Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Krsna

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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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