The Butter Thief

The playful leelas of little Kanha stealing butter from the homes of Gokul and sharing it with his friends and the monkeys, which are truly the leelas of stealing his devotees' hearts.

When baby Krishna grew from crawling to running on his own little feet, his most beloved leela in Gokul began: stealing butter. Early each morning the gopis churned curd, took out fresh butter and hung it in pots from high rope slings. Then little Kanha would slip quietly into their homes with his band of friends.

If the pot hung too high, he stacked a wooden mortar and stools one on another and climbed up, or stood on a friend's shoulders. Sometimes he poked a hole in the pot with a stick and drank the butter and milk dripping down into his open mouth. Even in a dark storeroom, the glow of his ornaments lit up the space. He never ate the butter alone. He fed his friends and shared it with the monkeys sitting in the courtyard, and if even the monkeys refused, he would declare the butter no good and break the pot.

The Bhagavatam describes how the gopis came to Yashoda with complaints: "Your son steals butter from our homes, unties the calves before milking time and makes our sleeping babies cry." Yet while they complained, Kanha sat beside his mother looking so innocent that the gopis burst out laughing at the sight of his face and forgot their anger. In truth, in their hearts the gopis waited every day hoping that Kanha would come to their house.

This leela carries a deep meaning. Butter stands for a pure and tender heart, drawn out by churning the milk of life through devotion and discipline. It is such a loving heart that the Lord steals. That is why devotees fondly call him Makhan Chor, the butter thief, and Chitchor, the stealer of hearts. Blessed is the home where the Lord comes to steal.

Source

Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, ch. 8

Place

Gokul

Lesson

The Lord seeks not wealth but a pure heart filled with love.