The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : God submits to devotion

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Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

God submits to devotion

CHENNAI, MARCH 23 . The Lord in His incarnation as Krishna taught the truth to Arjuna in the battlefield and He concluded His teaching on a practical note saying that the easiest way to realise Him was to remember Him while engaging in day-to-day activities. This is the crux of the path of action taught in the Bhagavad Gita and devotion transforms the act totally. Even mundane actions like cooking and eating food when performed in the name of the Lord purify the mind, and thus enable the individual to progress spiritually.

In his discourse, Sengalipuram Sri B.Damodara Dikshitar said the Bhagavata Purana underscored the importance of remembering God always through the example of Yashoda. This blessed woman who had maids to do her bidding however never relegated Krishna to their care. She doted on Him. One day while she was churning the curds she celebrated the sports of her darling son in song and Krishna came up to her and demanded to be fed. She lovingly attended to Him and suddenly remembered that she had kept the milk for boiling on the oven. Putting Him down she hurried to remove the milk, which was overflowing. Krishna greatly angered that she had neglected Him broke the pot of curds with a stone and disappeared into the house to steal butter.

When she returned Yashoda smiled at the havoc caused by her son and found Him standing on an overturned mortar feeding butter to a monkey. Caught red-handed stealing butter Krishna pretended to be afraid of her and fled from the scene with His mother in hot pursuit. The Purana exults over her good fortune saying that she ran and caught Him whom even the sages with their minds attuned through concentration are unable to grasp. She threatened Him with a rod in her hand but not for long as she was an indulgent mother and could not bear to see Him frightened.

Throwing away the rod she tried to bind Krishna to the mortar to teach Him a lesson but the poor lady found to her dismay that the rope fell short every time she renewed her efforts by attaching more rope. When she reached the point of exhaustion the Lord allowed Himself to be bound. Suka says that Krishna thus demonstrated His amenability to devotees and observes, "Neither Brahma (the creator) nor Lord Siva nor Goddess Sri, who has Her abode on His very person (chest), received such aforesaid grace from Him, the grantor of liberation, as Yashoda did!"

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