Krishna shows Yashoda the Universe…

I've been drafting a poem tonight, but I won't post it for a while. I will however, post some of the inspiration behind elements of it. Hopefully it will make more sense when the poem appears - I'm not sure whether it'll be of interest to anyone who knows squat about Hindu mythology but - you're interested right? Heh. I remember a very interesting dramatisation of this that my family taped from TV. For years I thought the booming Hindi voiceover was actually the voice of God, recorded on VHS. Not sure how many times I watched that growing up...

Universe in Krishna's Mouth

One day Yasoda took her child on her lap and suckled Him. She kissed her son again and again. Just at that time the child yawned. When he opened His mouth, the mother saw the whole universe within it. She saw the sky, the space between the earth and the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, the four quarters, fire, air, oceans, continents, mountains, rivers, forests, islands, and all things in the universe, animate and inanimate.

Yasoda who saw the whole universe within the mouth of her own son, shuddered and closed her eyes immediately in great fear. She was struck with wonder. This very moment, she requested Lord to be his son alone and never ever show her this form of almighty.

Yashoda is the human incarnation of the God Krishnas' earth-mother, by the way. Most rest of the stories about him involve him being all naughty and cute and stealing yoghurt, and stuff, and beating nasty demons down with his little baby pinky finger. This is one I really, really enjoy. I love the idea of this ordinary mother seeing this one moment of universal truth, accepting it, and asking never to see it again!

: 24 May 2007 00:34 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem