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The Nectar of Devotion
tears in his eyes, and he became overwhelmed with joy. Let us all offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of King Nanda!
Childhood age, childish dress, movements by the child, sweet words spoken by the child, nice smiling and various forms of childish play are considered provocations for increasing the parental love for Krṣṇa. The childhood ages of Krṣṇa are divided into three periods: the beginning of  kaumāra  age, the middle of  kaumāra  age, and the end of  kaumāra  age. During the beginning and middle of the  kaumāra  age, Krṣṇa’s thighs are fatty, and the inner part of His eyes are whitish. There are signs of teeth coming out, and He is very mild and gentle. He is described as follows: “When Krṣṇa had only three or four teeth coming out of His gums, His thighs were fatty, His body was very, very short, and He began to enhance the parental love of Nanda Mahārāj and Mother Yaśodā with the activities of His childish body. He was sometimes stepping with His legs again and again, sometimes crying, sometimes smiling, sometimes sucking His thumb and sometimes lying down flat. These are some of the different activities of the child Krṣṇa. When Krṣṇa was lying down flat, sometimes sucking the toes of His feet, sometimes throwing His legs upwards, sometimes crying and sometimes smiling, Mother Yaśodā, seeing her son in such pastimes, did not show any sign of restricting Him, but rather began to watch her child with eagerness, enjoying these childhood pastimes.” In the beginning of Krṣṇa’s  kaumāra  age, there were the nails of tigers set in a golden necklace about His neck. There was protective  tilaka  on His forehead, black mascara around His eyes and silk thread around His waist. These are the descriptions of Krṣṇa’s dress at the beginning of the  kaumāra  age.
When Nanda Mahārāj saw the beauty of child Kṛṣṇa with tiger nails on His chest, a complexion like the new-grown  tāmala  tree, beautifully decorated  tilaka  made with cow’s urine, arm decorations of nice silk thread and silk clothes tied around His waist—when Nanda Mahārāj saw his child like this, he never became satiated by the child’s beauty.
In the middle  kaumāra  age, the upper portion of Kṛṣṇa’s hair falls around His eyes. Sometimes He is covered with cloth around the lower part of His body, and sometimes He is completely naked.