Poor Damodara!

[Guest guest]

yasodaya gadham ulukhalena

gokanthapasena nibadhyamanah

sammardayan panitlena netre

ruroda mandam navanitacaurah

 

With a cow's halter Yasoda firmly ties the butter

thief to her wooden mortar

where he rubs his eyes with his hands and

quietly cries.

 

--Bilvamangala Thakura

 

 

Babhru das

[Guest guest]

0On Thu, 29 Nov 2001, Bill Reed wrote:

> yasodaya gadham ulukhalena

> gokanthapasena nibadhyamanah

> sammardayan panitlena netre

> ruroda mandam navanitacaurah

> With a cow's halter Yasoda firmly ties the butter

> thief to her wooden mortar

> where he rubs his eyes with his hands and

> quietly cries.

> --Bilvamangala Thakura

 

 

For those who just can't get enough, here's another version (which

appears as verse 12 of his Govinda-damodara-stotram):

 

yasodaya gadham ulukhalena

go-kantha-pasena nibadhyamanam |

ruroda mandam navanita-bhoji

govinda damodara madhaveti ||

 

Being firmly tied up to the grinding mortar with a cow's rope by

mother Yasoda, the big plunderer of butter softly whimpered. "Govinda,

Damodara, Madhava."

 

And yet another similar verse (Bilvamangala-stava, 1.66):

 

bhaje mahah kamagavinavina-

haiyangavinasana-baddha-trsnam |

ulkhale srnkhalitam rudantam

karmantara-vyagra-dhiya jananya ||

 

"I worship that Supreme Greatness, whose mother--attending to more

important matters--has tied Him to a wooden mortar, where He pouts and

whimpers, hungry for the fresh butter of the Kamadhenus."

 

 

The later Braja poet Suradasa often follows many of Bilvamangala

Thakura's prominent themes; so here's one more, in a Braj-bhasa song by the

(blind) poet Suradasa:

 

jasoda ukhala badhe syama /

mana-mohana bahira hi chode, apu gai grha-kama //

dahyau mathati mukha te kacchu bakarati, gari dai dai nama /

ghara ghara dolata makhana corata, satarasa mere dhama //

braja ke larikana mari bhajatu hai, jahu tuma hu balarama /

sura-symama ukhala saum bandhe, nirakhata braja ki bama //

 

Yasoda tied syama to the mortar.

She simply left Manamohana outside--and went to do her household

chores. [inside, and still peeved] she churns butter, calling Him names,

and fairly mutters curses under her breath:

"Roving house to house, stealing butter, [even though excellent

foodstuffs of all] six tastes are [always available right here in] my

house! Beating up the boys of Braja, He runs off! You too,

Balarama--scram!"

[Now all] the ladies in Braja see Sura's Syama, tied up to the

grinding mortar!