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Mother Yashoda Tries to Bind

Mischievous Lord Krishna

Mother Yashoda Tries to Bind

Mischievous Lord Krishna

Author: Simon Maddock

Illustrations and Book Design: Eva Angelova

Narrated By: Rebecca Simpson

Music and Sound Engineer: Ishan Isaacs

Producer: Emma Horton

without the permission of the publisher.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

One day in the beautiful village of Vrindavan, Mother Yashoda sat happily in her

home, churning the delicious cream of the village cows.

She worked hard turning the cream into butter. She hummed quietly and was

supremely content, thinking of the delicious butter she was making. She thought

about how she, and her husband Nanda, and her two boys, Balarama and Krishna,

would enjoy the butter.

Nanda was out in the fields tending the cows with their eldest son Balarama. She

imagined their looks of pleasure when she served the tasty butter with their dinner.

So she worked and worked, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

As she churned the cream, and hummed a tune, her darling boy Krishna came into

the room. Mother Yashoda smiled at him, and kept working at the churning bowl.

But Krishna was hungry and wanted to be fed.

“Oh Mother, please give me some of that butter. I am hungry,” he said.

Mother Yashoda laughed, as she kept up the churning. “But can’t you see. The

butter is not ready yet, give me a little time to finish it.”

Krishna would not be pacified, he cried and stamped his feet and demanded food.

Mother Yashoda was delighted by everything that her darling Krishna did. She

laughed and kept up her work. Krishna became more and more impatient.

Yashoda kept churning until, all at once, she jumped up from her kneeling position

and put her hand to her mouth.

“Oh, dear me!” she cried, “I have left milk boiling on the fire. It will be ruined!”

So she ran off to the kitchen to save the boiling milk.

Krishna, left alone, gave the churning pot an angry kick. Though he was but a little

boy, it shattered, and the butter spilt all over the floor.

Krishna heard his mother returning to the room, so he quickly scooped up butter in

both hands and took to his heels. He fled to the back veranda of the house.

Mother Yashoda saw what Krishna had done, and she went looking for the naughty

boy. She found him feeding her butter to the cheerful monkeys, who lived in the

surrounding trees.

Yashoda had the churning stick in her hand. Seeing her approaching with the stick

raised high, Krishna took off on his little legs, running from room to room in the

house, hotly pursued by his mother.

“Krishna, Krishna, come here you naughty boy. Come and be punished for your

mischief. “

But Krishna kept running, and his mother could not catch him.

Finally she stopped and looked at herself, chasing her baby boy around the house

with a raised stick. She felt ashamed for frightening her darling boy, and she put the

stick down at once. But Yashoda was a careful mother, and knew her mischievous

lad needed to learn his lesson.

But how? She was standing near a heavy pestle. It was a long stone column used for

grinding wheat into flour. And near it on the floor was a pile of ropes. She decided

she would tie Krishna to the pestle. This would do him no harm, but would keep him

under control, and teach the free‐spirited little boy a lesson.

Yashoda picked up a piece of rope and went looking for Krishna.

“Oh Krishna, where are you hiding?” Mother Yashoda sang, “Come out, come out

wherever you are. Be a brave boy and take your punishment.”

Yashoda looked everywhere for him. She knelt down and looked under the beds,

she looked into cupboards, she even peeped into the large food storage jars.

Then, looking around the central hall, she saw ten tiny toes peeping out from under

one of the curtains. And the curtain was moving back and forth. Someone behind it

was breathing quietly!

Mother Yashoda reached behind the curtain, and drew Krishna out into the open.

“Oh Krishna! I’ve caught you!” she cried with delight.

“Oh Mother, don’t punish me,” pleaded Krishna, “I’ll be a good little boy from now

on.”

“Now Krishna,” said Mother Yashoda with a twinkle in her eye, “Be a brave little

man, and take your just punishment. You broke a valuable churning bowl, and gave

away my butter to the monkeys. I will tie you to this heavy stone pestle, so you learn

your lesson.”

