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Līlā Tatva: Pastimes of Little Kanhaiya


 

Pastime 1

One day, the little child Krishna was playing with His Sakhas. Suddenly, He ate a handful of the dust of Vrindavan. The Sakhas saw this and said, “Kanhaiya! We will tell mother Yashoda what you have done! You ate mud!” Kanhaiya was quite afraid that mother Yashoda might beat Him with her stick today. Nonetheless, all the Sakhas took Kanhaiya to mother Yashoda and told her everything. The Sakhas thought that if they didn’t inform this to mother Yashoda, she would reprimand them later when He would fall sick or develop a stomach pain. “Mother Yashoda, Kanhaiya ate mud!” they said. Mother Yashoda became angry. “Kanhaiya! Did you eat mud?” she asked Kanhaiya. But Kanhaiya didn’t say anything since there was mud in His mouth and as soon as He would speak, mother Yashoda would see the mud. He just shook his head to say no. “Why don’t you speak? Say yes or no,” said mother Yashoda. But Kanhaiya still shook His head and made an “uh-oh” sound to deny it. At this point, He was terrified that mother Yashoda would force Him to open His mouth. How can He avoid getting scolded and beaten up by His mother? If mother Yashoda saw mud in His mouth, all the truth would come out!

Now, Aishwarya Shakti and Mādhurya Shakti of Krishna always serve Him in His pastimes. Whenever He needs their aid, they serve Him accordingly. When Krishna wants to be Mugdha, Mādhurya Shakti serves Him. When He wants to be Sarvagya, Aishwarya Shakti serves Him.

Here, mother Yashoda suspected that something is wrong. Kanhaiya doesn’t want to open His mouth. So she pressed together His cheeks in order to pop His mouth open, saying, “Open! Open your mouth!” Immediately, Aishwarya Shakti took over in order to save Krishna from mother Yashoda’s wrath. Suddenly, mother Yashoda saw the infinite universes inside the little mouth of Kanhaiya! She could not understand what was happening! ‘What is happening? What am I seeing? Why am I seeing infinite universes inside Kanhaiya’s mouth? Is this some black magic or negative influence of celestial bodies? What has happened to my child?’ she thought in amazement and fear. She could see the planet Earth in the universe, in which she saw Bhārat, in which she saw Vraja Dham, in which she was Nandagram, in which she saw Nandabhavan (the house of Nanda Maharaj), where she saw herself holding her child Kanhaiya’s face and looking into his mouth which again contained the infinite universes! She was terrified beyond anything but still, she was not influenced by the Aishwarya Shakti of Krishna. She could not think of her Kanhaiya as God even for a blink of an eye!

‘What has happened to my child? What should I do? How should I save my child?’ she thought, huffing and puffing in panic. ‘O Narayan, please save my child! Please cure my Kanhaiya! I will donate lakhs of cows! I will serve Brāhmins and Sādhus! I will donate a lot of gold and jewels to them!’ She prayed and begged Narayan to save her child Kanhaiya.

Kanhaiya saw that the manifestation of Aishwarya Shakti had frightened mother Yashoda. He told Aishwarya Shakti to go away. “This is my mother! My mother is not influenced by you. She is frightened. You must go away now!” He said to Aishwarya Shakti. Aishwarya Shakti’s influence subsided. Mother Yashoda was relieved to see her child as normal. She hugged Kanhaiya tightly. Tears fell continuously down her cheeks. “Call the Brahmins and priests! Let them perform purification rituals and chant auspicious mantras!” she said. She took her child to the cows and bathed Him in cow dung and urine, which are considered extremely purifying. She also donated gold, jewels, cows, etc as she promised to Narayan. She performed every ritual known to purify Kanhaiya and beget Him auspicious blessings. This is the pure Vātslya Prema of Vraja where the devotee can never think of Krishna as God! Krishna also forgets that He is God and becomes a little child to sit in the lap of His mother and drink her breasts’ nectarine milk full of Vātslya Prema.

