Canto 10 · 4 moments
Mother Yaśodā
The infinite Lord embraced in parental love
Affection can be greater than awe
- 1Where it begins
Yaśodā’s pastoral motherhood reveals a transcendental intimacy in which Kṛṣṇa responds to maternal affection.
- 2The test
What does the Lord allow His devotees to experience through loving intimacy?
- 3The turn
Her love is manifested through feeding, worrying about, and lovingly correcting the child Kṛṣṇa.
- 4What it teaches
Her līlā is revelation of vātsalya-rasa, not a moral ascent from flawed parenthood.
The journey
Moment by moment
Tap a point or a step
Moment 1 of 4 · SB 10.8
Seeing the universe
Yaśodā beholds the cosmos within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth and returns to maternal concern.
The heart here: WonderPressure 8 · Bhakti 10
In the verse · SB 10.8.37-39
“When Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth wide by the order of mother Yaśodā, she saw within His mouth all moving and nonmoving entities, outer space, and all directions, along with mountains, islands, oceans, the surface of the earth, the blowing wind, fire, the moon and the stars. She saw the planetary systems, water, light, air, sky, and creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra. She also saw the senses, the mind, sense perception, and the three qualities, goodness, passion and ignorance. She saw the time allotted for the living entities, she saw natural instinct and the reactions of karma, and she saw desires and different varieties of bodies, moving and nonmoving. Seeing all these aspects of the cosmic manifestation, along with herself and Vṛndāvana-dhāma, she became doubtful and fearful of her son’s nature.”
A question to carry
Can I study intimate devotion with reverence rather than reducing it to psychology?
Read alongside