Krishna’s pranks endear Him to those who read His story, said Kalyanapuram Veeraraghavachariar.
Krishna steals butter; when he knows His mother is waiting to punish Him, he tries to hide all traces of His having eaten butter. He rubs His hands on His body. Then to keep His mother from seeing the shine on His body, He rolls on the ground and gets His body all covered with dust. Yasoda tells Him that people will laugh at His appearance, but He refuses a bath.
For the sake of some butter he dances to please His mother, as Yasoda churns milk to extract butter from it. Krishna hopes to please her through His dance, which Swami Desika describes as ‘Navaneeta Natyam.’
Once Yasoda has just put a vessel of milk on the stove. Krishna is hungry, and so she suckles Him. She then leaves Him to check if the milk has boiled over. Angry at being left behind, Krishna picks up a stone and throws it at a pot containing buttermilk. The pot breaks, spilling the buttermilk all over the floor.
To punish Him, Yasoda ties Him to a grindstone. Krishna submits to this punishment willingly. The grindstone is so heavy that Yasoda is unable to move it. So she takes Krishna to where the stone is, and ties Him up. But to Krishna, the stone’s weight is of no concern. He drags the stone along to where there are two trees growing beside each other. The grindstone gets stuck between the trees. Krishna gives a tug, and the trees come crashing to the ground. From the trees emerge the sons of Kubera, who had been cursed to become trees by Narada. They are now freed by Lord Krishna.
Even His killing of Kalinga seems more like a sport, for it is accomplished with such ease. Krishna dances on the hood of the serpent, and it seems as if He had been clever enough in choosing the softest of platforms to dance on, so that His feet do not get hurt. Krishna, the prankster, is a charmer with His flute playing, to which the jangle of the Gopikas’ bangles provides accompaniment. All His pranks only serve to show His soulabhya, for was He not the one who gave ‘moksha’ even to a mere pot?
