Damodara Lila

Mother Yashoda stood in her cozy kitchen churning butter. The sweet aroma of fresh milk and cream spread all around. Birds chirped cheerfully outside the window, and the warm sun peeped into the window, illuminating the room with a soft light.

Her face lit up with love when she saw Krishna, her little fidgeter, coming towards her and rubbing His eyes. “Mommy, I’m hungry! Give Me some milk!” Krishna said plaintively.

Smiling, Mother Yashoda replied: “Of course, my little one. Come here.” She sat down and began breastfeeding Krishna. Suddenly, however, she smelled the milk on the stove, which had started boiling over and burning.

“Oh no, the milk on the stove is boiling over!” she exclaimed in alarm. Gently taking Krishna from her breast, Mother Yashoda hurried to the stove to remove the pot of milk.

Left behind by His mother, Krishna became angry. He immediately picked up a stone and broke the butter pot. Scooping out the butter, He hid in a secluded place to eat it, pretending to cry.

After that, Krishna went to the pantry to eat fresh butter. But the pots of butter were hanging high up on the ceiling.

To reach them, He climbed onto a grinding mortar. Krishna began eating the butter Himself and sharing it with the monkeys. Laughing, He said: “Eat, My friends, this is the best butter in Gokul!”

Back in the kitchen, Mother Yashoda noticed the broken yoghurt pot and clapped her hands. Picking up a stick, she went in search of Krishna. “Ah, this must be the mischief of my little prankster!” she said to herself.

Looking into the pantry, she saw Him feeding the monkeys and eating the butter Himself. Hearing His mother’s voice and seeing the stick in her hands, Krishna quickly jumped down from the grinding mortar and ran away. The monkeys, frightened as well, scattered in all directions. “Krishna! There You are!” she called sternly.

Krishna ran very fast, and Mother Yashoda could not catch up with Him at first. Running and crying, Krishna called out: “Mommy, I won’t do it again!”

But because she loved Krishna deeply and was very determined, she eventually caught Him.

Krishna, frightened and crying, realised that He was about to be punished for His mischief. He cried through His tears: “Mother, I won’t do it again!” Seeing how frightened He was, Mother Yashoda thought: “Oh, Krishna is so scared — that is not good. Perhaps I should throw away the stick. But I still need to punish Him somehow so He doesn’t misbehave again. Oh! I have an idea! I will take a rope and tie Him to the grinding mortar.”

She brought a rope and tried to tie Krishna to the overturned mortar, but the rope was short by the length of two fingers. So Mother Yashoda fetched another rope, tied it to the first one, and tried again — but still, the rope was two fingers short. She added yet another rope, but again it was two fingers too short.

“How can this be? O Krishna, what shall I do with You?” she said in frustration. Seeing how tired His mother was, Krishna decided to show compassion. He thought to Himself: “My mother is trying so hard to bind Me. She loves Me so much that she has forgotten I am God, who cannot be bound by anything. But in return for her love, I will allow her to bind Me.”

After much effort, Mother Yashoda finally succeeded in binding Krishna to the mortar.

Once He was tied, she returned to her household chores. Left alone, Krishna looked toward the two giant trees standing in the courtyard.

He thought: “These trees are extraordinary. They are the demigods Nalakuvara and Manigriva, suffering from a curse.”

“I must release them, because My devotee Narada Muni promised them that I would. I love My devotees very much, so I will help these demigods.”

Tied to the mortar, Krishna moved toward the trees and pulled the mortar with great force. With a loud rumbling sound, the huge trees fell to the ground. From them emerged two radiant personalities — Nalakuvara and Manigriva. Bowing down, they said: “O Lord, thank You for Your mercy. You have set us free. We shall be eternally grateful to You, Lord Krishna!”

Krishna smiled and happily returned to His games, as if nothing unusual had happened. Gokul became peaceful once more, and Mother Yashoda’s heart, filled with love, rejoiced in the playful pastimes of her restless and wonderful son.