॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Wednesday, 5 April 2023 - X a.09 - Sri Krishna is tied to a big pestle stone but manages to crawl away for another astonishing exploit.
***
Both Sage Valmiki and Sage Vyasa have etched themselves in my mind as unparalleled wordsmiths that the rest of the world has to follow. They have painted 4D word pictures describing situations, appearances, expressions, moods, thoughts, dreams and actions like no one else I have read. That is also done with a minimum of words. No wonder they are godly in their accomplishments! Brahma says about Valmiki that his reputation is intact for eternity. Vyasa is extolled as one whose writings are truly encyclopedic and nothing worth saying has been left out and nothing more can indeed be said.
These thoughts come to me as I read this highly descriptive and eloquent chapter. Yashoda is busy that day with household chores, having sent her servants away. She is churning the curd for butter. Vyasa describes Yashoda's physical beauty and the effect of her physical effort on her appearance graphically. Just then, Sri Krishna, still being breastfed. comes to her lovingly. She at once cuddles him and feeds him, while engaged in churning the curd.
***
तमङ्कमारूढमपाययत्स्तनं स्नेहस्नुतं सस्मितमीक्षती मुखम् ।
अतृप्तमुत्सृज्य जवेन सा ययावुत्सिच्यमाने पयसि त्वधिश्रिते ॥
T: Just then, she heard the sound of the milk placed on the stove boiling over, and the little Krishna she had been so lovingly cuddling and feeding with a smile on her face, she left on the ground and rushed to attend to the milk, stopping her churning. Sri Krishna was not done with suckling yet and got upset!
Then Sri Krishna put on a show of extreme tantrum and unleashed his usual mischief. When Yashoda returned, she discovered he had raided the curd and butter pots, fed the monkeys, and generally made a big mess. He had climbed on a huge pestle stone. Yashoda stole up to him from behind, feigning anger, with a stick in her hand. Krishna flew into a tizzy, crying and appearing most afraid in anticipation of her punishment. He cried out loud, rubbed his face and eyes hard and smeared all the collyrium on his face. He began to run away, Yashoda chasing him. Vyasya reminds us that even great ascetics find it hard to catch up with the Lord in their meditations!
Yashoda, at last, got hold of the prankster. Dropping her stick, she decided to tie him up.
न चान्तर्न बहिर्यस्य न पूर्वं नापि चापरम् । पूर्वापरं बहिश्चान्तर्जगतो यो जगच्च यः ॥
तं मत्वाऽऽत्मजमव्यक्तं मर्त्यलिङ्गमधोक्षजम् । गोपिकोलूखले दाम्ना बबन्ध प्राकृतं यथा ॥
तद्दाम बध्यमानस्य स्वार्भकस्य कृतागसः । द्व्यङ्गुलोनमभूत्तेन सन्दधेऽन्यच्च गोपिका ॥
T: The Lord who is not confined within or without, neither in the past nor in the future, ever present everywhere and ungraspable by the senses, was being seen by Yashoda as her little mischievous boy who should be tied with a rope to the pestle stone!
Unfortunately, she found the rope two inches short.
Yashoda rushed around, bringing more rope, but every piece of rope she added to the string still appeared to be two inches short of what she needed to tie Sri Krishna!
By now, a large gathering of Gopis had been attracted to watch this amusing spectacle. Imagine Sri Krishna, half-crying, half-mischievous, collyrium smeared all over his face, allowing himself to be tied. Finally, he allowed Yashoda to tie him to the stone. By then, Yashoda presented a pretty sight of a beautiful mother at her wit's end and looking totally flustered, with the flowers in her braid all strewn around. (Vyasa does better than the best director of today in conjuring up the scene).
नायं सुखापो भगवान् देहिनां गोपिकासुतः । ज्ञानिनां चात्मभूतानां यथा भक्तिमतामिह ॥
कृष्णस्तु गृहकृत्येषु व्यग्रायां मातरि प्रभुः । अद्राक्षीदर्जुनौ पूर्वं गुह्यकौ धनदात्मजौ ॥
पुरा नारदशापेन वृक्षतां प्रापितौ मदात् । नलकूबरमणिग्रीवाविति ख्यातौ श्रियान्वितौ ॥
T: This, our Lord, Sri Krishna, is unattainable by Jnanis, people claiming self-knowledge, engaged in rituals, pandering to their bodies, and so on. But he is most accessible to the true devotees, who shower all their love on him. A shining example was his mother Yashoda! Yashoda thus bound up the little Krishna to the pestle stone and moved back into the home to attend to pressing chores. She thought she had taught Krishna a lesson.
Sri Krishna found it opportune now to turn his attention to Lord Kubera's two sons, twins, who had become huge Arjuna trees in his courtyard.
Indeed, the twin sons had been long ago cursed by Sage Narada for their arrogance. As a result, they had turned into a pair of Arjuna trees. Of all creatures, a tree is the least qualified to be arrogant! Their names were Nala Kubara and Manigreeva, and at one time they had been prosperous. Now they were going to be lucky!
***
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
