Kanda 4

Butter, and the universe in a mouth

Every gopi in Gokul had the same complaint, and the same culprit

Uproar in the lane of the curd-sellers

It was not even six in the morning, and the third complaint of the week had already arrived at Yashoda's door. A gopi, a broken pot in one hand, the other fist planted on her hip.

"Yashoda! Your boy got all the way up to the pot on the roof — and I had hung it high, on a full length of rope! Broke it, took the butter, handed it round to the monkeys, and by the time I came there wasn't a drop left."

Yashoda put a hand to her forehead. Krishna peeped out from behind her — cheeks full, a white smear on his chin, and no regret in his eyes.

"I didn't eat anything, Ma," he said. There was so much butter in his mouth that not even half the words came out clearly. The gopi burst out laughing, and the complaint ended there.

The universe in a mouth

The next day Balarama came running, thrilled to be the one with the news: "Ma! Kanha ate mud!"

Yashoda took him by the ear and made him open his mouth, the scolding ready on her lips — "This is too much now, Kanha."

And the moment she looked inside, the scolding stuck in her throat. There was no darkness in that mouth. There was the sun, the moon, a sky full of stars; there were mountains, oceans, rivers — and in that same view, in one corner, Yashoda herself, standing, looking into Kanha's mouth.

Yashoda's hands began to shake, her vision blurred. Then with a jolt everything was ordinary again — only a child with mud on his cheek, smiling up at his mother. And Yashoda forgot what she had seen.

Damodara — the rope that was never long enough

One afternoon the theft was caught red-handed. This time Yashoda came with a rope — "Today, I am tying you up, and that is that."

She wound the rope round his waist, but when she went to knot it, it fell two fingers short. She joined another rope to it. Still two fingers short. A third, a fourth.

Yashoda's forehead was wet with sweat, her bangles kept jingling, the end of her sari slipped off her shoulder — and every time the rope was short by exactly the same two fingers, as though someone were playing games with the measure.

In the end the child gave in to his tired mother — or rather, he chose to be bound. This time, the knot held. And that is where the name came from: Damodara — the one whose belly is bound with rope.

Yamalarjuna — two trees that were waiting to fall

Still tied, Krishna went out of the courtyard dragging the mortar behind him. At the edge of the courtyard stood two huge arjuna trees, close together.

The mortar caught between the two of them. Krishna paused a moment, then pulled forward with all his strength.

Both trees came up by the roots and crashed down. A cloud of dust rose, and when it settled two shining men stood there with folded hands — Nalakubara and Manigriva, the sons of Kubera, whom Narada had once cursed, for their arrogance, to live as trees, with this promise attached: that one day Krishna would free them.

They bowed and left. And it was the third sign to Gokul that day — this child is not merely mischievous.

Note: This whole detailed account of the Damodara binding and the butter-stealing is found in the Bhagavata Purana (tenth skandha, chapter 9). The freeing of the Yamalarjuna trees is also named in the table of contents of the critical edition of the Harivamsha, but the butter-stealing and the mortar-binding were not found named at that length in the Harivamsha — it appears to be the Bhagavata's own manner, and this could not be confirmed against a precise Harivamsha chapter number in this session.

Source: from several texts, Butter, and the universe in a mouth

Now — how much stayed with you?

Who am I?

The gopis came to Yashoda with complaints about me every day — a pot broken, the butter gone, the monkeys fed. But the name that finally stuck came not from the stealing but from a rope. Who am I?

  • Nanda
  • Krishna
  • Yashoda
  • Balarama
Read the whole story — Where the name Damodara came from

This whole scene is in the tenth skandha of the Bhagavata Purana, chapter 9 — the rope's repeated failure, Yashoda's exhaustion, and at the end Krishna letting himself be bound.

The word "Damodara" is made of dama (rope) and udara (belly). The name began almost as a joke, but came to be counted among Krishna's most revered names.

The pleasure of it is that the length of the rope was never the problem — the problem was that until the one being bound wants it, no measurement is any use.

Riddle

I opened my mouth, and a mother saw a whole universe inside it — sun, stars, mountains, oceans, and herself as well. Then I wiped that sight away. Who am I?

  • Yamalarjuna
  • Krishna
  • Balarama
  • Nanda
Read the whole story — One glimpse, then made to be forgotten

In the tenth skandha of the Bhagavata Purana this episode comes attached to the charge of eating mud. Yashoda angrily makes him open his mouth, and seeing a whole universe blazing inside she shakes with fear.

The very next moment Krishna spreads his maya, and Yashoda forgets what she saw — she picks her son up again like any ordinary mother.

The story is saying that Krishna never lets his divinity get in the way of a mother's love — the glimpse comes, and is covered over just as quickly.

Fact

When Yashoda set out to tie Krishna to the mortar, what went wrong with the rope every time?

  • The rope kept breaking
  • The rope kept tangling
  • The rope fell short by exactly two fingers every time
  • Krishna kept untying the rope
Read the whole story — The universe gave way to exhaustion

According to the Bhagavata Purana Yashoda joined on one rope after another, but every time the measure fell two fingers short — as though a joke were being played.

