Shloka 11
Dāmodara-līlā: Mother Yaśodā Binds Kṛṣṇa; the Two-Fingers Mystery; Prelude to the Yamala-Arjuna Deliverance
कृतागसं तं प्ररुदन्तमक्षिणी कषन्तमञ्जन्मषिणी स्वपाणिना । उद्वीक्षमाणं भयविह्वलेक्षणं हस्ते गृहीत्वा भिषयन्त्यवागुरत् ॥ ११ ॥
kṛtāgasaṁ taṁ prarudantam akṣiṇī kaṣantam añjan-maṣiṇī sva-pāṇinā udvīkṣamāṇaṁ bhaya-vihvalekṣaṇaṁ haste gṛhītvā bhiṣayanty avāgurat
Caught by Mother Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa grew even more afraid and acknowledged His mischief. He wept; His tears mixed with the dark ointment around His eyes, and as He rubbed them with His hands the ointment smeared across His face. Taking her beautiful son by the hand, Mother Yaśodā began to chastise Him gently.
From these dealings between mother Yaśodā and Kṛṣṇa, we can understand the exalted position of a pure devotee in loving service to the Lord. Yogīs, jñānīs, karmīs and Vedāntists cannot even approach Kṛṣṇa; they must remain very, very far away from Him and try to enter His bodily effulgence, although this also they are unable to do. Great demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva always worship the Lord by meditation and by service. Even the most powerful Yamarāja fears Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, as we find in the history of Ajāmila, Yamarāja instructed his followers not even to approach the devotees, what to speak of capturing them. In other words, Yamarāja also fears Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. Yet this Kṛṣṇa became so dependent on mother Yaśodā that when she simply showed Kṛṣṇa the stick in her hand, Kṛṣṇa admitted to being an offender and began to cry like an ordinary child. Mother Yaśodā, of course, did not want to chastise her beloved child very much, and therefore she immediately threw her stick away and simply rebuked Kṛṣṇa, saying, “Now I shall bind You so that You cannot commit any further offensive activities. Nor for the time being can You play with Your playmates.” This shows the position of a pure devotee, in contrast with others, like jñānīs, yogīs and the followers of Vedic ritualistic ceremonies, in regarding the transcendental nature of the Absolute Truth.
FAQs
This verse describes Yaśodā taking little Kṛṣṇa by the hand and scolding Him to correct Him, while He cries and looks around fearfully—showing the sweetness of vātsalya-bhakti where the Lord accepts a mother’s discipline.
In Vraja-līlā, Yaśodā’s love is purely maternal, so she relates to Kṛṣṇa as her child, not as God; by Yogamāyā’s arrangement, the Lord allows Himself to be “controlled” by her affection and moral training.
Practice loving discipline and responsibility with tenderness—serve God with intimacy and sincerity, and remember that heartfelt devotion (not fear or display) is what truly draws the Lord close.