So, this actually is concluding the one part of this pastime. So, of course that’s the most important part of this pastime and that is Mother Yasoda being able to tie up Krishna and such a pastime is not possible even for other forms of the Lord. Of course, in the spiritual world all of the forms of the Lord have blissful pastimes with their devotees.

However, most are not in a relationship of being the mother of the Supreme Lord, of course ultimately the Lord doesn’t have any mother or father because He is unborn.

So, in Vaikuntha of course that is obvious because Vishnu doesn’t have a mother and father. However, we do see in Goloka Vrindavan yes, Krishna has a mother and father and when Krishna appears in the material world He actually appears to be born also of course, the Lord is also famous as being Aja-unborn because the Lord has no birth and death but He is born to Yasoda and Nanda and is also born to Vasudeva and Devaki. This itself looks a little bit contradictory of how can the Lord be unborn and yet be born?

Furthermore, if He is born, that makes Him temporary. He has birth and death like other normal living entities who have material bodies but scriptures tell us no, He is still Supreme Lord who has no birth and death. Of course, in other forms the Lord also appears in the material world but as Varaha, He comes out of Brahma’s nostrils so it’s a little unusual and we don’t call Brahma the mother or the father or whatever.

Nrsimhadeva simply appears from a pillar, no mother and father. Of course, in other forms such as Rama and Vamana He does have mother and father. So therefore, there will be some Vatsalya rasa with other forms of the Lord also.  However, the extent of the Vatsalya is not so intense as it is with Krishna and Nanda and Yasoda.

Vasudeva and Devaki also have Vatsalya but, Devaki, when she saw, and this is in Kurukshetra, when she saw the affection of Nanda and Yasoda for Krishna and Balaram, she was shocked, astonished. This was many years later when Krishna and Balarama were adults, but Nanda and Yasoda were treating like little babies and milk was flowing from Mother Yasoda’s breasts out of affection and Devaki said, “well look Krishna is my child, not your child” but she was surprised because Nanda and Yasoda had more affection for Krishna and Balarama as their sons than Vasudeva and Devaki had.

So definitely the Vatsalya is there with some other forms of the Lord but it is not as intense as it is with Krishna in Vrindavan and for that reason we have this Damodara pastime. Few verses before they talked about how rare it is that one can even see Bhagavan. It’s only for devotees and to have Vatsalya rasa for Bhagavan is rare and to have Vatsalya rasa for Krishna is even rarer and rarest of all is Vatsalya rasa for Krishna in Vrindavan and it’s most rare and it’s most intense and of course because it is most intense. It also gives rise to greatest bliss, so because it is so intense then Krishna falls under the control of his devotee. This of course is an aspect of Bhakti itself. One of the names of the Lord in general even in Vishnu form is Bhakta Vatsala.  So out of affection the Lord gets controlled by the devotee and of course generally we say that happens in Prema.

In Nectar of devotion at the beginning six qualities of the Lord are mentioned, the last quality is Krishna Akarshini.  This Bhakti attracts Krishna but this actually manifests in Prema.  However we do know that even in Sadhana the Lord is attracted to the devotees and even if they have mixed devotion the Lord gets attracted.

Famous example is Gajendra, He prayed to the Lord with Bhakti because He wanted to get free of the crocodile that’s mixed devotion and the Lord came personally and saved him Or Dhruva was doing mixed Bhakti he wanted a kingdom so he was meditating on Vishnu and the Lord appeared before him and He gave him a kingdom. So the Lord is controlled even by Bhakti of a Sadhaka but He is even more controlled by a devotee in Prema.

Thus the Lord gives his Sudarshana Chakra to Ambarisha and says It’s yours, whatever you want you do with it. So definitely the Lord in any case is Bhakta Vatsala for all the devotees and He is controlled to some extent by all the devotees but to the devotees in Prema He is most controlled.

However the Prema in Vrindavan is most intense and therefore the Lord is most controlled. Krishna is most controlled by the devotees in Vrindavan of course even in Vrindavan there is various states of intensities of bliss.

So, we’ll have Shanta Rasa, Dasya Rasa, Sakhya Rasa, Vatsalya Rasa and Madhurya Rasa and as we go through these different Rasas, the Lord is more and more controlled. So, Vatsalya Rasa is next to Madhurya in its intensity.

So, in Nectar Devotion, it’s explained that Prema is a general term.

Actually, there is 1)Rati  then 2)Prema, then 3)Sneha and 4)Maana 5)Pranaya and and 6)Raga and then 7)Anuraga and 8)Bhava and then 9)Mahabhava.and increasingly more intense and thus the Rasa also go up to a certain level. So Dasya will be Prema, then Sakhya will go up to Sneha then some Pranaya and then Vatsalya goes up to Raga and Madhurya Rasa has Anuraga and Mahabhava.

