grinding mortar
and began to flee in fear.
Mother Yasoda chased Him to all corners, trying to capture the
Supreme Personality of Godhead who is never approached even by
the meditations of great yogis. In other words, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is never caught by the yogis
and speculators, was playing just like a little child for a
great devotee like mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda, however, could
not easily catch the fast-running child because of her thin
waist and heavy body. Still she tried to follow Him as fast as
possible. Her hair loosened, and the flower in her hair fell to
the ground. Although she was tired, she somehow reached her
naughty child and captured Him. When He was caught, Krsna was
almost on the point of crying. He smeared His hands over His
eyes, which were anointed with black eye cosmetics. The child
saw His mother's face while she stood over Him, and His eyes
became restless from fear. Mother Yasoda could understand that
Krsna was unnecessarily afraid, and for His benefit she wanted
to allay His fears.
Being the topmost well-wisher of her child, mother Yasoda
began to think, "If the child is too fearful of me, I don't
know what will happen to Him." Mother Yasoda then threw away
her stick. In order to punish Him, she thought to bind His
hands with some ropes. She did not know it, but
it was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Mother Yasoda was thinking that Krsna
was her tiny child; she did not know that the child had no
limitation. There is no inside or outside of Him, nor beginning
or end. He is unlimited and all-pervading. Indeed, He is
Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, mother Yasoda
was thinking of Krsna as her child. Although He is beyond the
reach of all senses, she endeavored to bind Him up to a wooden
grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that
the rope she was using was too short -- by two inches. She
gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but at
the end she found the same shortage. In this way, she connected
all the ropes available at home, but when the final knot was
added, she saw that it was still two inches too short.
Mother Yasoda was smiling, but she was astonished. How was it
happening?
In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. She was
perspiring, and the garland on her head fell down. Then Lord
Krsna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being
compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes.
Krsna, playing as a human child in the house of mother Yasoda,
was performing His own selected pastimes. Of course, no
one can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The
pure devotee surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord,
who may either protect or vanquish the devotee. But for his
part, the devotee never forgets his own position of
surrender. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental
pleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee.
This was exemplified by Krsna's surrender unto His mother,
Yasoda.
Krsna is the supreme bestower of all kinds of liberation to His
devotees, but the benediction which was bestowed upon mother
Yasoda was never experienced even by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva
or the goddess of fortune.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as the son of
Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja, is never so completely known to the
yogis and speculators. But He is easily available to His
devotees. Nor is He appreciated as the supreme reservoir of all
pleasure by the yogis and speculators.
After binding her son, mother Yasoda engaged herself in
household affairs. At that time, bound up to the wooden mortar,
Krsna could see a pair of trees before Him which were known as
arjuna trees. The great reservoir of pleasure, Lord Sri Krsna,
thus thought to Himself, "Mother Yasoda first of all left
without feeding Me sufficient milk, and therefore I broke the
pot of yogurt and distributed the stock butter in charity to
the monkeys. Now she has bound Me up to a wooden mortar. So I
shall do something more mischievous than before." And thus He
thought of pulling down the two very tall arjuna trees.
There is a history behind the pair of arjuna trees. In their
previous lives, the trees were born as the human sons of
Kuvera, and their names were Nalakuvara and Manigriva.
Fortunately, they came within the vision of the Lord. In
their previous lives they were cursed by the great sage Narada
in order to receive the highest benediction of
seeing Lord Krsna. This benediction-curse was bestowed upon
them because of their forgetfulness due to intoxication. This
story will be narrated in the next chapter.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Ninth Chapter of
Krsna, "Mother Yasoda Binding Lord Krsna."
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KB 9: Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Krsna
CHAPTER NINE
Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Krsna
Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in
different household duties, Mother Yasoda personally took
charge of churning butter. And while she churned butter, she
sang the childhood pastimes of Krsna and enjoyed thinking of
her son.
The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and
on account of her intense love for her son, milk automatically
dripped from her breasts, which moved as she labored very hard,
churning with two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands
tinkled as they touched each other, and her earrings and
breasts shook. There were drops of perspiration on her face,
and the flower garland which was on her head scattered here and
there. Before this picturesque sight, Lord Krsna appeared as a
child. He felt hungry, and to increase His mother's
love, He wanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her
first business was to let Him suck her breast, and then she
could churn butter later.
