Breaking the Pots of Love - Kṛṣṇa and Yogurt in Vṛndāvana
The childhood pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in the village of Vṛndāvana are filled with sweet exchanges involving the primary products of the cowherd community: milk, butter, and yogurt. Śrīla Prabhupāda elucidates that while these activities may seem like the simple play of a village child, they are deeply significant manifestations of the Lord's internal potency. Through the medium of yogurt, he shows us how Kṛṣṇa displays His supreme independence, His playful nature, and His ultimate submissiveness to the love of His devotees.
The Mischief of the Yogurt Thief
Kṛṣṇa is famously known as the "thief of butter and yogurt." He often enters the houses of the gopīs to steal their stocks, sometimes using the light from His own jeweled ornaments to find the pots in dark rooms. When the gopīs complain to Mother Yaśodā, they describe how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma distribute the stolen goods to the monkeys, claiming that if the monkeys will not eat it, the yogurt must be of poor quality.
- Krsna was sitting on an upside-down wooden mortar for grinding spices and was distributing milk preparations such as yogurt and butter to the monkeys as He liked - SB 10.9.8.
- The elder gopis said, "Your Krsna and Balarama find great pleasure in stealing our stock of yogurt and butter from wherever we keep it."
- If we (the elder gopis) keep our stock of yogurt, butter and milk in a solitary dark place, your Krsna and Balarama find it in the darkness by the glaring effulgence of the ornaments and jewels on Their bodies.
- The elder gopis said, "Sometimes They steal butter, yogurt and milk and distribute them to the monkeys. When the monkeys are well fed and do not take any more, then your boys chide," 'This milk and butter and yogurt are useless—even the monkeys won't take it'.
The Breaking of the Pots on Dīpāvalī
One of the most celebrated events in Vṛndāvana is the breaking of the yogurt pot during the Dāmodara-līlā. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how Kṛṣṇa, being angry that His mother left Him to tend to boiling milk, broke a container of freshly churned yogurt with a stone. This act led to Him being bound by Mother Yaśodā, an incident commemorated globally during the month of Kārttika and the festival of Dīpāvalī.
- Being very angry and biting His reddish lips with His teeth, Krsna, with false tears in His eyes, broke the container of yogurt with a piece of stone. Then He entered a room and began to eat the freshly churned butter in a solitary place - SB 10.9.6.
- Mother Yasoda wanted to impress upon Kṛṣṇa that since He was afraid merely to see her stick, He should not perform such disturbing activities as breaking the container of yogurt and butter and distributing its contents to the monkeys.
- Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, quoting from the Vaisnava-tosani of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, says that the incident of Krsna's breaking the pot of yogurt and being bound by mother Yasoda took place on the Dipavali Day, or Dipa-malika.
- The devotee's prayer continues, "You (Krsna) broke the box containing yogurt, and because of that Mother Yasoda considered You an offender and tied You with rope to the household grinding mortar."
Yogurt in the Daily Life of Cowherd Boys
When Kṛṣṇa went to the forest to tend the calves, His lunch often consisted of rice mixed with yogurt. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that He is described as sitting in the center of His friends, holding a lump of this preparation in His left hand. Even during the crisis of the stealing of the calves by Lord Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa continued to hold His yogurt and rice as He searched the forests of Vṛndāvana.
- Holding in His (Krsna's) hand a very nice preparation of yogurt and rice, with pieces of suitable fruit between His fingers, He sat like the whorl of a lotus flower - SB 10.13.11 .
- Carrying His yogurt and rice in His hand, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, immediately went out to search for the calves of His friends - SB 10.13.14.
- Sukadeva Gosvami said, "In His (Krsna's) left hand He would hold a lump of rice paste with yogurt, and in His fingers would be pilu, the king of fruits."
- Thus Lord Krsna, still carrying the lump of yogurt-and-rice preparation in His left hand, immediately started to search out the calves in the caves and bushes. He searched in the mountain holes and in the forests, but nowhere could He find them.
Yogurt as an Ingredient for Worship and Knowledge
Yogurt is an essential item for the bathing ceremony (abhiṣeka) of the Deity. Furthermore, Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the existence of yogurt to explain universal knowledge. Just as one who knows milk understands that yogurt and butter are simply milk products, one who knows Kṛṣṇa understands that the entire material and spiritual manifestation is a product of Kṛṣṇa's energy.
- One should bathe the Lord with water in which nicely scented flowers have been soaking for some time. (16) After bathing the body of the Lord with water, one should bathe Him with milk. (17) Then one should bathe Him with yogurt.
- If you know what is milk, then you know what is butter, what is cheese, what is yogurt, everything, because everything is milk product. So if you know Krsna, everything is Krsna product, so you know everything. That is universal knowledge.
- The brahmanas thereafter began to offer oblations to the sacrificial fire with yogurt, butter, kusa grass and water. They worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead for the good fortune of the child (Lord Krsna).
Conclusion
As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and yogurt is a testament to the simplicity and depth of life in Vṛndāvana. Whether He is stealing it from the gopīs, sharing it with His friends, or using it as an analogy for Absolute Truth, yogurt serves as a vehicle for Kṛṣṇa's transcendental pastimes. These stories, brought to life through the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda, remind the devotee that the Supreme Lord is not a distant, abstract concept but a person who delights in the simple offerings of His devotees. By contemplating these pastimes, the practitioner's heart is drawn toward the spontaneous love that defines the eternal residents of Vṛndāvana.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Krsna and Yogurt. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.