Krishna’s qualities and Damodar Lila | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | Tamil Gita | 28 October 2026
jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-vihārī
gopījana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana
yamunā-tīra-vana-cārī
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
Damodar month has started. And probably, we are also celebrating this month by offering the lamps to Yasoda and Krishna. So all of the pastimes of Krishna are worthy of remembering and glorifying. And it’s through remembrance of these pastimes then we can appreciate Krishna and our relationship with Krishna. So of course, the aim of Srimad Bhagavatam is to show how Krishna is actually the root of all forms of God. And this is stated in the first canto, where a whole list of avatars is given. And then it says, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [ŚB 1.3.28]. So, it distinguishes Krishna from all the other forms like Rama and Narasimha and Matsya and Kurma. Of course, to accept and worship with devotion any form of the Lord is wonderful. And also it’s rare, because most people, even if they accept a supreme form of God, they don’t accept a form of God. Because Supreme Lord is all-powerful, He can manifest a form which is not limited, a full spiritual form. Because He is unlimited in His powers, He can manifest not one form, but many varieties of forms.
Though He manifests many forms, it doesn’t mean He is different person. He is one Supreme God, manifesting many forms. And in these many forms, then He will manifest some different qualities. Because they are all one Supreme Lord, it doesn’t mean that particular form like Rama lacks some of the qualities that Narasimhadeva shows. And thus, each particular form will manifest certain unique qualities. So, one of the unique qualities of Narasimha is, He is very ferocious in killing Hiranyakasipu. At the same time, he shows great affection for his devotee Prahlada. And thus, some devotees are very attracted to worshipping Narasimha. Other devotees are attracted to worshipping Ramachandra. And they may be attracted because they see he represents the conduct of an ideal king. So, that is a different attraction than the attraction for Narasimhadeva. And certain devotees will be attracted to certain forms because of those particular qualities.
Some of the forms of the Lord will show less qualities. For instance, Kapiladeva is an avatar of the Lord. He does not kill any demons. He doesn’t rule like an ideal king because He is a sage, a Brahmana. So, His prominent quality is, He gives teachings. This is also an aspect of the Lord. For instance, Krishna also teaches in Bhagavad Gita. But Krishna on the other hand besides teaching, He does many other type of activities [Laughs].
So if we take all the different avataras and start enumerating the qualities they manifest in that particular form, finally, the form that manifests all the qualities most perfectly is Krishna. So, He is like the source of all the qualities and all the other forms manifest certain amounts of the qualities. And thus, we distinguish by name. We have avataras, many avataras, but we call Krishna the avatari. Which means He is the source of all the avataras. Of course, by saying He is the source doesn’t mean they are temporary forms. They are all eternal. So, by saying avatari, we mean He is the form which shows all the qualities of the Lord completely. So, whatever qualities we will see in Narasimha and Rama and Kapila and Vyasadeva and Matsya and Kurma, they will manifest in Krishna.
So, of course, one aspect of qualities is to manifest power. Another is to manifest knowledge. Another is to manifest affection. So, of course, all avataras, they manifest certain amounts of these qualities. However, Krishna manifests these qualities more. Then there is one unique quality of Krishna that He manifests more than any other. And that is sweetness or madhurya. So, madhurya means that Krishna shows intimate close affection for His devotees. And this sweetness or madhurya overpowers any of His qualities of power. So, Krishna shows the most power, but His quality of sweetness is so much that His devotees forget about His powers. And that is shown in Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan. Those pastimes are described in the 10th canto up to about the 35th chapter.
When He goes to Mathura, then the Yadus who are there, they realize Krishna as Supreme Lord. So, there is a dilution of that sweetness. When Krishna goes to Dwaraka, He shows even more powers. He has a huge city. He has 16,108 queens. So, consequently, the sweetness decreases. So, consequently, the greatest sweetness of Krishna is in Vrindavan. And that sweetness is shown in the pastimes with various devotees. But, Krishna in Vrindavan grows. First, He is a small child. Then, He becomes 5 years old. Then, He becomes 8 years old. So, with the passing of time, He relates to different devotees and shows different qualities.
So, His age is divided into three categories. First is the kaumara period, from 0 to 5 years old. And in that period, His relationship with his parents, Nanda and Yasoda, is very, very prominent. They have a particular type of love called Vatsalya, parental love. So they think of Krishna as their child, not as Supreme Lord, and they treat Him like their child. So, when Krishna gets 5 years old and up to 8 years old, that Vatsalya continues. However Krishna when He’s 5 years old to 8 years old shows more independence, He goes into the fields and herds the calves with the cowherd boys. So, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, we have descriptions of Krishna playing with the cowherd boys. So, this is an affectionate relationship called Sakhya, friendship. And then when Krishna becomes 8 years old up until when He leaves Vrindavan, that’s when He’s 12, then during that age, He’s called kaishora period and then the activities with the Gopis, Madhurya rasa becomes very prominent.
