Nammazhvar has been described as the embodiment of Krishna bhakti. Krishna’s saulabhya was evident throughout His avatara. For instance, He served as Arjuna’s charioteer. But it is His childhood that Azhvars and Acharyas found most enjoyable, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse.
Why is it that the Azhvars have sung more about His leelas in Gokula than His later leelas? Not that His later deeds were less praiseworthy, but His deeds as a child were more delightful. If we are asked to describe the attributes of sugarcane in just one word, we will immediately answer, “sweetness.” But, in a sugarcane, we discard the top portion of the cane and also the lower portion. It is the middle that we use. Likewise, the Azhvars treated the time of His avatara before he reached Gokula and the portion of His avatara after He left Gokula, like the lower and upper portions of the sugarcane. The years He spent in Gokula are akin to the middle portion of the sugarcane.
Just as the Azhvars enjoyed Krishna’s butter thieving, so did Leela Suka, author of Krishnakarnamrta. He says that when Krishna was asked who He was, He very sensibly replied that He was Balarama’s younger brother. Balarama was known to be an obedient child, not naughty like Krishna. So Krishna must have thought that it would be safer if He did not reveal His name but simply identified Himself as the younger brother of a well behaved boy. Leela Suka enjoyed Krishna’s innovative lies. Krishna enters a house and the lady of the house asks Him what He is doing in her house. Krishna says He thought it was His house and had entered by mistake. Then she asks, “Why is Your hand inside my butter pot?” And Krishna says, “One of our calves is missing. I was checking if it was inside the pot!”
