Damodara / stealing butter

So we may be afraid of this fearful agent, but Krsna is not fearful, afraid of fearful agent. We do... Because we should not. Therefore Kunti is astonished, vimohayati, that "This is my astonishment, that how Krsna is afraid of His mother? The... Everyone is afraid of Krsna." That Krsna, Kunti admits that... Therefore it is called lila. Everything, whatever Krsna does, it is lila. Lila means He's enjoying that fearful attitude of Himself. Everyone prays Him as the Supreme Lord. He is adored, He's worshiped. Nobody can be fearful to Him. Nobody goes to Krsna: "I have come to chastise You, Krsna." That is not possible. Nobody goes to the temple with the attitude, with a stick-"Sir, I have come to chastise You." Everyone is praying. So when Krsna thinks that "I wants to be chastised," at that time He become subordinate to His devotee to be chastised. This is Krsna's lila. Krsna agrees that "Nobody comes to chastise Me, all My devotees. If some devotee comes to chastise Me, I would like it." So Krsna accepts such great devotee as His mother and father, and they are able to chastise Krsna. (More...)

So the father conception of God, mother conception of God, is not bad. Just like in Bengal especially, they have got mother conception. Mother conception means the same thing: to exploit, take from mother, or father. But the Vaisnava conception is not to accept God as father or mother but as son. Son means to give. Father means to take from him, and son means to take from the father. So if you become father of God, then your business will be to give, not to take. That is Vaisnava conception. From the very beginning of the son's life, the mother is giving service to the son, the father is giving service. Therefore the service is there. Even Krsna is afraid of Mother Yasoda. Why? Why Mother Yasoda was trying to bind Krsna? Because He disrupted the process of service of Mother Yasoda to Krsna. That is... Mother Yasoda tried that "You have broken the butter, and You have distributed to the monkeys, You rascal. Then how You will live? I kept the butter for You so that You will eat and You'll become fatty. And You have broken that, and You have distributed the butter to the monkeys, so You must be punished." So the aim is to serve Krsna. Not that Yasoda is thinking, "My butter is spoiled by this child. Therefore He should be punished." He [she] is anxious to see that "Krsna may not starve for want of butter. He's child. He does not know. He has distributed the butter to the monkeys." But Krsna knows that "These monkeys are not ordinary monkeys." Those monkeys, they have taken birth in Vrndavana and come to Krsna, do you think they're ordinary monkeys? They're devotees. They're devotees. They're playing as monkey for Krsna's satisfaction. These are the intricate meanings of understanding Krsna's lila. Therefore Krsna says, janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah [Bg 4.9]. (More...)