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Lord’s Maya religion

CHENNAI: The Bhagavata Purana describes in detail the childhood of Lord Krishna and of the futile attempts of Kamsa to have the child of Devaki (growing up in a place unknown to him) killed. He deployed his wicked allies to accomplish this task, and each of them attained salvation after their attempts were foiled by the Lord. The child sucked the life of Putana, the demon who came disguised to kill the child by feeding poison instead of milk, but because she had fed the Supreme Being, she attained salvation. The Asura who came in the form of the cartwheel was destroyed and he too attained salvation. Trinavrata came disguised as a whirlwind and lifted the child and when, after being weakened, he wanted to drop the child, he himself dropped dead overpowered by the child.

When the people of Vraja became sensitive to the threats and dangers surrounding the child, they offered prayers for the child’s safety and protection, not being aware of the truth that their appeals were directed to the Supreme Lord to protect Himself, said Sri Srivatsa Jayarama Sarma in a lecture on the Narayanaeeyam. Many devout souls such as the Azhwars, and poets like Vedanta Desika, Leela Suka, Jayadeva and others were inspired to experience the joy of Lord Krishna’s childhood and Yasodha’s motherly love.

There was no dearth of pranks and the child’s fondness for butter led to the stealing episodes in the houses in the vicinity. The child would feign innocence when caught in the act of mischief. On a symbolic level, the Lord’s childish act of tasting the butter and breaking the mud pots signifies the truth of the eternal Atma and the perishable body.

When she was told that the child had swallowed mud and she wanted to see whether there was any trace of mud in the mouth, Yasodha was shown the entire macrocosm of creation (the worlds, oceans, mountains, heavens, the sun, moon, stars, galaxies, etc.) inside. In a moment of realisation she understood that the child was the Almighty and gave up her sense of I and mine that is the cause of ignorance. But the Lord immediately released her from this vision and cast the veil of Maya that brought her back to worldly life and attachments.

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