So though Krishna has such relationships in Mathura and Dwaraka, those relationships in Mathura and Dwaraka are mixed with Aishwarya, seeing Krishna as Supreme powerful God. But, in Vrindavan, that is completely absent. And that we see in the Damodara pastime. We see that Mother Yasoda is very anxious to feed Krishna. Of course, if we think Krishna is God, then we will say He doesn’t need to eat [Laughs]. But, because Mother Yasoda sees Krishna as her son and a small child, then she thinks, I have to feed him nicely. Furthermore, there are complaints from the neighbours. The neighbours say, Krishna is stealing butter from us. So, then she thinks, I will make better butter, more tasty butter. I will get the best cows, the best grass, the best milk, best yogurt, and I will churn it into the best, best butter.
So, she is completely absorbed in trying to please Krishna. Just by feeding Him as a child. And later, we see that Krishna comes and He is hungry. So, Mother Yasoda feeds her breast milk. Of course, from a point of view of Krishna as Supreme Lord, this also looks ridiculous. How can Supreme Lord be completely dependent on His Mother? Nevertheless, Mother Yasoda feeds Krishna, but then she hears that the milk in the fire is boiling over. So, she puts Krishna down to go to the kitchen to take the milk off the fire. And Krishna becomes very angry. Why Mother Yasoda puts me down and I stop drinking milk?
So, of course, this is typical of small children. They are eating and enjoying and you stop and they become angry. But we don’t expect that from Supreme Lord. Supreme Lord has no hunger, has no anger, control of His senses. And Krishna is acting just like a small child. And He gets so angry, He kicks the pot of yogurt and makes a hole in it. And then He runs away. And still, He wants to create some mischief. So, He goes into the storeroom and He takes the butter from there and He takes it outside and He gives it to the monkeys. So, He is acting just like a small spoiled child. And people who see that will think, how can this be Supreme Lord? But this is Supreme Lord in response to the love of Mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda expects Krishna to be her son. So, Krishna becomes her son. And it’s only by that action of Krishna that Mother Yasoda can express her full love. Finally, Mother Yasoda’s act of love is to attempt to tie up Krishna to punish Him.
Now, of course, from the point of view of Krishna being Supreme Lord, how can anyone punish Supreme Lord? That seems impossible. But because He is Supreme Lord, no one can punish Him, he punishes everybody else. Yet, Mother Yasoda does this naturally as part of her being a mother. So, normally of course, tying up the Supreme Lord and punishing Him is impossible. And we don’t see any of the avataras getting tied up. In fact, if Rama gets tied up, that would be a big fault. No one would worship Him anymore. But we see Krishna got tied up by Mother Yasoda. And nobody criticizes that, they praise that action. Why is that? Because it shows Krishna’s love for His devotee and His devotee’s love for Krishna.
Of course, we also know that the Lord responds to bhakti. And if one has prema, the Lord is controlled by that prema. And the greater the devotee has prema, then the more the Lord is controlled. So, the greatest prema is manifested in Vrindavan with the devotees. Why? Because their prema is not restricted by seeing Krishna as Supreme Lord. And thus, though the Supreme Lord is controlled by His devotees, in Vrindavan Krishna is most controlled by His devotees. And thus we see Mother Yasoda is able to tie up Krishna.
We don’t see Krishna being tied up in Mathura or Dwaraka [Laughs]. Of course, it is uniquely a pastime when Krishna is very small. So, this age when Krishna is 1 to 5, when Krishna is very small, is a good opportunity for Yasoda to manifest her Vatsalya. And she shows her affection in Vatsalya by tying up Krishna. And finally Krishna agrees. Why? Because of her great devotion or Vatsalya. So, Krishna finally is tied up not by ropes but by ropes of prema. So, this is not a fault in the Supreme Lord. This is a good quality. It displays the fact that Supreme Lord has great affection for His devotees.
Okay. Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) We get to see the beautiful pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna. In the childhood, He performed so many pastimes. In youth also, He performed so many pastimes. When we hear, we get attracted to these kind of pastimes. But after sometime, we take it for granted because we are hearing these pastimes again and again. It’s like, okay, this is one more pastime of Krishna. Like that, we take it lightly. We are not putting so much interest in hearing those pastimes. How do we develop taste and how this Krishna katha can purify us and develop Krishna prema in our heart?
Ultimately, all these pastimes of Krishna are spiritual. So, each pastime is not limited. It’s unlimited. And the description of these pastimes in Bhagavatam also is spiritual and unlimited, so you can keep reading them and find new meaning. So because all the pastimes are spiritual, they never get old, they are ever fresh. As just like the form of Krishna. You can see the form of Krishna, every time you see it, it’s more beautiful. So, if a person sees Krishna and next day they see Krishna, next day they see Krishna, then they think maybe, okay, I have seen Krishna so many times. I want to see something else. They never think like that [Laughs]. So, we see the gopis, even if their eye blinks, they don’t see Krishna, they become completely disturbed.
So, in the material world, because we are practicing bhakti, we are not completely pure. So, in chanting the holy name or in hearing the pastimes, we don’t appreciate that the name and the pastimes are non-different from Krishna. But as we continue to practice, then we can begin to appreciate more and more the spiritual nature of the pastimes and the name.