Pastime 2

One day, the child Krishna was playing near the banks of Yamuna with His Sakhas. His body was smeared with dust of Vraja and cow dung. He was playing naked in mud which was now smeared on His face and body. Sri Dāma, Sudāma, Subal, Vasudāma, etc were also playing with Him. At that moment, a Gopi came to fill Yamuna water in her pot. Her eyes fell on the little child Krishna. She was ecstatic to see the beauty of the lotus face of Supreme Lord of infinite universes. She was so immersed in the beauty of child Krishna that she lost all awareness of her body and surroundings!

‘Aha! How can such a beautiful child exist in this world? How did the Vidhātā (the Creator) create such an amazing beauty?’ she thought. ‘But see, the mother of this beautiful child is cruel and hard-hearted! The child is smeared with dirt, mud and cow dung all over his body but the mother is not bothered by it! What kind of mother is she?! If he had been my child, I would have kept him embraced in my arms and never let him play in the dirt!’ She kept gazing at the child Krishna and could not take her eyes off him at all.

Krishna was completely naked. ‘The mother of this child is so hard-hearted! She didn’t even put any clothes on him! If he had been my child, I would have decorated him with beautiful clothes, ornaments and decorations. I would have held him in my arms and never put him down on dirt!’ she thought. Krishna gazed at her with His slant look and then continued playing. After some time, He again looked at her with His slant look. The Gopi was absolutely mesmerized by Krishna’s slant looks and cute face. She wanted to take Krishna in her lap and go home!

Lila Purushottam, Krishna, approached her and gazed innocently at her face.

Gopi: Dear child, what is your name?

Krishna: Kanhaiya!

Gopi: Will you go with me to my home?

Krishna: Yes! I will go!

Gopi: Come, let’s go.

Krishna: No, not like this.

Gopi: Then, what do you want?

Krishna: Tell me, will you love me like my mother?

Gopi: I will love you even more than your mother.

Krishna: Really? You will love me even more than my mother? Okay, then, I will surely go with you!

The Gopi was very happy. She filled her water pot and placed it on her head. She held the water pot with one hand and with the other, she held Krishna’s hand to lead Him home.

Krishna: No, no, take me in your arms!

It was difficult to balance the water pot on the head and carry a child in her arms. But nonetheless, the Gopi picked up Kanhaiya with one hand and carried him on the side. After two minutes of walking, Krishna cried loudly.

Krishna: No, no, no! I will sit on the other side!

Gopi put Him down, held the water pot with the hand she was holding Him and picked up Kanhaiya with the other hand. After two minutes of walking like this, Kanhaiya cried loudly again.

Krishna: No, no, no! Take me on your back!

Gopi did whatever Kanhaiya desired, no matter how difficult it was to balance the water pot and carry Kanhaiya at the same time. But Kanhaiya continued to cry loudly and asked her to change sides. In a few minutes, she was perspiring with exhaustion! Then Kanhaiya said, “No, no, no! Put me down, put me down!” As soon as the Gopi put Him down, Kanhaiya ran away! On reaching some distance, He turned around and said, “Your love for me is nothing like my mother! Had it been her, she would have given me two slaps by now!” And He ran away like the wind!

What Kanhaiya means to say is that the Gopi does not scold, reproach or punish Him for being naughty. What kind of mother does that? If a mother lets her child be naughty, he will become a spoilt, indecent and intolerable person in the future. Nobody will like such a person. If the mother does not discipline her child, she does not love him at all!

Only one who loves and cares for the child will want to discipline him. The Gopi did not scold or discipline Him, although He annoyed her to exhaustion in a few minutes. Kanhaiya says she cannot love Him like mother Yashoda who always thinks about the welfare of her child.

Here, the question is, does mother Yashoda not love Krishna? The Gopi thinks she is cruel and hard-hearted because she lets such a beautiful child play in the dirt and cow dung while naked. Does she not care about Krishna?

