Chapter Nine Benedicting the Gopis

Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in different household duties, Mother Yasoda personally took charge of churning butter. While she was churning butter she was also singing the Childhood Pastimes of Krishna and enjoying transcendental feelings.

The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and on account of her intense love for her Son, milk was automatically dripping from her breasts which were moving as she labored very hard, churning with her two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands were tinkling as they touched against each other. Her earrings and breasts being shaken, there were drops of perspiration on her face and the flower garland which was on her head was dispersed here and there. Before this picturesque sight of Mother Yasoda, Lord Krishna appeared, as a Child. He felt hungry, and by increasing the feeling of love for His mother, He wanted Her to stop churning-He was indicating that her first business was to let Him suck her breast. He indicated in such a way that His mother knew she must breast-feed Krishna first, and churn butter later.

Mother Yasoda took her Son on her lap and pushed the nipples of her breasts within the mouth of Krishna. And while Krishna was sucking the milk, she was smiling enjoying the beauty of her Child's face. Suddenly, the milk pan which was on the oven became swollen with milk and began to overflow. Just to stop the milk from spilling on the ground, Mother Yasoda at once put Krishna aside and went to the oven to save the milk. Left in that state by His mother, Krishna became very angry and His lips and eyes became reddened in rage. He pressed His teeth and lips, and taking a piece of stone He immediately broke the butter pot. Taking 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 and she could not find her Boy. She concluded that the broken pot was the work of her Son, and she began to smile because she thought within herself: "The Child is very clever. After breaking the pot He has gone away from this place fearing that I may punish Him." When she sought all over she found a big wooden grinding mortar which was kept upside down and she found her Son sitting on the grinding mortar. He was taking butter which was hanging from the ceiling on a swing and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Krishna looking this way and that way, in fear of His mother because He was conscious that His behavior would not satisfy her. After seeing her Son so engaged, she very silently began to approach Krishna from behind. The Son, however, found out that His mother was coming with a stick in her hand and immediately He got down from the grinding mortar and began to flee away in fear of His mother.

Mother Yasoda chased after Him to all corners, just to capture the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is never approached even by the expert meditational mind exercises of great yogis. In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is never caught hold of by yogis and jnanis, was playing just like a little Child of a great devotee like Mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda, however, could not follow her fast-running Child so quickly, on account of her thick waist and heavy body. Still she tried to follow the Child as fast as possible. Her bunch of hair became 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 Mother Yasoda captured Krishna, Krishna was almost on the point of crying. He smeared His hands over His eyes, which were anointed with black eye-cosmetic. The Child was repeatedly seeing His mother's face while she stood over Him; and His eyes became too restless from fear. Mother Yasoda could understand that Krishna was being unnecessarily afraid and for His benefit she wanted to stop such fearfulness.

Being the topmost well-wisher of her Child, Mother Yasoda began to think within herself, "If the Child is too fearful of me, I don't know what will happen to Him." Mother Yasoda threw away the stick in her hand. But in order to punish her Child she thought to bind His hands with some ropes, without knowing the influence of her little Child. It was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mother Yasoda was thinking that Krishna was her tiny Child. She did not know that the Child had no limitation. There is no inside or outside of the Child, nor beginning or end. He is unlimited and All-Pervading. Practically, He is Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, Mother Yasoda was thinking of Krishna 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 the offensive Child, 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 too short. Mother Yasoda was smiling, but astonished-how was it happening?

In attempting to bind her Son, she became too tired and was perspiring. The garland on her head fell down. Then Lord Krishna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate to her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes. Krishna playing as a human Child in the house of Mother Yasoda was performing His own selected Pastimes; otherwise, nobody can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee surrenders himself unto the Lotus Feet of the Lord, and He 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 under the protection of the devotee. This was exemplified by Krishna's surrender unto His mother, Yasoda.

Krishna 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 Shiva or the Goddess of Fortune.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead who is known as the Son of Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj is never so completely known to the yogis and jnanis, but He is easily available to His devotees. And it is the devotees alone who appreciate Him as the Supreme Reservoir of All Pleasure.

After binding her Son, Mother Yasoda engaged herself in the household affairs. At that time, bound up to the wooden mortar, Krishna could see a pair of trees before Him, known as arjuna trees. The great Reservoir of Pleasure, Lord Sri Krishna, thus thought to Himself: "Mother Yasoda first of all left Me without feeding Me sufficiently of her breast milk, and therefore I broke the pot of yogurt and distributed the stock butter in charity to the monkeys. Now she has again bound Me up to the wooden mortar. So I shall do something more mischievous than before." And thus He thought of breaking down two very tall arjuna trees.

There is a story behind the pair of arjuna trees. In their previous lives the trees were born as the human sons of Kuvera, and their names were Nalakuvera 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 bestow on them the highest benediction of seeing Lord Krishna. This benediction of cursing was bestowed upon them on account of their forgetfulness by intoxication.