Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 20
Gokula’s Wonder, Kṛṣṇa’s Bhakta-vaśyatā, the Move to Vṛndāvana, and the Slaying of Vatsāsura and Bakāsura
इत्थं यशोदा तमशेषशेखरं मत्वा सुतं स्नेहनिबद्धधीर्नृप । हस्ते गृहीत्वा सहराममच्युतं नीत्वा स्ववाटं कृतवत्यथोदयम् ॥ २० ॥
itthaṁ yaśodā tam aśeṣa-śekharaṁ matvā sutaṁ sneha-nibaddha-dhīr nṛpa haste gṛhītvā saha-rāmam acyutaṁ nītvā sva-vāṭaṁ kṛtavaty athodayam
My dear Mahārāja Parīkṣit, because of intense love and affection, mother Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa’s mother, considered Kṛṣṇa, who was at the peak of all opulences, to be her own son. Thus she took Kṛṣṇa by the hand, along with Balarāma, and brought Them home, where she performed her duties by fully bathing Them, dressing Them and feeding Them.
Kṛṣṇa is always neat, clean and opulent and does not need to be washed, bathed or dressed, yet mother Yaśodā, because of affection, considered Him her ordinary child and did her duties to keep her son brilliant.
FAQs
It means “the crest-jewel of all,” indicating that Kṛṣṇa is supreme, yet Yaśodā, out of pure motherly love, thinks of Him simply as her child.
To show the Bhagavata’s core teaching that Bhagavān is conquered not by power or knowledge, but by pure bhakti—here expressed as vatsalya (parental) love.
Serve God with intimate, sincere devotion in one’s daily life—seeing the Divine as near and lovable—while faithfully performing one’s duties.