Krishna's Mercy

Making Work Pay

“When Lord Krishna was present in this material world to manifest His eternal pastimes of the transcendental realm of Goloka Vrindavana as an attraction for the people in general, He displayed a unique picture of subordination before His foster mother, Yashoda. The Lord, in His naturally childish playful activities, used to spoil the stocked butter of mother Yashoda by breaking the pots and distributing the contents to His friends and playmates, including the celebrated monkeys of Vrindavana, who took advantage of the Lord's munificence.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.8.31 Purport)

Caught Butter Handed

“Mother Yashoda wanted to impress upon Krishna that since He was afraid merely to see her stick, He should not perform such disturbing activities as breaking the container of yogurt and butter and distributing its contents to the monkeys.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.12 Purport)

Binding In Love

“Mother Yashoda wanted to bind Krishna not in order to chastise Him but because she thought that the child was so restless that He might leave the house in fear. That would be another disturbance. Therefore, because of full affection, to stop Krishna from leaving the house, she wanted to bind Him with rope.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.12)

Catch Me If You Can

“Yogis cannot capture Krishna by severe penances and austerities, but mother Yashoda, despite all obstacles, was finally able to catch Krishna without difficulty. This is the difference between a yogi and a bhakta.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.10)

Incriminating Evidence

“Mother Yashoda was able to trace Krishna by following His butter-smeared footprints. She saw that Krishna was stealing butter, and thus she smiled. Meanwhile, the crows also entered the room and came out in fear. Thus mother Yashoda found Krishna stealing butter and very anxiously looking here and there.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.8 Purport)

The Smoking Gun

“Seeing the pot broken and Krishna not present, Yashoda definitely concluded that the breaking of the pot was the work of Krishna. There was no doubt about it.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.7 Purport)

Damodara

“It is natural that when a child becomes angry he can begin crying with false tears in his eyes. So Krishna did this, and biting His reddish lips with His teeth, He broke the pot with a stone, entered a room and began to eat the freshly churned butter.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.6 Purport)

Thanksgiving 2011

“Yogis cannot reach Krishna, but for pure devotees like mother Yashoda, Krishna is already caught.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.9 Purport)

The Songwriter

“While churning the butter, mother Yashoda was singing about the childhood activities of Krishna. It was formerly a custom that if one wanted to remember something constantly, he would transform it into poetry or have this done by a professional poet. It appears that mother Yashoda did not want to forget Krishna's activities at any time.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.1-2 Purport)

Exclusive Love

“When Krishna and Balarama were crawling about Vrajabhumi, They were enchanted by the sound of ankle bells. Thus They sometimes followed other people, who would enjoy the crawling of Krishna and Balarama and exclaim, "Oh, see how Krishna and Balarama are crawling!" Upon hearing this, Krishna and Balarama could understand that these were not Their mothers They were following, and They would return to Their actual mothers.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.8.22 Purport)