When Lord Krishna was present in this material world, in order to manifest an attraction for the people at large to His pastimes in the transcendental realm of Goloka Vrindavan, He exhibited before Yasoda a unique image of subordination.
gopy adade tvayi kritagasi dama tavad
ya te dasasru-kalilashjana-sambhramaksham
vaktram niniya bhaya-bhavanaya sthitasya
sa mam vimohayati bhir api yad bibheti
“My dear Krishna, Yasoda took a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your troubled eyes were flooded with tears, which washed the cosmetic from them. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. To see this is bewildering to me.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.31)
Here Krishna is described as Damodara. Damodara is another name of Krishna. The month of Damodara is coming, and it will begin on October 18. From that day, we will follow Damodara-vrata for one month. A small candle should be offered every evening to the Deity, and the Damodarastaka should be chanted (the song is in our songbook). This will be the Damodara-vrata, and this Damodara is explained in that song.
Here it is described that Krishna was afraid of His mother, Yasoda. Vallabhacarya wrote a book with the various names of Krishna, and he went to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to ask Him to hear how He had described the names of Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “I know two names of Krishna: Syamasundara and Yasodanandana.” Syamasundara, the beautiful Syama, Krishna. Syama means blackish, and at the same time beautiful. How beautiful? If we compare Him with millions of Cupids, Krishna will still be more beautiful.
These examples appear in the sastras. They are not exaggerations; they are real facts. We have to accept them in good faith, and in that way we will advance spiritually. Otherwise, if we think that the devotees or the sastras are exaggerating, we commit aparadha, offenses.
Krishna had been offended by His mother. Yasoda went to save the milk, and Krishna wanted to take her breast milk, but she was very busy. When the milk began to spill, she immediately put Krishna aside. Krishna became very angry, so He went to the place where Yasoda kept the butter and broke a pot. When Yasoda saw that the boy had broken the pot of butter, she wanted to catch Him, but Krishna ran away. However, He was a small boy, and Mother Yasoda caught Him and wanted to tie Him with a rope. Lord Krishna was crying in fear of Mother Yasoda: “Now she is going to tie me up.” And as He wept, tears washed the ointment from His eyes. He was crestfallen, and His face was trembling. He knew He had misbehaved: “My mother is going to punish Me, and I am going to lose My freedom.”
Kuntidevi was remembering this scene and was stunned. Why? Bhaya—everyone is afraidof something. And bhaya, fear personified, is afraid of Krishna, because Krishna is the Supreme Being, the controller. Durga is like the superintendent of the police of this universe. Durga means strong; dur means difficulty. This universe is like a fort; there is no escape. Conditioned souls cannot escape; it is very difficult. There are rules andregulations, just like in the immigration department. If you try to escape, you will be punished again. Durga protects this fort, because she is a servant of Krishna. Durga is fear personified, but still she cannot disobey Krishna’s orders. Durga is so powerful that she can create a universe, but even she fears Krishna. This is Krishna’s position.
So Kunti was surprised: “How is it possible that Krishna is afraid of Hismother? Everyone is afraid of Krishna.” Everything Krishna does is a lila, and in this case He is enjoying His own attitude of fear. Everyone worships Him as the Supreme Lord; no one can approach Krishna and say, “I have come to punish You, Krishna.” But when He decides that He wants to be punished, He places Himself in a subordinate position before His devotee. This is Krishna’s lila. Krishna accepts His great devotees as His father and mother, and He allows them to punish Him.
—Srila Prabhupada class, October 11, 1974, Mayapur, India
Source: https://girirajswami.com/blog/srila-prabhupada-on-damodara-lila
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