Mother Yasoda Binding Lord Krsna

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Mother Yasoda Binding Lord Krsna

 

Guru_Gauranga

 

 

 

 

 

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."