Bhagavatam tenth canto study 46 – 10.8.26-31 Vraja ladies complain about Krishna’s pranks cheerfully

Shrimad Bhagavatam 10.8.26, Kalena, Alpena, Rajarshe, Ramakrishna, Shri Gokule, Aghrishta, Janabhi, Padbir, Bichakramatur, Anjasa. So here the chapter is Krishna displays the universal form. Before this, the name giving ceremony of Krishna and Krishna’s rolling about, moving around on his knees and arms.
His mischievous activities inside the house as he is growing, they are described. Now it is described how Krishna and Balaram learn to walk. Kalena, Alpena, Rajarshe, that in a short time as they were growing quickly, O Rajarshi, O Parishit Maharaj, Ramakrishna, Shri Gokule, in Gokula as time was passing, Ramakrishna, what happens? Aghrishta, Janabhi, Padbir, no, without needing to crawl on their knees, without using the strength of the knees, Padbhi, on their foot itself they were able to walk.
Bichakramatur, Anjasa, they began to walk easily. So another significant phase in the growth of a child. The first step that a child takes, the child is able to walk.
Now maybe initially the mother or the father holds the hand, the child takes a few steps. And then the mother lets go and the child keeps walking. And that brings such great joy to the parents.
Oh, a child has started walking now. That is a normal parental joy for every parent when their child takes their first step. But it’s also much more when it is directed towards Krishna.
Krishna is playing the role, Krishna is all attractive, supreme. And he is playing the role of a child over here. And affection directed towards him can bring satisfaction far, far more than any affection in any other relationship.
Such is the sweet intensity of affection directed towards him. And Krishna started walking, that is described over here. Further text reads, At that time, Krishna, the supreme lord, with their playmates, Vajabalakai, other children in Vraja, because now they could start walking, so now they started moving a little bit more.
And other children also there, other children also there, So they started playing and there were of course the Vrajastris, the elderly ladies, they were always watching, they were there to monitor. As they played, they brought bliss to these ladies. Krishna, Ram and others started playing with the children.
For the mothers, seeing them playing with each other, this brought immense, immense joy. Text 28, Krishna’s activities were so sweet that they would see sometimes Krishna restlessly going here, going there. Ruchiram, very attractive.
Vikshakaumar chaapalam, his childish restlessness, when they would see, they would feel such great joy that they would want to see it again and again. And if they couldn’t see it, they would want to hear it. So, Vikshakaumar chaapalam, Shunvantya kilatan matar, and if they couldn’t see it, they wanted to hear about it.
Because they also had their household duties. And with those household duties, they couldn’t always come wherever it was needed. Whenever Krishna was doing something fun, something mischievous, so then they would want to hear, what did Krishna do? Please let us know, what did Krishna do? So, they would come to the mothers and they would ask the mothers.
In this way, there was constant joy among all of them. The joy was unbounded. Joy was unbounded because for all of them, Krishna was their heart and life.
And Krishna here was performing such sweet pastimes. So, once the devotion to Krishna is awakened, then it becomes insatiable that it is just something which just goes on and on and on. There is no end to it.
So, we see Krishna, we hear about Krishna, and thus we want to know more and more about Krishna. Thus, the Gopis, they wanted to hear about Krishna so much. Text 29 Vatsanmunchan So, at that time, now they would want to hear about it, they want to speak about it.
So, here it is described now, how Krishna, as soon as he started walking, he would go to other people’s house and he would start doing mischiefs. So, they would want to hear about Krishna’s mischievous activities, but they want to sometimes speak about Krishna’s mischievous activities also. They would come and complain to Yashodamayi.
Vatsan, so what does a child do? Sometimes he comes and he releases all the cows. And when the cows are released in an untimely way, what happens? The cows rush to the cows and they drink all the milk from the cows. Now, the natural arrangement in cowherd community is such that actually the cows give a lot of milk, some of which is meant for the cows, and the remaining is meant for humans.
So, now if first the cow is milked and then the calf is brought, or the calf is kept nearby and the cow is milked, then the milk is available for humans as well as for animals. But in this situation, where the cows drink the milk beforehand itself, then what happens? Then there is no milk left for the humans. So, at that time, when the master of the house, the owner of the cows would come, and Sanjata, he would get angry, he would express anger at the child.
The child would simply smile, and the sweet smile would go away. They are so small, they wouldn’t justify their actions, they would just smile, and with that smile they would pacify. Some people have said they have a killer smile.
When they smile, whoever is watching this gets completely captivated by them. So, similarly, Krishna had, we could say, the ultimate killer smile. When Krishna smiles, whoever is watching, they just get so mesmerized by seeing the smile of Krishna, that they just forget everything else, that the anger just disappears.