The answer is that mother Yashoda’s utmost desire is to let Krishna be happy. She wants her child to play happily and smile. When Kanhaiya plays in dirt, mud and cow dung, sometimes mother Yashoda calls Him, “Kanhaiya, come, my dear. Come!” Kanhaiya refuses to come and says, “No, no! I will not go now! I will go later!” Mother Yashoda thinks, ‘Okay, let the child play happily. He is immersed in playing.” She is happy in Kanhaiya’s happiness and sad in Krishna’s sorrow. It is not that she doesn’t want to bath and decorate her child in beautiful clothes and ornaments. Do Nanda Baba and Mother Yashoda lack in money and possessions? If not, then why do they not decorate their child with valuable ornaments and keep him away from dirt? The truth is that the little child Krishna is happy while playing in mud and they only want Him to be happy. This kind of selfless and pure Vātsalya Prema exists only in Vraja Dham. Even Brahmā and Shiva are not able to partake in such pastimes. What is there to say about ordinary people like you and me?!

Pastime 3

One day, Mother Yashoda was churning curd early in the morning. Little Kanhaiya woke up and was extremely hungry. He approached Mother Yashoda and put His arms around her neck, saying, “Maiya, Maiya! I am very hungry! Give me something to eat!” Mother Yashoda told Him to wait until she churned out fresh butter. But Kanhaiya was very hungry and He could not wait any longer. In anger, He broke the earthen pot full of buttermilk and butter with a small stone. Then, knowing that He had angered His mother, He started running!

Breaking an earthen pot was not a big matter, but Mother Yashoda thought that Kanhaiya was becoming very naughty. If she didn’t discipline Him a little, He would become an even more naughty and insolent person in the future. Therefore, it was important to discipline her beloved child. She took a stick and chased Kanhaiya all around the house. Her heavy body was tired of running behind Kanhaiya but she was steadfast in disciplining her beloved child.

Eventually, she managed to get hold of Kanhaiya and tied Him to a big stone mortar (used for grinding) with a rope in the courtyard. “Don’t be naughty anymore! Stay here for the time being!” she said. “No, no, maiya! I will not be naughty anymore!” said Kanhaiya. He was afraid that Mother Yashoda might beat Him. So, He accepted the punishment. Mother Yashoda went inside the house to continue with her household chores. Here, Kanhaiya pulled the mortar to which His waist was tied. It fell on the ground. Now Kanhaiya pulled it again as He started crawling on the ground. The mortar rolled on the ground behind Him. Kanhaiya crawled through between two Yamalārjuna trees who were the cursed sons of the demigod Kuber. The mortar got stuck between the trees. Kanhaiya pulled it again. As a result, the two trees fell on each side of Kanhaiya. Two divine beings emerged from the trees and introduced themselves as Nal Kuber and Manigreeva. They described the glories of Krishna and prostrated before Him. Then they disappeared.

There were some little children of Vraja in the courtyard who watched all these pastimes of Kanhaiya. Hearing the sound of the falling trees, Nanda Baba, Yashoda and many other Vrajawasis ran to the courtyard. They were all shocked to see the fallen trees on each side of Kanhaiya, who was still tied to the mortar. “How did these trees fall? How could such big trees simply uproot? What has happened here?” they all asked among each other. Then they asked the little children playing in the courtyard what had happened. “Kanhaiya was tied to the mortar and he was pulling it while crawling on the ground. He crawled through between the two trees and the mortar got stuck between them. As he pulled the mortar again, the two trees uprooted!” the children recounted innocently. “Oh, these children! They do not know anything! How can such a little child uproot such big trees?!” the Vrajawasis said in disbelief. And Kanhaiya too started crying, “Baba! Baba!” Nanda Baba was very worried and thought, ‘How did this happen? What a disaster! What if the trees fell on Kanhaiya?’ He immediately untied Him and picked Him up in his arms.

Kanhaiya continued crying even in Nanda Baba’s arms. Nanda Baba became angry with Mother Yashoda. “Even if Kanhaiya broke the earthen pot, such things are normal in householder life with children. What was the need to tie him up in the courtyard? What if the trees fell on Kanhaiya? It would have been an irreversible disaster! You are such a heartless person! Don’t you have even a shred of compassion? I can buy you thousands of earthen pots in compensation. Why did you have to tie up Kanhaiya for such a small thing?” he said angrily to Mother Yashoda. “No, no, it is not because of a broken earthen pot! The child is becoming naughty day by day. I only wanted to discipline him for his welfare. This is the duty of a mother. I tied him up only to discipline him,” said Mother Yashoda, pleadingly. But Nanda Baba was angry and he scolded Mother Yashoda bitterly.

