An Incident from the Bhagavatam-Part I

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The Vedanta Kesari, p. 144-147, April 2006

Swami Vivekananda says, in his Bhakti Yoga (CW. 3:31), 'One single moment of madness of extreme love for God brings us eternal freedom." Indeed, bhakti"s greatest advantage is that it is the easiest and most natural way to reach the divine. Bhakti (devotion) has been defined by Rishi Shandilya as 'intense love for God". Prahlada, the great devotee, prayed to the Lord, 'That deathless love which the ignorant feel for the fleeting objects of the senses—as I keep meditating on Thee—may not that love slip away from my heart!"

Types of Bhakti
Srimad Bhagavatam, the great bhakti scripture, categorises bhakti such as Vidwesha bhakti, Jnana bhakti and Mudha bhakti.

Vidwesha bhakti is one that comes from hating God, as it were. Intense hatred for God leads one to constantly think of Him. One can realise God through this one-pointed thinking, says Bhagavatam. Kamsa and Hiranyakasipu, the two demons mentioned in Bhagavatam, are its examples.

Jnana bhakti is one in which devotion to the Lord is attained through the path of vichara (self-analysis). People like Rishabha, Bharata, Uddhava mentioned in Hindu scriptures are examples of this path.

Srimad Bhagavatam extols also Mudha bhakti. This kind of bhakti refers to worshiping the Lord without reasoning, even without the knowledge of His power and greatness. Followers of this path may be educated or uneducated, belonging to any caste or creed—it does not matter. They have a strong, natural attraction to the Lord and that loosens all their worldly attachments and desires. Their minds have just one thought—that of God, and their love for Him is total and unselfish. Yashoda is an example of such bhakti. An incident in Srimad Bhagavatam beautifully illustrates this form of bhakti.

The Incident and its meaning

Narrative: Once, when all maids working in Yashoda"s household were away, Yashoda herself took up the task of making butter by churning the curds. Though her hands were engaged in churning the curds, her mind was fixed on Krishna. She thought of him, smiling at his pranks, and even sang about his innocence. Just then arrived Krishna, looking for her. At the sight of Krishna about whom she had been thinking, her heart became filled with joy. Krishna came up to her and playfully held the churner with his little hands to stop her as if to say, 'Mother, I am hungry. Feed me." At this, she immediately stopped her work. Looking at him with her heart overflowing with love, she took him on her lap and started feeding him.

No sooner did she begin feeding him, she smelt of boiling milk, spilling out of the vessel. She instantly put Krishna down and rushed to the kitchen to remove the vessel of milk from the stove. Since Krishna"s hunger had not been appeased, he became annoyed at Yashoda"s apparent indifference to his hunger. Biting his rosy lips, sobbing because of the pangs of hunger, he took the churner in his hand and hit the mud pot containing the curds. The pot broke and curds flowed out on to the ground. Even then he was not happy. He quietly wiped his tears, picked up all the butter formed from the curd, and went into the store-room. Very soon a monkey friend joined him. Sharing his butter with his friend, Krishna sat relishing the butter. A little later came Yashoda looking for him. She saw all the mess left behind by Krishna. She understood what had happened but kept her cool because she loved her child. She smiled at his mischief and went inside looking for him.

Read the Spiritual significance of the story on the Next Page