Emperor Parikshit wanted to know the meritorious deeds Yashoda and Nanda had performed in their past births to be blessed with the golden, unequalled and blessed opportunity to closely associate with the Lord, who had incarnated as their son. Through His miraculous, transcendental childhood deeds, Lord Krishna washes away impurities from the minds of people. The greatness of these transcendental deeds is evident from the fact that even to this date poets and devotees profusely extol them in their compositions! What is perplexing however is that His real parents, Devaki and Vasudeva, never obtained the opportunity to be by His side when He exhibited His transcendental pastimes. What could be the cause behind this, asked Parikshit.

In response Maharishi Śuka replied, “Being desirous of fulfilling the command issued by Lord Brahma, Droṇa, the best and most-prominent among the Vasus, together with wife Dhara, addressed the Lord and said,

“O Lord, please bless us that when we both take birth on Earth we will be filled with limitless devotion towards Srihari, the Supreme Lord who is the controller of all the universes. In this world, only through the means of supreme devotion a person can easily overcome inauspiciousness and miseries. He will playfully cross them all”.

Lord Brahma blessed them saying, “May it be as you wish!” Thereafter, the Vasu Drona, took birth on Earth and became famous as Nanda. His wife Dhara took birth on Earth as Yashoda. As a result of this boon, the Supreme Lord Srihari, the punisher of the wicked, took birth amidst the members of the cowherd clan as the son of Yashoda and Nanda. Selfless devotion blossomed in the hearts of Yashoda and Nanda.

Kṛṣṇo brahmaṇa ādeśaṁ satyaṁ kartuṁ vraje vibhuḥ

saha-rāmo vasaṁś cakre teṣāṁ prītiṁ sva-līlayā

In order to fulfil the boon granted by Lord Brahma, the ever-competent Supreme Lord Srikrishna resided in Gokula along with Balarama. Through his playful transcendental sports, He brought great joy to all the residents of Gokula.

With this the eighth chapter of the tenth canto comes to an end.

Tenth Canto Chapter Nine

In this chapter, the incident wherein Mother Yashoda ties little Krishna to a stone mortar is narrated. Each transcendental sport exhibited by the Lord is laden with in-depth spiritual meaning and symbolism.

Maharishi Śuka said to Emperor Parikshit, “One morning, as all other maids were engrossed in completing other household chores assigned by her, Yashoda, wife of Nanda, was busy churning yoghurt. As she churned, she recollected the pranks of little Krishna, which had been poetically composed by the other members of her clan, and joyfully began to sing them.

The sounds of the ropes that moved forward and backward during the process of churning became the accompanying instruments for her song. As she was merrily laughing, recollecting all his pastimes, tears of joy ran down her eyes. In that state of divine bliss, she laughed at times and cried joyfully at other times. All along she continued to vigorously churn the yoghurt.

Just as demons and Devatas had churned the ocean using the Mount Mandara as a churning rod, Yashoda was immersed in churning yoghurt in order to obtain butter for Krishna.

Yashoda, who was thus immersed in singing while churning the yoghurt, was draped in a beautiful yellow-silken saree. A lovely waist-band held the sari tightly at the waist. As her heart overflowed with feelings of love towards her son, her chest became wet”.

Aha! What to say of her fortune! After all, she was not any ordinary individual but was a celestial who had incarnated as a human being. What more can be said of her love for her son?

“As the lotus-eyes Yashoda, joyfully and vigorously pulled the churning ropes, her bangles, bracelets and earrings began to jingle as they moved back and forth with full force”.

It was no ordinary small vessel filled with yoghurt. Churning a gigantic pot of curd was no easy job and it demanded enormous energy. She had tightened her sari with a large golden waist-band. She had worn golden armlets, bracelets, bangles and earrings which were laced with diamonds and other precious stones. Like the stars that dazzle in the sky, these ornaments dazzled as they moved vigorously. The bangles on her hand made melodious sounds as they rocked back and forth. Understand that the ornaments she wore were divine ornaments, which produced divine, auspicious sounds.

More importantly, due to the presence of the Lord in Gokula, every object there vibrated divinely. As His gaze fell upon the motionless objects, they were filled with vibrancy. It was as if they spoke to Him.

When His gaze fell on a bell, it would ring automatically. As His gaze shifted to the anklets, they would dance making melodious sounds. The pots, the grains filled in the granaries, and every other object in Gokula was filled with life merely with His gaze. To add to it, He energized these objects by touching them with his tender hands.

In our opinion, immobile objects are lifeless. Nevertheless, even these seemingly lifeless objects can move on their own or make sounds. They communicate. It is said that 74,000 nāḍis (subtle astral nerves) that exist within the human body vibrate when the Lord’s gaze falls upon them!

Narayana.