But still, loss is there, and the loss has to be dealt with. And sometimes, they will steal from our houses, and they will eat the delightful, the tasty svadhu, the dipaya, the milk, the yogurt, and they somehow or other find some way to steal, even if you keep it hidden, somehow yoga means to connect. Susteya yogai means, they will find out somehow or the other to steal the cows, and by killing the cows, sorry, by stealing the butter, they would simply enjoy, they would enjoy immensely.
And they will not only eat themselves, but they will feed the monkeys also. And in that way, they will divide the portions. And if somehow, when the monkeys also don’t eat, their bellies are full, then they will just break the pots.
And they say that, especially they would break the pots when he will say that the butter is so poor that actually even the monkeys don’t want to eat also. So in this way, they would just have, they would just commit so much mischief, so much nuisance for us. Then we have our small children, our babies, now Krishna comes to steal butter from us, and he doesn’t get the butter, then he gets angry and he pinches the children, and he makes them angry, and he makes them upset, he makes them distressed.
Just see what all your child is doing. Now when Krishna would pinch a child, it was just a small pinch, but for a baby, even a small pinch can appear very big. Krishna was just, I want butter at all costs, and who are you to stop me from taking butter? And if you stop me from taking that which is dear to me, if you are going to hurt me like that, and I will hurt you by hurting that which is dear to you, hurting those who are dear to you.
So Krishna in his own childish way was acting out of his infatuation with butter. Now actually all the gopis, although they were complaining, in their hearts was great joy, because they were jubilant considering how Krishna is so sweet, and how Krishna is performing such sweet pastimes. So internally there was joy, although externally sometimes they exhibited the anger towards him.
Now further… हस्ताग्राहे रचेति विधिम् पीठ कोलु खलाद्यईश। चिद्रम्य अन्तरणित वयुनाशिक्य भाण्डेश। तद्वेत ध्वान्तागारे धुत्मनिगणम् स्वांगम् अर्थप्रदीपम् ताले गोप्यो यरिग्रुः कृत्येश। शुभ्याग्रचित्तः हस्ताग्राहे रचेति Now they would try to reach out, going as far as possible to reach to the food that they wanted. The butter or milk or yogurt or whatever. हस्ताग्राहे But if they could not reach with him पीठ कोलु खलाद्यईश। Then they would pile wooden plank together, उलुख, that is a mortar they would take and other things they would take, like that.
चिद्रम्यंतर्निथा Somehow they would climb up and they would reach to the pot. Mother Yashoda may say, if they are creating so much mischief, just keep the pot out of reach for them. She says, no, but nothing is out of reach for them.
They will create some ways by which they will reach. So चिद्रम्यंतर्निथा And when they create a hole like this, they will actually, they know that the pot is hanging upstairs, up there somewhere and they will expertly create a hole with such knowledge of how to climb up, how to reach the pot, which is hanging by a string, भान्डेशु They will put holes in the pots and in that way, तद्वेत, they are just expert at all this. They just know how to do all these things.
भान्तागारे दृतमनिगनम् स्वांगम अरत्प्रदीपम् Sometimes, we decide that we will keep all this in a very dark room. But, दृतमनिगनम् But actually, they wear such precious ornaments and jewels on their bodies that naturally, there is an effulgence about them. स्वांगम अरत्प्रदीपम् Sometimes, when we are in dark, we might need some torch to see, otherwise we can’t see.
But for them, their dress itself, their ornaments were like a torch and they could see अरत्प्रदीपम् From their own body, the light was coming. काले गोप्यो यरि ग्रुह कृत्ये सुभिय ग्रचित्तः काले गोप्यो So, and they would go there. Now, they would, as soon as the gopis go into their own house to, and they become busy in their household activities, Krishna would sneak in and using the light of his own body ornaments, he would steal from there.
So, in this way, the Vrajavasis are complaining about Krishna, of how Krishna is being so mischievous. These pastimes of Krishna of stealing butter have been immortalized in the bhakti tradition as demonstrative of Krishna’s immense, supreme sweetness of Krishna as a child. When Krishna was stealing butter, actually he was stealing the hearts.
By doing such activities, he was entering deeper and deeper into the hearts of all the Vrajavasis, and he was becoming more and more the center of their whole life. And when Krishna would come to steal, when Krishna would steal, when Krishna would go away after stealing, when the gopis would complain about Krishna stealing, through it all Krishna was actually entering deeper and deeper into their hearts, and thus they were all experiencing great ecstasy by Krishna’s extraordinarily sweet, although mischievous activities, although they were mischievous, they were extraordinarily sweet and endearing activities. Vix 31 Vix 31 Now, actually now, here they are explaining further what happens when Krishna does activities like this.
