In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Paraashara’s beautiful accord on how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s “Operation butter” ended up being caught red-handed by Mother Yashoda. As she was trying to investigate the “culprit” behind this operation (she already knew that it was one other than her notorious son who is behind it), she was purposefully screaming on top of her voice. Listening to this, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna blurts out His naughty act and His body showed stains of butter sticking all over! This made Mother Yashoda even more furious and eventually she tied Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to the drum (Ural) upon which He had climbed over to steal the butter, as a token of punishment for what He had done! We might wonder, why Mother Yashoda is tying Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to that same drum upon which He had climbed to steal the butter. As per the explanation given by the “Alwars” and “Aachaaryas”, if a punishment is given, it should be given to all those who are involved in the crime. Here, the drum was also involved in the crime, as Bhagawan Bala-Krishna had used it to climb over, and hence, the drum too was “declared” as a “convict” in the crime! 🙂 In other words, the drum had helped Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to execute His “Operation butter”, isn’t it? Thus, Mother Yashoda gives the punishment to both the drum and Bhagawan Bala-Krishna by tying them together!
Now as she ties both, Mother Yashoda exclaims thus, “Yes! Now that both of you were involved in the act, be tied like this for sometime, till both of you realize your folly!” Hearing thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna started to cry aloud (This was also an act of creating alibi to people around). He purposefully cried with His vociferous sound so as to attract the attention of all the neighbours. His face was so innocent-looking, that people wouldn’t believe at once that He was the one who stole the butter. With that beautiful innocent face, Bhagwan Bala-Krishna started crying profusely, protesting that neither Himself nor the drum were involved in the stealing of butter. However loud Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is going to cry, Mother Yashoda is not going to be fooled this time around! She lets Him cry as much as He wants to, and walks away from the house.
Now, as we look at Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and the “Ural” (Drum) to which He’s tied to, both look the same! In fact, the drum was of the same height as that of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, and if we look at both together, it would be literally like two partners in crime! 🙂 The only difference between the two partners in crime were that, one was crying aloud and the other wasn’t! As we witness Bhagawan Bala-Krishna being tied this way, He obtained the divine name called “Damodara”. In other words, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is often referred to as Bhagawan Damodara because He was tied with the long rope by Mother Yashoda just above His hips. The portion between the hips and the top portion of the body is called “Daamam” and since Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was tied at this particular spot – Neither around His hips, nor His chest portion, but somewhere in the middle of both, He’s referred to as “Damodara”.
As this was happening, the “Alwars” were very playful and explained thus, “Oh! This Mother Yashoda, more than being a tough mother, is also an extremely tough mother-in-law too!” We might wonder when Mother Yashoda became a mother-in-law, and that too how soon! Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was hardly 5 years old at that time, and how did He get married so quickly? We’ve to understand one important point here – Goddess Mahalakshmi permanently resides in the heart of Bhagawan Vishnu, isn’t it? We’ve witnessed this at many occasions earlier too. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself! Hence, Goddess Mahalakshmi is embedded into His heart all the time, no matter whether He’s a five-year-old kid or a fifty-year-old adult! Now, Mother Yashoda is tying Bhagawan Damodara across His hips and top portion with the rope, which means that she is tying Goddess Mahalakshmi too along with Him, isn’t it? Hence, we can see here that Goddess Mahalakshmi too has become a “partner in crime” along with Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and the drum! 🙂
Thus, for today, let us enjoy this divine experience of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and let us understand the importance of Bhagawan Damodara. We shall wait till the next episode to move further from this point and witness how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna manages to come out of this punishment! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 