Running After God

[Respected Readers,
Srila Narayana Maharaja's Kartika lecture on the subject of Lord Krsna's breaking the pot of yoghurt and being subsequently bound by His mother was a very long one. To make your reading easier, we have divided it into two parts. Part one was called "The Beauty of God's Childhood". The following is a continuation of Srila Maharaja's lecture on that beautiful pastime:]

[From the Lecture Series on the Song Sri Damodarastakam Verse 2 - Part 2]

Sri Krsna knew the upper part of the clay pot was very thick and the lower part was thin. He hit the pot with the stone used for grinding spices, and easily smashed a hole in the lower area. He watched with great pleasure as the butter flowed out in a steady stream like a river, because He was so naughty.

At this time Yasoda was standing at the stove where the milk was boiling. Taking some cold water and sprinkling it over the milk to stop it from boiling over she said, "Oh milk, don't worry. Don't commit suicide by jumping into the fire. I will save you, and engage you in the service of my boy." Hearing this and having water sprinkled on it, the boiling milk subsided and became peaceful.

Mother Yasoda then returned to where Krsna had broken the butter pot. Seeing the wreckage she cried out, "What has happened? Where is that naughty boy?" She began to look for her son, and then she saw His buttery footprints. The footprints were very little and there were many auspicious symbols in them, and seeing them she could understand where Krsna had gone.

Following Krsna's footprints she thought, "He has entered this room." She then also entered the room, just like a cat, without a sound. She saw Krsna standing on the upturned grinding mortar. As He was watching the door, out of the corner of His eye, to see whether His mother was coming with a stick, He was distributing butter from the pot among the monkeys and crows.

Watching this scene Yasoda thought, "As He gets older He will become a criminal if don’t try to rectify Him in His youth." Taking a little stick, she very slowly and silently, like a cat, entered the room to try to catch hold of Him, but He had one eye focused towards the door. He was thinking, "If Mother comes, what will I do?"

Why was Krsna giving butter to the monkeys? He was remembering the previous Age, Treta-yuga, when He had appeared as Rama. He thought, "Sita was stolen by Ravana, and millions of monkeys followed Me to Lanka to help save Her." The monkey army had been ready to give up their lives for Lord Rama, and some of them had done so, never asking for anything in return – no salary. Actually, Lord Rama hadn’t even arranged for any fruits or leaves for them. Remembering this, Krsna was now thinking, "I should repay the monkeys somehow. Actually, I cannot repay them for their services, but I should try."

That is the reason He was freely giving butter to the monkeys, and they were fearlessly taking that butter from His hand.

The crows were in the dynasty of Kakubhusundi, a high-class devotee of Lord Rama. Sometimes Kakubhusundi even acted as the guru of Garuda, the carrier of Lord Narayana, Rama and other incarnations. So Krsna was thinking, "I should also repay the sons and daughters in the dynasty of crows," and He therefore gave the crows butter as well.

Suddenly Yasoda came, and the monkeys and crows began to run here and there. Understanding that they were running because Yasoda was approaching, Sri Krsna jumped down from the grinding mortar and also began to run. He ran in the direction of the main road that led out of Gokula, thinking, “If I go to the main road, all the gopas will be there. Mother will not go there, because of her shyness.”

Indian ladies are very chaste and shy. Even if they see their own mothers, fathers, fathers or mothers-in-law, they will cover themselves with their veils. Krsna was thinking that His mother would not come to the main road for this reason, but she was more intelligent than her boy. She knew that the gopas had gone to milk the cows and that no one would be on the road at this time of day. Therefore, having no fear of losing her veil she began to run after Krsna. Chasing Him, she said, “Oh, You have come from my womb. You are thinking, 'I am so intelligent.' But You have come from my womb, and I am therefore more intelligent than You.”

Krsna was naked, wearing only tinkling bells tied around His waist. He was running, looking back towards His mother from the corner of His eyes in fear and thinking, “Mother is coming, and she will surely beat Me!” Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has unlimited power, but now He was running in fear as He saw His mother coming to beat Him with a stick. He thought, “What should I do?” and begged, "Mother! Don't beat Me!”

