Sri Krishna
We don't know how long ago he was born. It was long centuries ago. There are many legends, as you know, about some of the people who leave their mark on history. One of these is Sri Krishna, whom millions of people have looked upon as God, born in India in a human body.
One day when he was just a baby, still crawling on the ground, he got into a mud-puddle, and you can well imagine that very soon he was putting some of the mud into his mouth -- it looked so good! Something like chocolate? Boys of the neighborhood saw Krishna eating the mud and, knowing it would not be good for him, ran to tell his mother.
She hurried to the mud-puddle. Worried to know how much the baby had put into his mouth, she placed her hand on it and asked him to open it. And you cannot imagine what happened to her. Instead of the usual pink tongue, palate and little teeth, Mother Yashoda saw the whole universe in the mouth of her baby. Krishna's mouth displayed the entire solar system in the Milky Way, the sun, moon and earth itself, crawling with its many living creatures.
Do you understand why she saw it this way? Her vision was changed. Like clouds dispersing before a blazing sun, her ordinary ideas about this baby being just human like the rest of us vanished, and by the power of God even in that tiny body, the divine nature of this child shone through.
But his mother didn't understand this right away. She thought she must be dreaming. When she realized she was actually seeing God in her baby, she became very humble. Aware, now, of his real power and holiness, she gave voice to a prayer: "O Lord of Love, who has entered our world as a human child, you have given me the honor of taking care of you; please shower Your blessings on us forever!"
Then -- to finish our story -- you must know that her consciousness changed again. Yashoda became her usual self and was able to pick Krishna up and take him to a basin and wash off all the mud. And she warned him about eating it. So once again the Lord, covering himself with a human disguise, so to say, allowed himself to be brought up as babies always are.
When they are a bit older babies can also be naughty and get into worse trouble. Sri Krishna was not different in this respect. One day his mother had churned milk to make fresh cheese. She had kept it in a pot where she thought it would be safe. But Krishna found the pot, pulled it down and broke it. Putting his little hand in, he pulled out some cheese and crawled to a dark corner to eat it. Just then a monkey wandered in (as they sometimes do in India) and Krishna fed some of his cheese to the monkey. When Mother Yashoda discovered all this, she gave the boy a good scolding and decided to fasten him somewhere with a rope, so she might go on with her work.
She thought she had chosen a long enough piece of rope, but it proved too short when she tried to use it. So she got more rope, and still more, and tied them together, but Krishna seemed so big she could not get the rope around him! How could He, who has no beginning or end, and is everywhere in space, and who is all powerful, ever be bound with ropes? Yet little Krishna, secretly smiling, finally allowed his mother to fasten the rope around him. Because of her great love, he could not resist her any longer and let her have her way.
We too can come close to Sri Krishna, by the love we have for Him: He hears the call of a loving and devoted heart and responds. You'd better believe it!
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