Butter-thief

[Guest guest]

The Jamuna River is very beautiful, and she is flowing in the middle of

Mathura and Gokula. Vrindavana's gopas and gopis-how beautiful and sweetly

smiling they are. How lovely. Krishna would go to all the houses with His

little friends and steal makhan, butter. But actually what is the butter? It

is actually the prema in the hearts of the gopis. They don't think that God

is coming to their houses. When Krishna takes butter, sometimes they catch

Him and with raised eyebrows they say, "O little boy, you are stealing from

my house?" Krishna replies, "O mayeri, I thought that this was my house." He

is smiling so sweetly that the gopi is enchanted, and then Krishna runs

away. How beautiful.

 

In another house a gopi caught Krishna with His hand in a butter pot. She

said, "Oh, now I have caught You red-handed. Now I know that You steal my

butter." Krishna said, "No, I am not stealing butter. I was looking for My

calf.Oh, You are looking for Your calf? And where is it?Here it is,"

said Krishna, pulling a little marble calf from the pot. He then smiled and

ran away. Whenever He would escape, the gopis would say, "Just wait! On

another day I'll see what I will do. I'll catch You tomorrow."

 

Whenever Krishna stole butter He would share it with the monkeys. And, when

the monkeys were so full that they wouldn't take any more, Krishna would

say, "This butter isn't any good," and break the pots. Sometimes He would

untie the calves so that they would run to their mother cows and drink all

the milk. When the gopis would then come to milk the cows there would be no

milk left. When the gopis would complain to Mother Yasoda about the stealing

activities of her son, she would say, "I don't believe you. My son is so

small. How could He possibly steal from so many houses?" At the same time

she thought to herself that perhaps Krishna was not satisfied with the

butter in her house. Maybe it was not sweet enough. So she decided to make

butter with her own hands. Mother Yasoda did not purchase the milk or butter

from the store. This is not bhakti.

 

Mother Yasoda thus milked the cows and made yogurt. The next morning, on

Diwali, when everyone else was away, she began to churn the yogurt. She was

so beautiful. She had a very thin waist and luster was coming out from

within, as from a pearl. From where does Krishna's beauty come? From His

mother. As she churned, she became absorbed in remembering Krishna's

pastimes. She was singing, "Govinda Damodhara Madhaveti." She forgot who she

was and where she was. When Krishna awoke He could not find His mother, and,

being very hungry He began to cry, "Maiya, Maiya." It is no trouble for

Krishna to make universes and to kill demons like Hiranyakasipu, Ravana and

Agasura, but now He was weeping and His cries were not answered. He then

cried more loudly, and when His mother did not come, He somehow got down

from the bed. He heard His mother singing, and He went in that direction. He

was rubbing His eyes, and His kajal had thus made thick black lines under

his eyes and was now smeared on His cheeks. Approaching Yasoda, He pulled

her sari, but she did not notice. Then He pulled her cloth with one hand and

put His other hand on the churning rod. At that time she turned and saw her

darling little son. She then gave up churning and put Him on her lap. She

gave Him her breast, covering Him with her upper cloth, and caressed His

head. Krishna had great love and Mother Yasoda had great love. Soon, the

milk which Mother Yasoda had put on the fire began to boil over. The milk

was thinking to itself that Krishna has unlimited thirst. Millions of

universes cannot fill Him up. Mother Yasoda, on the other hand, has an

unlimited supply of milk. So, thinking that it would never have a chance to

serve Krishna, the milk began to give up it's life by jumping into the fire.

Our mental power and life are useless without Krishna consciousness. We

should repent like the milk. Without repenting, bhakti will not come.

 

When Mother Yasoda saw the milk, she immediately wanted to rescue it. She

thought that with her milk alone she could not please Krishna. She could not

make rubry, rasagula, pera, and so many other sweets. She wanted to get up,

but Krishna was not yet satisfied. He wrapped His legs around her, and held

her with His hands, and with His mouth also. Although He was trying so hard,

with one hand Yasoda quickly put Him down. She ordered Him, "You should sit

here."

 

When Putana, with the strength of ten-thousand elephants, tried to free

herself from Krishna, she was unable to do so; but Mother Yasoda could

easily put Krishna down. She pacified the milk, and told him, "Be peaceful."

When she returned Krishna was gone. She thought, "Where did that monkey go?"

This is Parambrahma. He is afraid. He forgets that He is Bhagavan, the

Supreme, all-powerful Lord. Who is He? The Supreme Lord. Siva and Durga and

all others are His dasas and dasis. Krishna does not live in the yogi's

hearts. He lives in Vrindavana where there is so much love. If you do puja,

it should not be for personal benefit. Whatever you do should be for

Krishna, not for your own enjoyment.

 

 

_______________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp