Baba's Storytime - Krishna

By making appropriate efforts, you can accomplish anything, and by contemplating on God you get divine strength. Because of the monkey mind, you entertain doubts. 

When Krishna was a child, once there was a heavy downpour. Krishna asked all the people to come under the Govardhan Hill, which he would lift and make a canopy of. Some people doubted how the small boy could lift a hill and did not want to come under His shelter. All those who doubted and did not come under the shelter died, while all those under Krishna’s shelter survived duly protected by Him. 

Avatar’s pranks have an inner purpose. Balarama once complained to his mother, Yasodha, about Krishna, that he was eating mud. The intention of Balarama was to make known to the world the Divinity of Krishna. It should not be construed as an action taken by him to get Krishna punished. 

Yasodha asked Krishna why he persisted in taking butter from other houses and went to the extent of eating mud, when she had so many delicious things at home for him. So saying, she gave a slap on Krishna’s cheek. Krishna questioned his mother, “why are you punishing me, mother? Am I a fool, or a child to eat mud?” He asked her to look into his mouth, which he opened wide. To her astonishment, she saw the whole universe in his mouth. She exclaimed, “Is it Vishnu Maya? Is it a dream? Am I Yasodha? What I saw was amazing. Was it true?” she realised Krishna was not an ordinary child. 

On another occasion, when Krishna asked Balarama whether their mother was at home, Balarama retorted, “Is Yasodha your mother? No. She is fair. Nanda is fair, but you are dark in complexion."

Krishna complained to Yasodha and enquired about this. She said, “What Balarama says is true. You are the son of Devaki. I have no male child at all.” 

When God assumes human form, some people have to suffer. Without this, Divinity cannot be recognized. Sugarcane has to be crushed to get juice, and it has to be boiled and processed to get jaggery or sugar out of it. Sugar can be used in coffee or tea or cool drinks or to make sweets of different types. When you consume it, you get joy. 

Parents of Avatars also have undergone suffering. Devaki was lamenting that though she was the mother who gave birth to Krishna, Yasoda was enjoying His childhood pranks. Similarly, Kausalya, the mother of Rama, was also lamenting over the separation of Rama, who had to go to the forest for 14 years.

(From the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)