From the book "The butter thief"
ATTRACTED BY NANDA-NANDANA
At the same time as Sri Krishna was performing His pastimes in Vrndavana, there was a lady in the nearby city of Mathura who used to sell very, very sweet fruits. She would go to the country villages where small children lived, and she would walk through the narrow lanes calling out, “Mangos! Oranges! Bananas! Guava!“ She had such lovely, ripe fruits, that many children would run to her, and ask for them in a beautiful way. They would all collect around her, and watch her with greedy eyes, saying, “Mother, mother! I want to take that fruit.“ She was very popular with the children. One day, this fruit-seller lady heard the name Nandanandana, which means ‘the son of Nanda’, and she became very much attracted. Someone told her, “Yasoda has given birth to a very lovely boy, and His name is Krishna. He is so beautiful and so attractive, that anyone who goes to Gokula and sees Him just once cannot return his mind to his business. If he does return, it is without his mind and without his heart.“ When the fruit-seller heard this, she wanted to see that boy.
CALLING OUT TO KRISHNA
One day she took a basket full of fruits, and with some difficulty crossed the river Yamuna in a makeshift boat made of branches and banana trees. Then she set off for Gokula, which was only seven miles from where she had crossed the Yamuna. The fruit seller went to Gokula, and she began calling out to attract people to buy her fruits. She wanted to call out, “fruit! Bananas! Mangos! Oranges! Guava!“ but she was just thinking of Krishna, so instead she called out, Govinda Damodara Madhaveti, Govinda, Damodara, Madhaveti. She began to cry out more loudly, “Govinda! Damodara! Madhava!“ as she walked along with her basket on her head. The fruit-seller went on calling like this, and her heart was crying, “Krishna! Govinda! Damodara!“ The whole of that day, she made the rounds in Nandagrama, where Krishna lived with His parents, but Krishna did not come. She returned the next day, and the next, but she still did not see Him.
THE FRUIT-SELLER’S VOW
After the third day, she vowed, “If Krishna does not allow me to see Him today, I will not return. I will just give up my life.“ With this conviction, she was so absorbed in singing, “Govinda! Damodara! Madhava!“ that Krishna could not check Himself when he heard her calling. He was sitting in Mother Yasoda’s lap, but He quickly jumped up to go to the fruit-seller. Krishna had seen adults bartering, and He knew that the fruit-seller would give Him some fruit, if He gave Her something in return. On the way out, He saw a sack of grains, and He picked some up in his little hands, and ran into the courtyard. “Oh, I want some fruits, I want some! Give Me fruits!“ This fruit-seller was from a lower caste, so she was waiting outside the gate; she could not come into Mother Yasoda’s house, or even into the courtyard. Although Krishna had tried to bring some grains for bartering, His little hands would not hold many, and most of the grains that He had picked up fell to the ground as He ran out. There were only a very few grains left, but Krishna did not notice this; He thought that His hands were so full of grains that the fruitseller would give Him plenty of fruit.
THE SUPREME LAPFUL
When the fruit-seller saw Krishna, she became completely absorbed in the wonderful sight. She just sat looking and
looking at Him. In a moment, she had given her heart to Krishna. “Give Me fruits! Give Me fruits!“ Krishna told her. “What will You give me in return?“ “I’ve brought lots of grains with Me.“ The fruit-seller smiled and said, “Oh boy, there are no grains in Your hands.“ Krishna looked at His hands, and was surprised to see that all the grains were gone. He still wanted the fruits, though. The fruit-seller looked at Krishna’s face, and said, “If you
call me ‘Mother’ and sit in my lap, I will give You all the fruits You want.“ Krishna looked up and down, this way and that, to see if anyone was watching. He is very affectionate to all His devotees, and is not even slightly concerned what caste or class they are born in. Still, He was playing the part of the son of the Icing of Vraja. “I don’t know what will happen if My mother or anyone in Vraja sees Me sitting in the lap of this lady,“ He thought. “And what would My friends say if they found out that I had called Her ‘Mother’?“ That’s why He was looking here and there, to see if anyone was watching. When He saw that no one else was around, He quickly jumped into the lady’s lap and said, “Mother!“ Then just as quickly, He jumped out of her lap and demanded, “Now, you should give He some fruits.“ The fruit-seller lady was delighted, for Krishna had fulfilled all of her desires. She wanted to give Him everything — all of her fruits — but His hands were so small that He could only take two mangos and a banana. He held the fruits against His chest with both hands, and went off dancing, as small boys do. Krishna went to his mother and put all the fruits in her veil. She began to distribute them to her friends, and she became so happy, for they provided an endless and inexhaustible supply. She gave fruits to all the gopis. and when everyone had received fruits, there were still fruits left. And what happened to that fruit seller? When Krishna sat in her lap and called her. ‘Mother!’ she was overcome with transcendental sentiments and emotions. She had given her whole heart and mind to Krishna. She didn’t move for a long time, but sat there outside the gate, motionless in disbelief. When anyone came and asked. “Why are you just sitting here?“ she did not reply; she couldn’t.
A BASKET OF JEWELS
Eventually, towards evening-time, the fruit-seller took her basket on her head, and started for home. When she came to the banks of the Yamuna River, she thought, “My basket is very heavy. What is in it?“ When she put the basket down and looked into it, she was amazed at what she saw. The basket was full of countless wonderful jewels, each one equal in value to the whole of King Kamsa’s treasury. The fruit-seller was completely fixed in her determination. Standing on the bank of the Yamuna, she cried out, “What is the use of all these jewels?“ Then she threw them all into the Yamuna, and with her hands above her head, she began to sing like a mad woman, Govinda Damodara Madhaveti, Govinda Damodara Madhaveti. She had no veil — it had come off. She collapsed, and fell on the earth, weeping. She had no sense — only the sense that Krishna was there. Tears were pouring from her eyes, and her heart was melting. No one knew where she went after that, for she never returned to her house. Where had she gone? Can anyone tell? Krishna knew her heart completely, and He thought. “Oh, she would like to be My mother!“ He gave her a very beautiful spiritual body, and quickly took her to His supreme abode, Goloka Vrndavana, where she could be like His mother eternally. Only her body was left lying on the banks of the Yamuna, and someone came and gave it to fire.
Haribol!
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Hari bol to the reservoir of infinite mercy and pleasure.
Tera hoga bada ehsaan Ke joog joog teri rahegi shaan
Bhagat bhar de re jholi