Parenthood
351
Sometimes He tries to walk, taking step by step, and sometimes He talks very sweetly, in broken language. These were some of the symptoms of His middle  kaumāra  age. He is thus described when Mother Yaśodā once saw Him in His middle  kaumāra  age: His scattered hairs were touching His eyebrows, and His eyes were restless, but He could not express His feelings with proper words; still, when He was talking, it was so nice and sweet to hear. When Mother Yaśodā looked at His little ears and saw Him naked, trying to run very quickly with His little legs, she was merged into the ocean of nectar. Kṛṣṇa’s ornaments at this age are a pearl hanging from the septum of His nose, butter on His lotus-like palms and some small bells hanging from His waist. It is stated that when Mother Yaśodā saw that the child was moving, ringing the bells on His waist, smiling at her with a pearl between His nostrils and with butter on His hands, she became wonderfully pleased to see her little child in that fashion.
While Kṛṣṇa was in the middle of His  kaumāra  age, His waist became thinner, His chest became broader, and His head was decorated with His curly hairs, resembling the falling of the wings of a crow. These wonderful features of Kṛṣṇa’s body never failed to astonish Mother Yaśodā. At the end of His  kaumāra  age, Kṛṣṇa carried a small stick in His hand, His clothing was a little longer, and He had a knot around His waist, resembling the hood of a snake. In that dress He used to take care of the calves near the house, and sometimes He played with cowherd boys of about the same age. He had a slender flute and a buffalo horn bugle, and sometimes He played on a flute made from the leaves of trees. These are some of the symptoms of the end of Kṛṣṇa’s  kaumāra  age.
When Krṣṇa was a little grown up and was taking care of the small calves, He would often go near the forest. And when He was a little bit late returning home, Nanda Mahārāj would immediately get up on the  candraśālikā  (a small shed built on the roof for getting a bird's eye view all around), and he would watch for Him. Worrying about the late arrival of his little son, Nanda Mahārāj would remain on the  candraśālikā  until he could indicate to his wife that Krṣṇa, surrounded by His little cowherd friends, was coming back with the calves. Nanda Mahārāj would point out the peacock feather on his