2.) My grandson is one and a half years old. Is it okay he can also offer a lamp to Krishna? Till now, they have not given a name or something.
Oh, yeah, so anyone can worship Krishna and offer a lamp. There is no problem with that. In fact, the earlier age we start to familiarize children with Krishna and have them serve Krishna, the better. We see that young children, they are very capable of absorbing a lot of knowledge. So from an early age, if they get used to worshipping Krishna and chanting His name, that’s very good. Then that will continue for the rest of their life.
3.) Can you explain sound vibration of Hare Krishna Mahamantra? What is Sadhana bhakti and Raganuga bhakti and about Atmarama sloka.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, I see. One is sound vibration of Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Can you explain? Hare?
Devotee: Yes.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh. Hare, for us, of course it means two things. Hare is a vocative case or sambodhana, which can mean Hari. We are addressing Hari, Supreme Lord Krishna. Or we are addressing Hara, Radha. So our Acharyas usually interpret this as Radha. So this is quite appropriate because Caitanya Mahaprabhu has indicated Radha Krishna as the highest object of worship.
Second question, Sadhana and Raganuga. Raganuga is one type of Sadhana. The other is Vaidhi Sadhana. So Vaidhi means to be inspired to follow bhakti by rules. And Raganuga Sadhana means we follow our practice based upon inspiration of the people of Vrindavan like Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj, the gopis or the cowherd boys. So they are not considering rules and regulations. They are simply doing their service out of great affection for Krishna. And in Raganuga Sadhana, they never see Krishna as Supreme Lord. So in Vaidhi Sadhana, we are following rules and regulations and we see Krishna as Supreme Lord.
Third question about Atmarama verse. This Atmarama verse is a verse in the Bhagavatam showing that the Atmarama or those who are attracted to the impersonal feature of the Lord become attracted to the wonderful qualities of Krishna. So that verse can be analyzed in different ways. We know that Sanskrit words have many meanings. So Lord Caitanya takes all the different meanings of each word, combines them and then we get so many different meanings out of it [Laughs]. But the ultimate meaning is that Krishna, because He is Swayam Bhagavan, has so many wonderful qualities that even an impersonalist becomes attracted to Krishna’s qualities. And thus Sukadeva Goswami, though he was fixed in Brahman, when he heard Bhagavatam, he broke out of his trance and began listening to Bhagavatam because it expressed the qualities of Krishna.
4.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. In Damodar month, which pastime of the Lord, which reading can we do more for us to get purified to get His mercy?
So usually we read the pastime of Damodar there, which is like I think in chapter 8 like that. That is the main chapter describing the Damodar pastime.
5.) By chanting, we could be able observe change within us in desire, grief like that, except anger. Why is that?
Well, probably different people are different [Laughs]. Some people have more anger and stronger, some have less. So it may be more difficult to control the anger. Other people may not have much anger, they may respond by having worry [Laughs]. But whether it is anger, lamentation, or worry, or fear, whatever, ultimately it all derives from our identification with our material body. So that identity is difficult to erase completely. But by performing bhakti, gradually we replace that identity with being the eternal servant of Krishna. So the more we identify ourself as servant of Krishna, the less material identity, and then less grief, desires, anger, etc.
6.) How is Yasodamayi able to run, palpitate, yet able to smile at our Krishna and tie him? What do we infer and apply in this material world? Generally, we show negative behaviours, like anger, and [Not clear].
Well, of course, Mother Yasoda is a great devotee. And all the devotees are devoid completely of bodily identification, anger, lust, etc. They have complete devotion to Krishna. However, that devotion may be expressed as anger, etc. Mother Yasoda gets a little angry because Krishna has stolen all the butter. She even takes a stick to frighten Krishna [Laughs]. But in that case, her anger or her frustration whatever are only symptoms of her prema. So ultimately, it all resolves into joy.
7.) We know that Yasoda Mata is more gifted than Devaki Mata. And we know that Devaki Mata prayed for the birth of Krishna in her womb as Aditi and Kashyapa in the previous birth. Is there anything for Yasoda Mata, whether she prayed for it? And second one is, Raganuga bhakti as you told, is exclusively for the Vrajavasis. It’s spontaneous. Then how could we could practice here, Maharaj? How could it be practiced in this material world Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: What was the first question?
Devotee: Devaki and Vasudeva, in the previous birth, they were Kashyapa and Aditi. And is there any other pastime for Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, well, it’s described in Bhagavatam, they were Drona and Dara in previous life. However, in both cases, ultimately Vasudeva and Devaki, Nanda, Yasoda are eternally the mother and father of Krishna. So therefore, to explain that previously they prayed and worshipped, thus they became mother Yasoda doesn’t make too much sense [Laughs].
As for Raganuga, the qualification is lobha or great greed to follow the inhabitants of Vrindavan. That’s the qualification. Once that greed has been established, then one can follow the path of Raganuga as outlined in Nectar of Devotion.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!