Mother Yashoda

Mother Yashoda, in whose lap Krishna grew up, and whose motherly love was strong enough to bind the Lord himself.

Mother Yashoda, the wife of Nanda Baba, is the foster mother of Shri Krishna and one of the most beloved figures in all devotional literature. Although Krishna was born to Devaki, it was in Yashoda's lap in Gokula that he grew up, and the Shrimad Bhagavatam praises her love again and again.

Yashoda's love is vatsalya, the tender love of a parent for a child. She never looked upon Krishna as God; to her he was simply her little son, to be fed, bathed, scolded and protected. The Lord, whom even the gods worship with awe, gladly accepted her care.

Several famous lilas show this. When the other boys complained that Krishna had eaten earth, Yashoda made him open his mouth, and inside it she saw the whole universe: the earth, the stars, and even Vraja and herself. But the Lord at once covered that vision with his Yogamaya, and she simply took him into her lap again with love. One day, after he broke a pot of curd and began feeding butter to the monkeys, she tried to tie him to a wooden mortar (ukhala) with a rope. Every rope fell two fingers short, until, seeing her tired and perspiring, Krishna allowed himself to be bound. That is why he is called Damodara, "the one with a rope around his waist". Still tied to the mortar, he crawled between two trees and freed Nalakuvara and Manigriva, the sons of Kubera, who had been cursed to stand as trees.

The Shrimad Bhagavatam says that the grace Yashoda received was not received even by Brahma, by Shiva or by Lakshmi. Her life shows that the Lord, whom nothing can bind, is bound by love.

Relation

Foster mother

Source

Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, ch. 8–10