390 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 Krsna.
The childhood ages of Krsna are divided into three periods: the be-
ginning of kaumara age, the middle of kaumara age, and the end of
kaumara age. During the beginning and middle of the kaumara age,
Krsna’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 Krsna 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
Maharaj and Mother Yasoda 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 some-
times lying down flat. These are some of the different activities of the
child Krsna. When Krsna was lying down flat, sometimes sucking the
toes of His feet, sometimes throwing His legs upwards, sometimes
crying and sometimes smiling, Mother Yasoda, 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 pas-
times.” In the beginning of Krsna’s kaumara 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 Krsna’s dress at the
beginning of the kaumara age.

When Nanda Maharaj saw the beauty of child Krsna with tiger
nails on His chest, a complexion like the new-grown tamala tree, beau-
tifully decorated tilaka made with cow’s urine, arm decorations of
nice silk thread and silk clothes tied around His waist—when Nanda
Maharaj saw his child like this, he never became satiated by the child’s
beauty.

In the middle kaumara age, the upper portion of Krsna’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.
