Krishna’s Naughty Childhood Pastimes

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Translations and Purports by

 

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

TEXT

 

Our dear friend Yasoda, your son sometimes comes to our houses before the milking of the cows and releases the calves, and when the master of the house becomes angry, your son merely smiles. Sometimes He devises some process by which He steals palatable curd, butter and milk, which He then eats and drinks. When the monkeys assemble, He divides it with them, and when the monkeys have their bellies so full that they won’t take more, He breaks the pots. Sometimes, if He gets no opportunity to steal butter or milk from a house, He will be angry at the householders, and for His revenge He will agitate the small children by pinching them. Then, when the children begin crying, Krishna will go away.

 

PURPORT

 

The narration of Krishna’s naughty childhood activities would be presented to mother Yasoda in the form of complaints. Sometimes Krishna would enter the house of a neighbor, and if He found no one there, He would release the calves before the time for the cows to be milked. The calves are actually supposed to be released when their mothers are milked, but Krishna would release them before that time, and naturally the calves would drink all the milk from their mothers. When the cowherd men saw this, they would chase Krishna and try to catch Him, saying, “Here is Krishna doing mischief,” but He would flee and enter another house, where He would again devise some means to steal butter and curd. Then the cowherd men would again try to capture Him, saying, “Here is the butter thief. Better capture Him!” And they would be angry. But Krishna would simply smile, and they would forget everything. Sometimes, in their presence, He would begin eating the curd and butter. There was no need for Krishna to eat butter, since His belly was always full, but He would try to eat it, or else He would break the pots and distribute the contents to the monkeys. In this way, Krishna was always engaged in mischief-making. If in any house He could not find any butter or curd to steal, He would go into a room and agitate the small children sleeping there by pinching them, and when they cried He would go away. - Bhag. 10.8.29

 

TEXT

 

When Krishna is caught in His naughty activities, the master of the house will say to Him, ‘Oh, You are a thief,’ and artificially express anger at Krishna. Krishna will then reply, ‘I am not a thief. You are a thief.’ Sometimes, being angry, Krishna passes urine and stool in a neat, clean place in our houses. But now, our dear friend Yasoda, this expert thief is sitting before you like a very good boy.” Sometimes all the gopis would look at Krishna sitting there, His eyes fearful so that His mother would not chastise Him, and when they saw Krishna’s beautiful face, instead of chastising Him they would simply look upon His face and enjoy transcendental bliss. Mother Yasoda would mildly smile at all this fun, and she would not want to chastise her blessed transcendental child.

 

PURPORT

 

Krishna’s business in the neighborhood was not only to steal but sometimes to pass stool and urine in a neat, clean house. When caught by the master of the house, Krishna would chastise him, saying, “You are a thief.” Aside from being a thief in His childhood affairs, Krishna acted as an expert thief when He was young by attracting young girls and enjoying them in the rasa dance. This is Krishna’s business. He is also violent, as the killer of many demons. Although mundane people like nonviolence and other such brilliant qualities, God, the Absolute Truth, being always the same, is good in any activities, even so-called immoral activities like stealing, killing and violence. Krishna is always pure, and He is always the Supreme Absolute Truth. Krishna may do anything supposedly abominable in material life, yet still He is attractive. Therefore His name is Krishna, meaning “all-attractive.” This is the platform on which transcendental loving affairs and service are exchanged. Because of the features of Krishna’s face, the mothers were so attracted that they could not chastise Him. Instead of chastising Him, they smiled and enjoyed hearing of Krishna’s activities. Thus the gopis remained satisfied, and Krishna enjoyed their happiness. Therefore another name of Krishna is Gopi-jana-vallabha because He invented such activities to please the gopis.

 

– Bhag. 10.8.31