Does Shri Krishna steal butter or our heart?
Shri Krishna Makhan Chor Ya Chit
From the book LEKH aur UPDESH – compiled in Hindi
by Smt Dhiruben Patel .
Pravachan Dated 11-8-1938.
Today we shall know the mystery of Shri Krishna’s act of stealing the butter. Many people try and call Him a thief and that is because they have not taken the trouble to know the esoteric meaning of this leela. We should say that not only is He a thief but a King of all thieves.
Ved Bhagwan also says the same—
“Taskaranaam Pataye Namo Namah” (Shukla Yajur Ved 16,21)
It means –”I salute to the king of thieves, again and again.
He was a thief but not in the common way that we understand. Normally, a thief is a person who steals our things without our knowledge and consent .Have you thought of Shri Krishna as a common thief like that?
The Gopis wholeheartedly wished that Krishna accepts the butter from them. When a devotee offers something to the Lord and that too with Shraddha ( श्रद्धा- faith) and devotion then is it not natural that the Lord accepts the gift offered to Him? He is bound to accept such offers by His own declaration in the Geeta where He said—
“Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower , a fruit or water, that I accept, offered by the pure minded with affection.”
(Bhagwad Geeta Ch 9 Shloka 26).
Since He says that the offering has to be with faith this can be testified in the anecdote of Garga Rishi when he came for the naming ceremony at Nand Baba’s house.
Yashoda Ma asked him to first cook some food and eat as the rituals would take a long time. She gave him all the necessary ingredients like ghee, milk etc. After the food was ready he first offered it to the ParamPita ParamAtma. He kept the food and chanted –”O! Govind ,all this is given by you to me so I offer it to you first. Please accept it.”
Little Krishna ate up the food as soon as he had said these words. When the Rishi opened his eyes he saw the child eating the milk pudding and so he beckoned Yashoda.
The embarrassed mother handed over more ingredients so that the Rishi could prepare the food afresh.
Garga Rishi made a halwa quickly and repeated the earlier invocation with his eyes shut in devotion.
When he opened his eyes he saw Krishna licking the halwa. Yashoda was aghast when the Rishi showed his anger and she quickly locked up the child in a room and kept the key with herself.
When the incident occurred for the third time Krishna ultimately told His mother-“Why are you angry with me? I am only doing my duty towards my devotee by accepting whatever he is offering. The devotee would otherwise be hurt and I do not like to hurt my devotee.”
When the Lord did not drink the milk offered by Namdev the devout devotee was heartbroken. He decided to give up his life if the Lord did not accept the offering of milk.
He said-
“Baithe hai tere dar par ,kuch karke uthenge Ya vassal hi hoga ,Ya mar ke uthenge”
Devotees force the Lord to accept their offerings. The gopis also offered not only the butter but also their `Tan Man and Dhan’ (तन मन धन ) to the small child-Bal Mukund.
The gopikas say –”Prabho our heart is full of devotion ,love and also regard.”
Love for a person older than oneself is called `Bhakti’ भक्ति , just like the son and father and teacher and pupil’s love for each other.
Love between two equals is called `Preeti’ प्रीति.
