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Singular grace religion

CHENNAI: Spiritual tradition asserts that whatever is offered to God comes back manifold. This is true even when He takes it Himself, which is a great privilege, but one should have the insight to appreciate it. The childhood divine deeds of Lord Krishna illustrate this truth. Those who bore the brunt of His mischief were blessed indeed for He had chosen to grace them. Saints and mystics have waxed eloquent about child Krishna’s pranks (lila).

The moment Krishna started walking He was never at home. Instead, there was a steady stream of cowherd women (Gopis) with a litany of complaints about Him to Yashoda. Periazhwar in the guise of a Gopi tells Yashoda, “O good lady, your son is full of vice. If I tell you what He did you will be furious. He entered my house, called my daughter, removed her bangle and brought it out through the back door. He gave it to a seller for some fruit, and then laughed saying ‘it wasn’t Me’!” When Yashoda asked the girl to show her hands they were full of bangles much to the chagrin of her mother. Another Gopi’s lament was that she went to sell buttermilk in the morning and when she returned home Krishna had not only eaten the butter she had kept hidden but also drank all the milk.

In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R.Aravamudachariar said Vedanta Desika’s hymn Yadavabhyudayam was replete with Krishna’s inimitable deeds. Desika notes that Yashoda had bedecked Him with jewels, and as they made noise, Krishna beseeched them to keep quiet till He had finished eating butter to His heart’s content. Another Gopi caught Krishna red-handed stealing butter and dragged Him to Yashoda but to her dismay He turned out to be her son instead.

Though she pretended to chide Him, Periazhwar hints that Yashoda was proud (Sattvic ego) of Krishna: “With the tucks of His turban covering one ear and a bunch of red glory-lily flowers stuck over the other, wearing a beautiful vesture and a waist cloth over it, hanging a crescent of cool pearls on His chest, the ocean-hued Lord returns with the calves. O Ladies, come and see this outfit! In the entire world I am the only one to beget such a son, yes, no one else!”

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