Witnessing the Universe inside Krsna’s mouth

Illustrated by Khushboo

It was the midnight of Prabodhini Ekadasi. Nanda, who was intensely devoted to Lord Narayan, staunchly observed all Ekadasis. He performed pooja of his Shaligram by doing ‘षोडशोपचार’ (sixteen methods) service to the Lord. After his pooja, he took flowers offered to the Shaligram and proceeded to put them on the heads of Balaram and Krsna. He entered the bed-chamber where the two children were asleep and found Yashoda sitting beside them.

Earlier in the evening, as he reached home, he had noticed Yashoda being downcast but could not talk to her. He was keen to know what had caused Yashoda to be gloomy. He placed the flowers on the heads of the two children and approached Yashoda. Yashoda was not only sad but also extremely anxious and disoriented. Nanda knew from experience that only a tangible threat to her son could bring Yashoda to such a state. He asked her if his instruction of not letting Krsna out of her sight was being followed. Trinavarta’s episode had put both parents on alert. Krsna was confined to the palace, and Yashoda constantly kept an eye on him. Yashoda, in a quivering voice, said, “Yes, but it’s to no avail.” Nanda was shocked and wanted to know what happened. Yashoda said, ” It was late morning, and Krsna was still asleep. I had my eyes on Krsna at all times while taking care of household chores when I suddenly felt he needed feeding. I woke him up and made him drink my milk. He was still sleepy and wanted to go back to sleep. I coaxed him to drink some more when he yawned. I cannot describe what I saw in his gaping mouth.”

Yashoda was breathing fast, but she kept speaking, “I saw the entire universe inside his mouth. I saw the sky, the planets, the sixteen lokas, the moon, the sun, the earth, fire, water, and all ten directions. The entire creation was inside his mouth”. Yashoda’s bristles were on end as she related this to Nanda. “I tried to forget this experience as my own hallucination, but something else happened which has made me so fretful and scared for our child. I took Balarama and Krsna to the Ram leela being played on the occasion of Prabodhini Ekadasi. I saw Krsna’s body start trembling at the scene of Sita’s abduction. His voice changed, and he spoke like an adult. He stood up in a frenzy and shouted, ‘Laxman, Laxman, get my bow and quiver’ “. She then took Nanda’s hands and wept bitterly into them. Nanda, whose eyes were also closed, now felt his hair standing up with sheer exhilaration.

Nanda said, “Oh, don’t worry. This is not a sign of any demonic possession. This is the leela of my ‘isht devata’, the Supreme Lord Narayan. His energy seems to have entered into our son, which sometimes can happen with his devotees.” How can Nanda know that his son was Narayan himself? He further added, “I am now assured of the safety of my child. The Lord is personally protecting my son. There is also no need now for a constant vigil. Let him go out and play on his own. I no longer fear for his safety.” This assuaged Yashoda to no end. She felt she could breathe again.

It was all a handiwork of the Yogmaya, directed by the Lord to get all the restrictions upon him to be removed. Krsna wanted to go out and play, but his movements were restricted inside the palace. With the culmination of Prabodhini Ekadasi, restrictions upon him also ended. Krsna’s pranks knew no end, but how much they tormented his mother Yashoda?

Though restrictions on Balram and Krsna were revoked, the mothers’ hearts still palpitated with fear of some untoward incident. Their apprehensions were not unfounded, for both children were very impish right from the time when they could crawl. Now that they could walk, their activities bordered on being dangerous. They could vividly recall happenings of the recent past when a large cobra was found near the cowshed, and Balaram had held his tail, inciting the snake to raise its hood, and Krsna standing right in front was patting it. Both mothers stood frozen as they saw this and couldn’t even rush to their aid.

Recently the two children playing in their palace garden saw a bushy plant with very pretty yellow flowers. It was protected by a fence of barbed wire, and while Krsna had put his head into the fence, Balarama, who was trying to slide beneath it, had gotten stuck. They shouted, “Maa Maa,” and were freed by their mothers. Another daring incident was when they both decided to start throwing objects in the garden well and were found climbing upon the well’s retaining wall. These and more such incidents didn’t assure the mothers much about letting their kids go out and play by themselves. Yashoda said to Rohini, “It’s easy for the father to pass judgment about letting the kids go free, not knowing their activities. We may have to leave our household work and run after them wherever they go, for we would be forever worried for them if they are not in front of our eyes.” Rohini agreed.