And with that, Yashoda took the piece of rope and wrapped it around Krishna.

But what was this? The rope was just a little too short. This was strange. Mother

Yashoda had been sure that the rope was long enough to wrap around a naughty

little boy.

She shrugged her shoulders, and picked up another piece of rope from the floor.

She tied it onto the first piece, and tried to wrap the lengthened rope around

Krishna. But what do you suppose? The longer rope, still came up too short!

So Mother Yashoda took up a third piece, and a fourth, and a fifth. Every time, the

longer and longer rope came up too short!

She sat down, exhausted, panting for breath.

That naughty little boy of hers was, in truth, the Blessed Lord of the Universe! He

was the living form of the Limitless! How can anyone tie down that which is without

limit?

Krishna, seeing his mother’s plight, took pity on her. He saw, that she desired to

discipline him out of her overwhelming mother’s love.

So, when Mother Yashoda struggled to her feet, and picked up the last piece of rope,

the Limitless Lord, through love alone, allowed himself to be bound by her.

She tied the rope around Krishna and secured the other end to the heavy stone

pestle.

“There, my Prince of Mischief!” she said in triumph, “Stay here and think about your

misdeeds, and how you can be a better little boy in future.”

She left the room, to pick up the pieces of the broken pot, and to mop up the spilt

butter.

Meanwhile the Lord Krishna, stood still, in obedience to his beloved mother.

But who can keep a little boy still forever?

At last Krishna grew impatient and took a few steps, until the rope reached its full

length. It stretched tight from his waist to the heavy stone pestle.

Unable to walk any further, he dropped to his hands and knees, and pulled against

the heavy weight. The stone pestle began to move, scraping across the floor, pulled

by a little boy. But what a little boy! Nothing can stand before the will of the

Blessed Lord.

Krishna crawled out of the front door of the house, with the heavy stone pestle

following him like a pet dog on a lead. He slowly made his way into the fields.

He enjoyed this happy game of “Drag the Pestle”, but after a while he grew bored

with his slow progress. He looked for a way to free himself.

In front of him were two tall trees standing close together. Their spreading branches

waved gently in the breeze, as if they were beckoning Krishna over to them.

Now, these twin trees had a special secret!

Some years before, two divine beings, sons of Kuvera the God of Wealth, offended

the heavenly singer, Narada.

Narada wished to teach them a lesson. He declared, that they would be born on

earth as these twin trees. But because Narada was full of compassion, he also

decreed that the Lord Shri Krishna himself would eventually free them!

Krishna crawled towards the two trees. He passed between them, dragging the

heavy stone pestle behind him. Suddenly, one end of the pestle bumped up against

one of the trees, and the other end bumped up against the other tree.

Krishna came to a halt. He pulled on the rope, but the pestle was stuck fast against

the trees.

Krishna became impatient, and pulled and pulled and pulled. The trees began to

sway and groan, and their roots began to snap. Little Krishna kept pulling.

Suddenly ‐ with a loud Crack! Crack! ‐ the roots of the twin trees leapt from the

ground. The mighty lords of the forest came crashing down to earth, on either side

of the little boy.

Villagers looked up from their work. They ran over to the two huge trees lying on the

ground. As they approached, they heard the sound of delighted laughter coming

from between the trees. They were astonished to see young Krishna rocking back

and forth with glee.

Only Krishna could see, emerging from the trees, two handsome shining figures.

They bowed to him in gratitude for their freedom, and then they vanished in twin

streams of light, shooting up to the heavens.

Mother Yashoda came running. When she saw Krishna safe and sound, she nearly

burst into tears with relief. She swept him up into her arms and hugged him and

showered him with kisses.

She untied the rope and carried the smiling laughing Krishna home. Yashoda vowed

never to be cross with her darling boy ever again.

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