Krishna Story 8

LOVE BINDS

by J.K. Sivan

If we understand that Krishna is growing, it is implied that his mischief and pranks are also manifold now in keeping with his physical growth. He therefore gave a tough time to Yasodha in controlling him every moment. But what was peculiar about his mischievous acts is that no one in the village admonished him or complained to his mother Yasodha about his pranks. Her neighbour and good friend Kokila one day exclaimed “Oh my! Yasodha!, how are you controlling this little fellow. Even for us a few minutes with him is difficult to manage whenever he comes to play at our place with our kids. You must be a phenomenon to patiently deal with this kid.
Yasodha was perplexed but had no reply. Instead she had a hearty laugh which did not reveal whether she approved his actions or was frustrated.
We all know that children at this age must be very active and be mischievous but Krishna is someone so special he keeps you tied down to closely watch him and supervise his actions. Kokila left for home after some other discussions. Yasodha was pondering over what Kokila said as she herself was puzzled “ how to deal with this little fellow?” Suddenly it struck her that she found an answer in the question posed by Kokila “tied down”. Why not I threaten this little Krishna that I will tie with him a rope to prevent his free movement which will make him obey the commands and be quiet.

Of late he is doing something new. There is always a gang of boys of his age or a couple of years elder as he is the youngest. These boys were instigated by Krishnan to select some house where the pots of butte and curd were easily accessible for them to break and rob the contents, if not possible to steal the contents of the pots alone. The house must be unguarded by the Gopi when this happens. The gopis thus found in most of their houses the butter and curds were less in quantity, or totally missing or the pots broken with contents missing.

Very soon they found out it was all Krishna’s plan. All other boys when threatened of severe action they all unanimously confessed pointing the finger to Krishna. Yasodha when learnt this, felt offended and uneasy. She did not want this irritation to continue. So she felt why she did not think abut this remedial action earlier when she realized what Kokila suggested without her knowledge, should be a solution. To “tie” him..... She shouted “Krishna come here”.

Krishna was quite aware that he is likely to be questioned anytime for his recent exploitations. The small kid slowly came before her inch by inch. Until you behave good I am going to tie a rope around you and fix you to a position wherefrom you cannot move. Only after I am satisfied that you will hereafter stop doing such a mischief I may decide to release you. So saying she took a rope, tied it around his waist. Initially two or three ropes however long they were, could not be enough to tie around his waist and when Krishna realized her anxiety allowed the next rope she brought to be fit to tie around him. The other end of the rope was tied to a big stone grinder under the big shady tree in the back yard. “Now let me see what you do, you mischievous kid, and you are going to remain the whole day tied to this stone grinder until I release you”

So saying Yasodha left him in the backyard to attend to her daily chores giving him a strict look. The moment she found a few tear drops welling around his big eyes, she melted, but controlled her emotion and appeared a strict mother.

Hardly a couple of hours passed since Krishnan was tied to the stone grinder. He sat near it and looked at the huge garden. It was shady under two big tall trees which appeared well built. He slowly moved ahead from where he was in the backyard towards the garden and the huge trees. Strangely the two tall trees were side by side with very little space in between them.

When Krishna neared the huge trees pulling the huge stone grinder tied to the other end, he was able to pass through the trees and reach the other side, whereas the huge grind stone could not pass through because of its size and obstructed his further movement. When Krishna observed this, he smiled and pushed it hard through the gap and within moments the huge trees were pulled out and uprooted because of the weight he gave the stone which hit the trees. With a huge noise the two trees fell down.

Something unbelievable happened there. Where the two huge trees remained fallen and uprooted, a couple of Demigods appeared with folded hands prostrating before Krishna. He was smiling at them and they said:

Oh Lord, we were waiting for this day of deliverance. We were the sons of Lord Kubera, and once when we offended and hurt the feelings of sage Naradha he cursed us to become these trees and when we begged him to pardon us and free us from our sins, he said we were to wait until the day when Lord Krishna would appear on earth and liberate you both. Thus we are fortunate enough today to be blessed and released from our sins. Both the Devas ascended to Heaven after worshipping Krishna. Krishna however remained the innocent mischievous child for outer world.

When Yasodha and others heard the sudden noise of the huge trees falling down at the backyard they rushed to see where was Krishna. The child was still tied to the stone grinder and the boy was sitting between the two fallen trees. It is a miracle that the trees did not fall on him and crush him under. Yasodha prayed God for having saved Krishnan from the near death situation. Perhaps Krishnan silently accepted her prayers, who knows?

Dear Children learn this, If you love God, be sure He loves you more than you do and if you walk one step towards Him, He advances two steps towards you.

                                         The writer can be reached at: jksivan@gmail.com