Mother Yasoda took her son on her lap and pushed the nipple of
her breast into His mouth, and while Krsna was sucking the
milk and smiling, she was enjoying the beauty of her
child's face. Suddenly, the milk which was on the stove began
to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling, Mother
Yasoda at once put Krsna aside and went to the stove. Left in
that state by His mother, Krsna became very angry, and His lips
and eyes became red in rage. He bit His lips with His
teeth, and taking up a piece of stone, He immediately broke the
butter pot. He took butter out of it, and with false tears in
His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place.
In the meantime, Mother Yasoda returned to the churning place
after setting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the
broken pot, in which the churning yogurt had been kept. Since
she could not find her boy, she concluded that the broken pot
was His work. She smiled as she thought, "The child is
very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this place,
fearing punishment." After she sought all over, she found her
son sitting on a big wooden grinding mortar, which was kept
upside down. He was taking
butter from a pot which was hanging from the ceiling on a swing,
and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Krsna looking
this way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious
of His naughty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she
very silently approached Him from behind. Krsna, however,
saw her coming toward Him with a stick in her hand, and
He immediately got down from the grinding mortar
and began to flee in fear. Mother Yasoda chased Him to all
corners, trying to capture the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
who is never approached even by the expert meditations of great
yogis. In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krsna, who is never caught by the yogis and speculators, was
playing just like a little child for such a great devotee as
Mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda, however, could not easily catch
the fast-running child because of her thin waist and heavy body.
Still she tried to follow Him as fast as possible. Her hair
loosened, and the flowers in her hair fell to the ground.
Although she was tired, she somehow reached her naughty child
and captured Him. When He was caught, Krsna was almost on the
point of crying. He smeared His hands over His eyes, which were
anointed with black eye cosmetics. The child saw His mother's
face while she stood over Him, and His eyes became restless
from fear.
Mother Yasoda could understand that Krsna was unnecessarily
afraid, and for His benefit she wanted to allay His fears.
Being the topmost well-wisher of her child, Mother Yasoda
thought, "If the child is too fearful of me, I don't
know what will happen to Him." Mother Yasoda then threw away
her stick. In order to punish Him, she thought to bind His
hands with some ropes. She did not know the power of her child
or that it was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Mother Yasoda was thinking that Krsna
was her tiny child; she did not know that the child had no
limitation. There is no inside or outside of Him, nor beginning
or end. He is unlimited and all-pervading. Indeed, He is
Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, Mother Yasoda
was thinking of Krsna as her child. Although He is beyond the
reach of all senses, she endeavored to bind Him to a wooden
grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that
the rope she was using was too short -- by two inches. So she
gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but still
she found the same shortage. In this way she collected
all the ropes available at home, but when the final knot was
added, she saw that the rope was still two inches too short.
Mother Yasoda was smiling, but she was astonished. How was it
happening?
In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. She was
perspiring, and the garland on her head fell down. Then Lord
Krsna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being
compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes.
Krsna, playing as a human child in the house of Mother Yasoda,
was performing His own selected pastimes. Otherwise, no
one can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the
pure devotee surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord,
who may either protect or vanquish the devotee
, the devotee forgets his subordinate position
. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental
pleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee.
This was exemplified by Krsna's surrender unto His mother,
Yasoda.
Krsna is the supreme bestower of all kinds of liberation to His
devotees, but the benediction which was bestowed upon Mother
Yasoda was never experienced even by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva
or the goddess of fortune.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as the son of
Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja, is never so completely known to the
yogis and speculators. But He is easily available to His
devotees. Nor is He appreciated as the supreme reservoir of all
pleasure by the yogis and speculators.
After binding her son, Mother Yasoda engaged herself in
household affairs. At that time, bound up to the wooden mortar,
Krsna could see a pair of trees before Him which were known as
arjuna trees. The great reservoir of pleasure, Lord Sri Krsna,
thus thought to Himself, "Mother Yasoda first of all left
without feeding Me sufficient milk, and therefore I broke the
pot of yogurt and distributed the stock butter in charity to
the monkeys. Now she has bound Me up to a wooden mortar. So I
shall do something more mischievous than before." And thus He
thought of pulling down the two very tall arjuna trees.
There is a history behind the pair of arjuna trees. In their
previous lives they had been the sons of
Kuvera, and their names were Nalakuvara and Manigriva.
Fortunately, they later came within the vision of the Lord. In
their previous lives the great sage Narada
had cursed them in order to bestow the highest benediction of
seeing Lord Krsna. This benediction-curse was bestowed upon
them because of their forgetfulness due to intoxication. This
story will be narrated in the next chapter.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Ninth Chapter of
Krsna, "Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Krsna."
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