In the end, when she was soaked with sweat and sat down exhausted, that is when Krishna accepted being bound.

The whole scene says one thing: it is the devotee's love and labour that can bind God, not any measurement and no force.

What happened?

Dragging the mortar, Krishna passed between two trees standing close together. What happened after that?

  • Both trees came up by the roots and fell, and two cursed men came out of them
  • The trees caught fire
  • The trees turned green and full
  • The trees would not let Krishna past
Read the whole story — Nalakubara and Manigriva

These two were the sons of Kubera. Once, playing in the water of the Ganga, they were so far gone in drink that they stood naked in front of Narada without any shame at all.

The arrogance of it stung Narada. He cursed them — the two of you will become trees. But he added to it that one day Krishna himself would touch them and set them free.

For years they stood there as trees, right beside Yashoda's courtyard. When Krishna, tied to the mortar, passed between them, the curse was completed, and the two bowed and went.

Who am I?

I heard the complaints about my son's butter-stealing every day, and one day I set my mind on tying him with a rope. The rope lost to my hands, but my stubbornness did not. Who am I?

  • Devaki
  • Kaikeyi
  • Rohini
  • Yashoda
Read the whole story — The mother who would not give up

In the Bhagavata Purana this stubbornness of Yashoda's is written very humanly — she tires, she is soaked in sweat, but she does not let go of the rope.

Her friends standing nearby kept laughing and teasing — "Just tie him now, or the whole village will come to watch." Yashoda did not answer, she simply kept at it.

That stubbornness is the centre of the story — God was bound by his own wish, but a mother's insistence gave him the occasion to be bound.

Put it in order

Which is the correct order of these four events?

  • Bound to the mortar → eating mud → the freeing of Yamalarjuna → the butter-theft complaints
  • The butter-theft complaints → eating mud and the sight of the universe → bound to the mortar → the freeing of Yamalarjuna
  • The freeing of Yamalarjuna → bound to the mortar → eating mud → the butter-theft complaints
  • Eating mud → the freeing of Yamalarjuna → the butter-theft complaints → bound to the mortar
Read the whole story — One childhood, four layers

What is worth noticing is that each event is heavier than the one before — it starts in mischief and arrives at release from a curse.

The butter-stealing is everyday mischief. Eating the mud is the first sign that this child is not ordinary. Being tied to the mortar shows devotion at its furthest reach. And in the freeing of Yamalarjuna, Krishna settles the account of somebody else's old deed.

The Bhagavata Purana keeps these four in almost consecutive chapters, as though they were four layers of a single day.

Why is that?

Yashoda joined on rope after rope, and still the measure fell two fingers short. Why, according to the story?

  • Because the rope was very old
  • Because until Krishna himself wants to be bound, no force can bind him
  • Because Narada had cursed it so
  • Because Krishna wanted to run away
Read the whole story — A binding that came by wish

The whole episode rests on a contradiction — the one who holds up the entire universe cannot be bound with a rope.

The Bhagavata Purana settles it by saying that seeing Yashoda's exhaustion and love, Krishna chose to be bound — force was of no use, surrender was.

Which is why this scene is repeated so often in the bhakti tradition — it shows that God is won not by force but by love.

Fact

Whose sons were Nalakubara and Manigriva, whom Narada cursed into trees?

  • Kubera
  • Brahma
  • Varuna
  • Indra
Read the whole story — The condition hidden inside the curse

According to the Bhagavata Purana the two brothers were drunk, playing naked in the Ganga with women, when Narada passed by.

Instead of covering themselves in shame, they went on laughing. The arrogance stung Narada, and he gave the curse — become trees.

But he kept mercy inside the punishment — with the curse he added the promise that one day Krishna himself would touch them and set them free. Years later that is exactly what happened, right outside Yashoda's courtyard.

Who am I?

I am the sage who cursed two arrogant brothers into trees, but put the road to their release inside the curse itself. Who am I?

  • Durvasa
  • Narada
  • Agastya
  • Vasishtha
Read the whole story — Narada, who keeps mercy even in a curse

Narada comes again and again in the Krishna-Leela, often by cursing somebody or by bringing somebody to Krishna.

The same pattern shows here — the punishment is harsh, but its end is left open.

The freeing of Yamalarjuna is the completion of Narada's own prophecy, not some sudden event.

Why is that?

Even after seeing a whole universe inside his mouth, the very next moment Yashoda picked Krishna up like an ordinary child. Why?

  • Because she did not believe it
  • Because Yashoda saw this in a dream
  • Because Krishna apologised
  • Because Krishna wiped that memory away with his maya
Read the whole story — Forgetting is a mercy too

This small line in the Bhagavata Purana is held to matter a great deal — Krishna did not want Yashoda to remember at every moment that her son was God himself.

Had that memory stayed, Yashoda could never have scolded him, never picked him up, never told him off over butter.

So the maya took that knowledge back, and the relation between mother and son stayed exactly as easy as it had been — the scolding, the butter, and the same complaint again the next day.