Yasoda is very beautiful; her waist is very thin and her hips are broad. Now she was running to catch Krsna, and He could see that she was becoming tired because she is a little plump. She was sweating, and those beads of perspiration looked as though many beautiful pearls were falling from her head. Her braid had now loosened, and the flowers that had tied it were falling on to the road as she ran. They were falling one by one, and it was as if they were saying, "Why aren’t you running faster? Don't think that you are alone. We are all running with you. You will surely catch Krsna; we are helping you."

Holding up the stick she was carrying, she told Krsna, “Stop! I have my stick!”

Frightened, Krsna replied, "O, lovely Mother! Please don't beat Me!

“Why shouldn’t I beat You?”

“What offences have I made? Can you tell Me?"

"Yes, I can tell You. Why have You broken the pot?"

"Mother, what is this? I have not broken any vessel. But someone has. Who could have done it?"

"You have done it."

"Mother, you are wearing heavy golden ornaments on your ankles. I think that when you were running they must have broken the pot."

"I have not broken it. You are a big liar.”

"I am the son of Nanda-Baba; I am not a liar. You are a liar.

"Why?"

"In our dynasty there are no thieves or liars. It may be that liars and cheaters have come in your dynasty, but in My dynasty, there are no cheaters."

Hearing this, Yasoda began to smile.

Krsna then said, "Mother! Lovely mother, don't beat me!"

Yasoda replied, “Oh, yes. I want to teach You a good lesson."

In order to catch Him, Mother Yasoda would have had to run faster than Him, and she did so.

What is the inner meaning here? We (all jivas) are the servants of Krsna. As conditioned souls, we have fallen into the trap Maya. We have been suffering within the cycle of birth and death and sorrow for millions upon millions of years. Krsna's various incarnations come to these worlds – Lord Rama and others. We have not had Their darsana, but, we come to know of them by the grace – the causeless mercy – of Guru, Vaisnavas and Krsna.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krsna. By the mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.
(Cc. Madhya 19.151)

Krsna is very merciful to us. In Brhad-bhagavatamrta, He said to Gopa Kumar, “I have been watching you for millions of your births, I have never forgotten you. But you were not so merciful to Me. I have been waiting for a very long time, but you did not come to Me. I could not bring you to My abode. But now, by your own will you have come, and I am therefore indebted to you.”

Krsna is also waiting for us to come to Him. He is very worried about us – about how we can enter into His service. It is for this reason that He sends His devotees like Narada Rsi, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami and our guru-varga (disciplic succession of realized spiritual masters) to this Earth. Krsna Himself, in the form of Sriman Caitanya Mahaprabhu, along with His entire family, came here, just to help us.

Just like Yasoda, we should run faster than Krsna. Krsna has unlimited love and affection for us, but if by comparison we have more love and affection for Him, our desire to serve Him will increase and we will thus become more and more eager to have His darsana. When we have this eagerness, we can catch hold of Him.

Yasoda was running faster than Krsna. Krsna loves her, but His love and affection is divided into millions of fractions. It is divided among all His devotees. MotherYasoda's running faster than Krsna means that her love for Him was not divided. This is the siddhanta (conclusive established truth) of Damodara-lila.

We should have prema (unadulterated love) only for Krsna; not for our sons, daughters or husbands, or for our bodies. There should be no anyabhilasa – any desire other than the desire to please Krsna. If we want prema, there cannot be any wordly desires.

krsnarthe akhila-cesta, tat-krpavalokana
janma-dinadi-mahotsava lana bhakta-gana

"One should perform all endeavors for Krsna. One should look forward to His mercy. One should partake of various ceremonies with devotees—ceremonies like Lord Krsna’s birthday or Ramacandra’s birthday."
(Cc. Madhya 22.126)

Service to Krsna also means serving His associates – not to Him alone. We will have to offer Him all our affection. Whatever we do should be to please Him and His associates.

We should try to understand and apply these teachings, and in this way we will have His darsana and be engaged in His service. It is not possible to serve Guru, Vaisnavas and Krsna if we are full of worldly desires. We should try to understand this clearly; take these teachings into your hearts. The aim and object of our lives is to serve Krsna, nothing else.

Editorial Advisors: Sripad Madhava Maharaja and Sripad Brajanath dasa
Editors: Premavati dasi and Syamarani dasi
Transcriber: Govinda Priya Dasi
Typist: Janaki dasi
HTML: Bhutabhavana dasa

Srila Narayana
Maharaja Page