Kanhaiya also hugged Nanda Baba crying and said, “Baba! Baba! I will never go to Maiya again! I will stay with you only!” This is Kanhaiya’s Lila! Mother Yashoda started crying in despair. ‘My child is really upset. What should I do?’ she thought. She called Kanhaiya lovingly but He was upset with His Maiya and refused to go to her. This is a pastime to relish Vātsalya Rasa.

“Alright, Kanhaiya, let’s go. You can sleep with me,” said Nanda Baba. Kanhaiya hugged him. Nanda Baba took Him to his room and they lay down on the bed. Here, Mother Yashoda started crying. ‘My child is so upset with me. Usually, he cannot sleep without me. But today, he doesn’t even want to see me. I have made a great mistake today! I hope I can appease him today. Hereafter, I will never discipline him like this!’ she thought, pained at her child’s sadness.

After a while, Nanda Baba said, “Kanhaiya, will you not go to Maiya?” “No, no, I will not go,” said Kanhaiya angrily. “But Maiya is very upset. She is crying for you. If you don’t go, she will cry a lot!” said Nanda Baba. Kanhaiya’s heart melted. He started crying again. “Maiya! Maiya! I will go to Maiya! Take me to Maiya!” he cried. Nanda Baba took Him to Mother Yashoda. Kanhaiya ran and climbed onto her lap to hug her. This is Vātsalya Rasa pastime! Kanhaiya forgets His Lordship in the Vātsalya Prema of His parents and becomes immersed in ecstasy like an ordinary child! Even Brahmā and Shiva cannot fully grasp the ambit of such pure Mādhuryamaya pastimes.

Pastime 4

One day, Shiva ji came to Nandagrām to witness the pastimes of child Kanhaiya. Lord Krishna had descended on Earth to perform His Mādhurya Rasa pastimes and Shiva ji wanted to see the pastimes in person. That day, child Kanhaiya started crying continuously. Nobody was able to calm Him. At that time, Shiva ji arrived at the gates of Nanda Baba’s house, playing His drum. His appearance was strange. His body was smeared with ashes. Long dreadlocks and serpents adorned His head and neck. He was holding a Trishula (a spear-like weapon with three spearheads) in His hand. In the beginning, Mother Yashoda was afraid that His appearance might shock her child. So, she didn’t allow Shiva ji to meet her son regardless of His repeated requests. Then, Shiva ji got angry. He went away to a solitary place near Nandagram (currently known as Āsheshwar Māhādev Temple) and sat down, waiting. [Āsha means to expect. Āsheshwar means the Lord who is always expectantly waiting for Mother Yashoda’s invitation.]

Here, little Kanhaiya started crying even more. Mother Yashoda couldn’t calm her child in any way. Then she thought that this might be the result of angering the strange Baba. Immediately, she sent someone to respectfully invite Shiva ji. As soon as Shiva ji met Kanhaiya, Kanhaiya started laughing merrily. Mother Yashoda offered some Bhiksha (alms) to Shiva ji and bade Him farewell. “Baba, please bless my child so that he always remains happy like this,” said Mother Yashoda to Shiva ji. Shiva ji blessed Kanhaiya. But as soon as Shiva ji left their home, little Kanhaiya started crying again. Mother Yashoda quickly called Shiva ji back. Little Kanhaiya also started laughing on seeing Shiva ji. Such are the pastimes of Krishna.

Mother Yashoda thought, ‘This Baba is good. He knows some mantra or ritual that calms my child.’ So, she requested Shiva ji to remain in Nandagrām (in the place where the current Āsheshwar Māhādev Temple is). Whenever Kanhaiya cries and nothing can calm Him down, Mother Yashoda invites Shiva ji to have a look at her child. Whenever Shiva ji meets Kanhaiya, He starts laughing merrily.

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