So according to the Rasa we have increasing intensities as well. So it’s described that Yasoda was continually in Raga which is quite high. The intensity of her love is very very great and thus Krishna also has corresponding love for Yasoda and consequently he gets controlled by Yasoda. Of course we know that all the devotees control the Lord to some degree but because she has intense Prema to Raga then Krishna is very controlled by Mother Yasoda and thus He agreed to get tied up of course.

We see that Krishna didn’t want to get tied up that is of course the nature of children also. Somehow Krishna was using his powers so that He couldn’t get tied up and the rope was never big enough to tie Him up. So, it’s described there was competition between Mother Yasoda and Krishna. Mother Yasoda was insistent that she must tie up Krishna Why? because Krishna was her child and she had to train Him properly and Krishna was insistent, no, I will not be tied up because I have to play with my friends. So, Mother Yasoda was very insistent and she kept getting more and more rope and tying it together and Krishna was correspondingly somehow getting bigger and bigger, so the rope wouldn’t tie Him up and He said, I’m not going to get tied up because I’m going to go play and of course, surprising was that Krishna wasn’t getting any bigger, the rope was getting longer, but still, it couldn’t tie Him up and, of course, we can say actually Krishna is bigger than the universe, so nothing can tie Him up. There’s no rope in the universe that is bigger than Krishna. So, in one sense, it’s not surprising because no one can tie up the Lord.

This would not be surprising for other devotees of other forms of the Lord. They wouldn’t even dare to tie up the Lord because they know it’s impossible. So, why was Mother Yasoda so foolish to try to do this? because she didn’t take Krishna as Supreme Lord at all,  Krishna is just a little baby, her son and very surprising also not only the rope got longer but Krishna wasn’t getting any bigger and still it couldn’t tie Him up that was one surprising thing but the other surprising thing was always two fingers too short, same distance all the time too short as if it wasn’t getting bigger at all the rope.

 So it was described that Mother Yasoda kept getting more and more rope she ran out of rope so therefore she went to her neighbour’s houses and got more rope and more rope and she was doing this all afternoon and her neighbours were watching and laughing .

They didn’t know why it was happening like that but they said it’s impossible, don’t try it anymore, just give up but Mother Yasoda wouldn’t listen and she kept getting more rope and tying and tying and then suddenly she was able to tie up Krishna. She defeated Krishna.

Krishna gave up his desire to play with his friends So why was that? and the answer is that Krishna saw that Mother Yasoda was getting tired and she was very frustrated.  So then He agreed to get tied up and give up His desire to play.

So our Acharyas explain the meaning of this The Supreme Lord, Krishna or any other form appreciates the efforts that a devotee makes, of course you are making effort to cook for Krishna or decorate Krishna or whatever She is trying to tie up Krishna, it’s a little bit different but nevertheless effort was there and she was putting forth great effort all afternoon. she was doing this it looked impossible, neighbours were discouraging still she would not give up, so this was her service to Krishna.

Now normally we don’t think of this as service but this is actually service, tying up Krishna is also a service, so in her service she was making great endeavor.

So when the devotee makes great endeavor the Lord becomes very merciful and what is that mercy He arranges so that the desires of the devotee are fulfilled.

Mother Yasodawanted to tie up Krishna, that was her desire, that was her service. so Krishna agreed. So that is the explanation of why the rope was too short by two fingers.

One is endeavor of course not just endeavor, enough endeavor as in the case of Mother Yasodaof course we can make endeavor but if there is no devotion in the endeavor, Krishna doesn’t respond so endeavor in devotion is necessary and if that is there, still the Lord has to give his mercy that’s the other finger.

Krishna before that time didn’t give his mercy so she couldn’t tie Him up but when Krishna finally agreed He recognized enough that never was there then mercy was there she was able to tie Him up So in order to tie up Krishna or to bring Krishna under control with ropes of love we have to have our endeavor and mercy of Krishna.

So this of course is true for all forms of the Lord and the devotees but in the case of Mother Yasodaand Krishna it took the form of actual rope.

 So these are actually the ropes of Prema but they became actual ropes as well and controlling the Lord took the form of actually tying up Krishna. So this is very rare but will happen with a great devotee like Mother Yasodaand the form of Krishna in Vrindavan.

Hare Krishna

Q&A

1) What is, see, when Mother Yasoda was trying to tie Krishna, Krishna is thinking that if I tie it by Mother Yasoda, I cannot play. So, Krishna’s intention is He wants to play, but Mother Yasoda’s intention is she wants to tie. but it is not going against the nature of Krishna that normally as a child He is supposed to play. So, then how He considers this as a seva, as a service, this is going against his own nature?

Actually the cowherd boys playing with Krishna is also a service. These are their anubhavas, so in Sakhya rasa one of the anubhavas is herding cows with Krishna, others playing with Krishna, playing ball with Krishna joking with Krishna, dancing with Krishna etc and yasoda ‘s anubhavas are cooking for Krishna, dressing Krishna, bathing Krishna putting Him to bed etc and this is one of her anubhavas to discipline the child and of course the Lord responds to all of these devotees with their different services and anubhavas but within the past times there is a choice of what to accept at what time.