Vix 31 So, sometimes we have a clean room in which they are performing mischievous activities and then they just make a mess of that room over there. They make it very unclean. They are very small children and sometimes children, when they are not potty trained, they may respond to nature anywhere and everywhere.
So sometimes they do it just because they are ignorant or helpless. Sometimes they may do it intentionally to trouble. So here the gopis are saying that actually they are doing it just to annoy us.
Just do it to agitate us, to anger us. And they, not only do them, they find out always some creative way to steal butter. They just find out some way or the other by which they can And they are so expert.
That child who is now sitting down, looking at the gopis, this is a sweet, peaceful child. This child is actually very cunning. When other gopis would come to complain about Krishna, Krishna would be in the same house and Krishna would be sitting in front of Mother Yashoda.
And some people, they do terrible activities, but they do it in such a way that they leave no evidence behind. And when somebody complains about them, they act so innocent as if they have not done anything at all. So Krishna is acting like this.
Now they are saying he is actually suprati ko yathaasti. He is sitting like a well-behaved, gentle, good child. But he is now, he is actually very naughty.
Now when all the gopis would complain so much, Krishna would become a little fearful. Is my mother going to punish me? And then his eyes would show that, would see that fear. So when they would see him this fearful like this, Now when they would see this beautiful expression, this expression of Krishna’s face, the fear in his eyes, the joy of seeing him, his beautiful face, when they would see that, and while complaining about Krishna, suddenly, actually they would stop complaining and they would start smiling and enjoying.
Actually even when they were complaining, they would be smiling and enjoying. And they would not want to chastise Krishna and Mother Yashoda. She also, when she would see Krishna sitting and smiling so sweetly, she would also lose all desire to punish Krishna.
So in this way, Krishna with his sweetness would conquer the hearts of everyone. Actually, the pastime of Krishna when he steals butter, it’s very significant. It is at one level just childish sweetness, naughtiness, childish fun, and all the mothers having fun with the child.
But the butter ultimately represents the heart. When we use the word ultimately, it does not mean that the Vrindavan pastimes are not the ultimate reality. Yes, that is the pastimes of Krishna and Vrindavan are the pastimes that happen eternally in the highest abode.
At the same time, these pastimes are also meant to happen in our hearts and in our lives. We are not as exalted, of course, but still we also have an opportunity to reciprocate love with Krishna. And by reciprocating love with Krishna, we all can grow in our devotion towards him and ultimately grow towards him.
So, for us, in the ultimate sense, for the Vrajavasis, they are experiencing the ultimate ecstasy in the ultimate reality. That is Krishna’s love and Krishna’s abode. For us, we can say that the butter actually represents the heart.
And just as when the butter would be ready, Krishna would come and steal the butter. Similarly, we have to make our heart ready for Krishna. Just as when milk is churned properly, at that time it becomes butter.
Similarly, when our heart gets churned, when we become purified, that is when the butter manifests from our heart. Or rather, our heart becomes like butter and it attracts Krishna. नवनीत चोरं Krishna is a thief of butter.
He is a stealer of butter. And similarly, he is a stealer of the hearts. So, if we make our heart soft and sweet like butter, by the practice of bhakti, Krishna will surely come and Krishna will steal our heart also.
And when our heart is stolen by Krishna, then our bond of devotion with him will become much much stronger. Actually, when Krishna steals our heart, he enriches our heart in the supreme way. Krishna steals our heart to enrich it.
Normally, when somebody steals money, something from us, then we become poorer. When Krishna steals our heart, he makes us richer. Not just richer, he makes us the richest.
Because the greatest wealth, normally we want wealth to become happy. So, the greatest wealth is that which will bring us the greatest happiness. And attraction to Krishna brings recollection of Krishna.
And because Krishna is the source of the supreme joy, that is our connection with Krishna through devotion, through absorption, that brings supreme auspiciousness in our life, supreme joy, supreme ecstasy in our life. So thus, Krishna is our greatest well-wisher. And when we are practicing bhakti, सुर्धं सर्वभूतानाम् He is the closest well-wisher, closest benefactor of all living beings.
Understanding this, if we strive to become devoted to Him, then He will, by His almighty grace, enable us to become attracted to Him. And that attraction to Him is life’s supreme enrichment. So now, from the next verse onwards, in the past time after which this chapter is titled, Krishna is eating dust and Krishna shows the universal form, that will be described.
And that we will discuss in the next session.