Kanha Tied to the Mortar

One morning, Yashoda Maiya was churning curd herself and singing songs about Kanha's childhood games. Just then Kanha woke up and came to her, hungry. He caught hold of the churning stick and asked for milk. Maiya lovingly sat him in her lap and began to feed him.

Meanwhile, the milk on the stove started to boil over. Maiya quickly put Kanha down and ran to save it. Kanha's tummy was not full yet, so he sulked. He picked up a stone, broke the pot of curd, went into another room and secretly ate butter.

When Maiya came back, she saw the broken pot, curd spilt everywhere, and no Kanha. She knew exactly who had done it, and she smiled. Looking around, she found Kanha sitting on an upturned wooden mortar, handing out butter to the monkeys and glancing about with nervous eyes.

Maiya came towards him with a small stick in her hand. Kanha saw her and ran! Maiya ran after him. Her hair came loose, but at last she caught him. Kanha rubbed his eyes and started crying, and his kajal spread over his cheeks. Maiya threw the stick away and thought, "I will tie him to the mortar for a little while, so that he does not run off."

Maiya brought a rope, but it was two fingers too short. She joined another rope, and it was still two fingers short! A third, a fourth, every rope in the house, and each time the rope stayed two fingers short. The neighbouring gopis watched and laughed. Maiya grew tired, and her forehead was wet with sweat.

Seeing his mother so tired, Kanha's heart melted, and he lovingly let himself be tied. The rope was tied around his belly, his "udar", and so he got the name "Damodar".

In the courtyard stood two tall arjun trees. They were really two sons of Kuber, named Nalkuber and Manigriv. Proud of their wealth, they had forgotten to show respect to Narad Muni. Narad ji had turned them into trees, but he had also said that one day Shri Krishna would set them free.

Dragging the mortar behind him, Kanha crawled between the two trees. The mortar turned sideways and got stuck. Kanha gave a strong pull, and both trees came crashing down! Out of them came two shining devas. They bowed to Kanha, thanked him and went back to their own world. Hearing the noise, Nand Baba came running, and when he saw Kanha safe, he gave a big sigh of relief.