So we can say there is a struggle between two different groups of devotees and two different pastimes and two different rasas and Krishna has to choose.

We see that often there is division, it’s divided. Krishna goes out with the cowherd boys in the day, and He’s separated from other Yasodas anubhavas. Then there is no Vatsalya Rasa at that time, and there is a lot of Sakhya Rasa in the forest where Krishna is playing, etc.

Then He comes back at night, and then opportunity for Nanda and Yasoda to have Vatsalya Rasa with Krishna. So, it’s divided. In this case, of course, Krishna had not reached that age where He was going out in the forest and Sakhya Rasa also wasn’t manifested so much. 

We see that when Brahma stole the cows, etc., that was kind of on the borderline with Pauganda age when Sakhya Rasa becomes prominent. So, before that age, that is in the Kaumara period, Vatsalya Rasa is very strong.

So, therefore, let’s say the influence of mother Yasoda on Him was more prominent than influence of cowherd boys ultimately.

2) You are giving different gradation of these different Rasas. Like you’re saying that Madurya Rasa is the highest, and before that there is Vatsalya Rasa, Sakhya Rasa but we see even this Srimati Radharani also, you know, in Srimad Bhagavatam, 10^th canto it is said, she also glorified the Sakhya Rasa because of intimate association with Krishna.

The nature of Rasa is that the more intense it becomes and the higher the Rasa, the more Dainya or humility or aloneness the devotee experiences and though the Gopis are the highest, they also consider themselves the lowest. and they will think, oh yeah, the cowherd boys are better than us, servants are better than us.

3) Mother Yasoda was trying to tie Krishna and mother Yasoda was not giving up.

Can we connect this with our 8th shloka of this Siksashtakam, that “Aslisya va padaratham pinaṣṭu mām adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā “ whatever happens, but I’m not going to give up.

The 7th shloka is about separation and the 8th shloka is about union. In any case, even if Krishna rejects me, I can never reject Him and many of the pastimes in Madhurya Rasa are concerning that.

In Madhurya Rasa, the gopis feel rejected by Krishna. Krishna disappeared from the Rasa Leela or previous to that, when they first came to the forest after they heard the flu, then

Krishna says, Oh, why are you here?

Go back home. It’s too dangerous here in the forest. You better go home.

So they were discouraged by Krishna in many ways, but they could never give up their attraction for Krishna and full surrender to Krishna.

Of course, the big example is Krishna left Vrindavan, went to Mathura, then went to Dwaraka, and all the people of Vrindavan said, Krishna’s not coming back, but they never forgot Him. They were always attached to Him.

We see in the Bumblebee incident that Radharani is cursing Krishna You know He is such a nasty person, He has run off with the women in Mathura, He is forgetting us whatever like this but she can’t forget Him.

4) Does Devaki Mata and Vasudeva and Nanda Maharaj and Yasodas o they both are eternal parents of Krishna. In Krishna book it was written that Prisni and Sutapa were Krishna’s previous parents . So how to understand this?

So, Yasoda Nanda eternally in Goloka and Vasudeva Devaki eternally in Dwaraka in the spiritual world. 

Now, of course, here, it is explained right after this, that three births and whatever like this, they took different births and eventually they had Krishna as their child.

So, in one sense, it is not true. It is not that they did sadhana and then eventually they got Krishna as their son. However, what can happen is, it is explained that there were expansions from Yasoda and Nanda who took the other births and then when Krishna was born, they merged back into Yasoda and Nanda.

So, it is explained that they merged back into Yasoda and Nanda.

5)Maharaj, the devotees know very well that Lord doesn’t take birth but the nature of material world is birth and death is inevitable So, some non-devotees and particularly atheists they discourage because in Vedas it is mentioned that “Lord is taking birth” so using that word taking birth the atheistic people discourage that Lord is also taking birth. He is an ordinary person and they try to lower the level of the Lord So, how can devotees react to such a situation?

It’s about birth(of the Lord). So, of course one thing is if the Lord takes birth in the material world then atheists will say “He is just an ordinary person Krishna cannot be God because He took birth” and of course Krishna among all the different forms of the Lord acts like a normal person He even gets tied up by Mother Yasoda , no other form of the Lord gets tied up. So, mainly this is for the devotees This gives a chance for Yasoda and Nanda to express their love for Krishna even as a small child.  Secondarily of course the materialists will think Oh, He is just a normal child. So, we know of course that the Lord actually is invisible to the materialist So, this is one way in which Krishna does this. Of course, the materialist is so stubborn that even if Vishnu appears they say that He is not God also He is also material.

For example, Hiranyakashipu,  when He saw Narasimha He thought, this is Vishnu. Vishnu is just an ordinary person He can fight with Him. So, unfortunately, whatever the Lord does, the materialists will not believe He is the Supreme Lord.

Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai ! Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!