“Even the great Gods Brahma and Rudra, or even Lakshmi, who has sought shelter within the body of the Supreme Lord, failed to obtain this ultimate blessing which the Gopika called Yashoda obtained from Srihari, the Lord who bestows liberation!”

Yashoda obtained that ultimate fortune which was beyond the reach of others. She reached this supreme state in a short span of four hours! She surrendered completely to the Lord and took every possible step necessary to tie Him firmly within her mind. None apart from her could accomplish this feat. Even Brahma, Shiva and Lakshmi could not obtain this fortune which Yashoda obtained.

“Nāyaṁ sukhāpo bhagavān dehināṁ gopikā-sutaḥ

Jñānināṁ cātma-bhūtānāṁ yathā bhaktimatām iha

This is a very important hymn, that should be remembered always.

“In this world, the Supreme Lord Srikrishna, the son of Yashoda, is easily obtained by ardent devotees and by those seeking Self-knowledge. On the contrary, the ignorant, who consider the body to be the Self and who are filled with ‘I-ness’ towards the body can never ever obtain Him”.

As long as Yashoda thought, “I will accomplish this task; I have to tie him” i.e. as long as she had feelings of ‘I-ness’ she could not tie Him. Until the feelings of ‘I-ness’ disappeared from her heart, the rope kept consistently falling short. ‘I am meditating’; ‘I am going to tie the Lord’; ‘I am retaining Him firmly in my mind’- as long as these feelings of ‘I’ and ‘my efforts’ continue to exist, the Lord cannot be obtained! This should be remembered.

Body identification means to consider oneself to be the body. Such person thinks, ‘I am this body; I am eating; I am walking; I exist; I am talking, this is my leg, my hand’- the human being who entertains such beliefs can never ever obtain the Lord! That’s it!

‘This hand does not belong to me; I am not this body; all this is under the control of the Supreme Lord; it is His’- when such feelings emerge in the mind, the Lord is obtained. This is decisively true! To reach this ultimate state is almost impossible; nevertheless, Yashoda accomplished it.

What Yashoda obtained with a penance of just 4 to 5 hours, people fail to get even after 4 to 5 years of penance or 4 to 5 births. In fact, even after 400 births the living entity fails to obtain that supreme state which Yashoda obtained! Yashoda had reached that supreme state wherein she had surrendered everything! ‘Even this energy does not belong to me’- she thought. Her mind was blank- it was absolutely free from any emotion or any transformation.

Remember: as long as feelings of ‘I-ness’ exist, the Lord cannot be obtained! The person who considers himself to be his body can never reach God. The moment she was freed from these feelings of ‘I-ness’ the rope was enough to tie the Lord. The moment this maturity arises, the Lord consecrates himself in our mind! He remains there fixedly! In her attempts to tie Krishna to the stone mortar, Yashoda had performed limitless penance.

“Yashoda now tied the little boy to the stone mortar and then went indoors to complete other household chores”.

Despite the luxury of having many servants, Yashoda was insistent on personally completing important chores. She would cook and offer food to her son, the Supreme Lord. She was particular that only food cooked by her should be offered to her son. She would personally churn the butter for Him.

“The ever-competent Supreme Lord Krishna, who was presently tied to the stone mortar, noticed two Arjuna trees located at a distance”.

By then all the Gopikas had dispersed and Krishna was left all alone in the yard. This Lord, the most supreme conjurer, now noticed two Arjuna trees. Within every action of His, be it in His talking, walking or eating, there is some illusion. Some jugglery. Some magic. When He gulps butter, there is some hidden significance; some illusion He is creating. In giving butter to others, there is a different illusion; a different significance.

Can any one particular action of His be declared as transcendental, when every action of His is itself transcendental? His bathing; His eating, His talking, His walking, sitting, standing, smiling, laughing, blinking-each and every action is transcendental. Through these transcendental activities, He ensures the well-being of others.

To our eyes, it appears He is eating; we presume He is walking and the like. Nevertheless, in every step of His, Krishna was performing a transcendental deed. In every step, He was uplifting some entity. Simultaneously, He was explaining the Supreme Essence to others. The Lord who is beyond reach allows Himself to be tied within the mind of the devotee so that the devotee can experience divine bliss.

“The two Arjuna trees which Krishna noticed, were, in their previous birth, the sons of the Demi-god Kubera.”.

Births are innumerable. At times a living entity is cursed to fall to lower levels. Don’t child prodigies leave us astonished with their melodious rendering of musical notes? The child prodigy would have been a great sadhaka in his/her previous birth. The efforts of that previous birth are yielding fruit in this present birth.

“In their previous birth, these two trees were Maṇigriva and Nalakubera, the two sons of Kubera, who were self-conceited due to their prosperity. Maharishi Nārada cursed these two brothers, who had turned haughty due to their wealth, to be reborn as trees”.

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

Narayana