(Canto 1, Chapter 17: Description of the Yogurt Theft)
Śrī Nārada said: With Their pastimes, the two handsome boys, fair Balarāma and dark Kṛṣṇa, made Nanda’s palace beautiful. O king of Mithilā, They crawled on hands and knees, and soon They were speaking sweet words in Vraja. Yaśodā and Rohiṇī fed, fondled, and caressed the two boys. When did the boys ever leave their laps, and to whose lap did They go? With Their anklets and little bells tinkling, They enchanted the three worlds as They went here and there. By the influence of Their Yogamāyā potency They showed the forms of two small boys.
When her son’s dark limbs were covered with dust from playing in the courtyard with the boys of Vraja, Yaśodā took Him and bathed Him with great care. Crawling first to the courtyard and then back to His mother’s lap, Kṛṣṇa was like a lion cub splendidly playing in Vraja. Seeing her son dressed in yellow garments, decorated with gold, and splendid with a jewelled crown, Yaśodā was very happy. The gopīs forgot their homes and came to King Nanda’s village, and gazing at the charming, playful child Mukunda, they became very happy.
One day the infant Kṛṣṇa saw the statue of a lion at the entrance of King Nanda’s home. He became frightened and began to cry. The gopīs took Him inside and said compassionately to Yaśodā, “O beautiful one, do not take this restless, playful boy, decorated with crow’s feathers and with milk still in His mouth, out of the courtyard to play. O Yaśodā, your son’s two front teeth have now appeared. At this time His maternal uncle should perform a ceremony to ward off inauspiciousness, but your son has no maternal uncle. Therefore, to destroy all obstacles, you should give charity, have Vedic prayers chanted, and worship the cows, brāhmaṇas, demigods, and saintly devotees.” Then, for the auspiciousness of their sons, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī regularly gave garments, jewels, and new grains in charity.
Now walking on Their own feet among the homes of the gopas, with glances like those of a lion cub, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma grew up in the village of Vraja. With Their friends headed by Śrīdāmā and Subala, They played on the sandy bank of the Yamunā and walked in the Yamunā’s forests, rich with groves of kadamba and sturdy dark tamāla trees. Delighting the gopas and gopīs with His childhood pastimes, Lord Hari and His friends stole butter and ghee.
One day the gopī Prabhāvatī, the wife of Upananda, came to Nanda’s palace and said to Yaśodā, “O Yaśodā, between the two of us there is no separate property in butter, ghee, milk, yogurt, and buttermilk. By your kindness, what is yours is also mine. I am not saying you taught Him to steal. You did not. Your son steals butter on His own. When I try to give Him good advice, your arrogant son answers me with bad words and runs out of my courtyard. He is the son of the king of Vraja. He should not steal. O Yaśodā, there are some other things too that, out of respect for you, I have not mentioned.”
After hearing Prabhāvatī’s words, Yaśodā, the wife of Nanda, scolded her son and then spoke lovingly to Prabhāvatī: “I have ten million cows. There is so much yogurt in the house that I can hardly move. I do not know why my little boy never eats any of the yogurt here. Bring this yogurt thief to me. O Prabhāvatī, there is no difference between your son and my son. Bring that boy here with butter in His mouth, and I will teach Him a lesson. I will scold Him and tie Him up.”
Hearing this, the gopī went home happily. Then one day Kṛṣṇa went to her home to steal yogurt. Climbing hand over hand, Kṛṣṇa and His friends gradually scaled the outer wall and entered the courtyard. The yogurt was in a pot hanging from ropes, beyond His reach. Arranging a footstool, a grinding mortar, and the cowherd boys one on top of another, Lord Hari climbed up. When even from that height He could not reach the pot hanging from the ropes, Śrīdāmā and Subala struck it with sticks. As all the beautiful yogurt poured from the broken pot onto the ground, Kṛṣṇa, Subala, the boys, and some monkeys all ate it.
Hearing the sound of the pot breaking, the gopī Prabhāvatī came. As the boys fled, she caught Lord Hari by His beautiful hand. As frightened Kṛṣṇa shed false tears, she brought Him to Nanda’s palace. Seeing Nanda standing there, she covered Kṛṣṇa’s face with the edge of her garment.
Lord Hari thought, “My mother will beat Me with a stick.” Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can do anything He likes, assumed the form of Prabhāvatī’s own son.
Yaśodā came quickly. The angry gopī said, “He broke a pot and stole all the yogurt in it.”
Seeing the boy, Yaśodā smiled and said to the gopī, “O gopī, take the cloth off His face and tell us what mischief He has done. If it turns out that my son has done mischief, you may throw Him out of my house. But it is your son who has done the theft you say my son did.”
Worried about what people would think, Prabhāvatī removed the cloth from His face. Seeing her own son, she was astonished and said, “How did you get here without walking? I thought I had caught the treasure of Vraja in my hand!” Saying this, she took the boy and left Nanda’s palace. Yaśodā, Rohiṇī, Nanda, Balarāma, and the gopas and gopīs laughed and said, “Today we have seen a great injustice in Vraja!”
On the path outside, the Supreme Personality of Godhead became Nanda’s son again. Smiling, confident, and with restless eyes, He said to the gopī Prabhāvatī, “O gopī, if you catch Me again, I will take the form of your husband. There is no doubt of it.”
O king of Mithilā, hearing this, the astonished gopī went home. From then on, in every home, the gopīs would not catch Kṛṣṇa, for fear of being embarrassed.
Lessons to be learned
Kṛṣṇa, whose home has ten million cows, steals butter from the gopīs’ houses. Why? Śrīla Prabhupāda explained that He does this to give pleasure to the gopīs, who secretly love to be “robbed” by Him. Their complaints to Yaśodā were an excuse to come and see Him. The Lord who owns everything becomes a thief only to steal the hearts of His devotees.
The Supreme Lord, who is feared by death itself, became afraid of His mother’s stick. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and our ācāryas describe this as the wonder of Vraja: the unlimited Lord becomes subordinate to the love of His devotees.
Yaśodā said to Prabhāvatī, “There is no difference between your son and my son.” In Vraja, everyone considers Kṛṣṇa their own. Love for Kṛṣṇa unites the whole community in one family.
Kṛṣṇa used His mystic power not to show His greatness but only to escape a scolding and to make everyone laugh. His power serves His sweetness. The ācāryas teach that we should relish these childhood pastimes (bālya-līlā) with affection, as the residents of Vraja did, and not merely analyze them.
