98 TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTI
the Lord out of unalloyed love only, and while discharging such devo-
tional service the pure devotee forgets the position of the Supreme Lord.
The Supreme Lord also accepts the loving service of His devotees more
relishably when the service is rendered spontaneously out of pure affec-
tion, without anything of reverential admiration. Generally the Lord is
worshiped by the devotees in a reverential attitude, but the Lord is
meticulously pleased when the devotee, out of pure affection and love,
considers the Lord to be less important than himself. The Lord’s
pastimes in the original abode, Goloka Vrndavana, are exchanged in that
spirit. The friends of Krsna consider Him one of them. They do not con-
sider Him to be of reverential importance. The parents of the Lord (who
are all pure devotees) consider Him a child only. The Lord accepts the
chastisements of the parents more cheerfully than the prayers of the
Vedic hymns. Similarly, He accepts the reproaches of His fiancées more
palatably than the Vedic hymns. When Lord Krsna was present in this
material world to manifest His eternal pastimes of the transcendental
realm Goloka Vrndavana as an attraction for the people in general, He
displayed a unique picture of subordination before His foster mother,
Yasoda. The Lord, in His naturally childish playful activities, used to
spoil the stocked butter of mother Yasoda by breaking the pots and
distributing the contents to His friends and playmates, including the
celebrated monkeys of Vrndavana, who took advantage of the Lord’s
munificence. Mother YaSoda saw this, and out of her pure love she
wanted to make a show of punishment for her transcendental child. She
took a rope and threatened the Lord that she would tie Him up, as is
generally done in the ordinary household. Seeing the rope in the hands of
mother Yasoda, the Lord bowed down His head and began to weep just
like a child, and tears rolled down His cheeks, washing off the black oint-
ment smeared about His beautiful eyes. This picture of the Lord is
adored by Kuntidevi because she is conscious of the Lord’s supreme
position. He is feared often by fear personified, yet He is afraid of His
mother, who wanted to punish Him just in an ordinary manner. Kunti
was conscious of the exalted position of Krsna, whereas Yasoda was not.
Therefore YaSoda’s position was more exalted than Kunti’s. Mother
Yasoda got the Lord as her child, and the Lord made her forget altogether
that her child was the Lord Himself. If mother Yasoda had been con-
scious of the exalted position of the Lord, she would certainly have hesi-
tated to punish the Lord. But she was made to forget this situation
because the Lord wanted to make a complete gesture of childishness
before the affectionate Yasoda. This exchange of love between the
