Kanha, the Little Butter Thief

Every home in Gokul had cows. Early each morning, the gopis churned curd and took out fresh, white butter. Then they hung the pots of butter and curd high up from the ceiling in rope slings, so that no one could reach them.

But little Kanha loved butter. With his elder brother Balram and his cowherd friends, he would quietly slip into a gopi's house. If the pot hung too high, Kanha would stand on a low stool or turn a wooden mortar upside down and climb on it. Sometimes he made a tiny hole in the pot and caught the dripping butter in his open mouth. In a dark room he did not even need a lamp. The shine of his jewels was enough to show the way!

The best part was that Kanha never ate all the butter by himself. First he fed his friends. Then he called the monkeys sitting in the trees outside and shared the butter with them too. The monkeys jumped about happily, and Kanha clapped and laughed.

One day, a group of gopis came to Yashoda Maiya with complaints. One said, "Maiya, your Kanha lets the calves loose before milking time!" Another said, "He eats our butter and even feeds it to the monkeys!" A third said, "And when we catch him, he says, 'I am not the thief, you are!'"

Yashoda Maiya called Kanha. He came and sat quietly beside her. His big eyes looked a little scared, and a bit of butter was still stuck at the corner of his lips. The gopis just kept looking at his innocent face. All their anger simply melted away, and they began to smile. Yashoda Maiya laughed too, and she could not scold him at all.

The truth was that the gopis loved Kanha dearly. Even their complaints were just a reason to come and see him. Many gopis wished every day, "May Kanha come to my house today." Kanha's butter stealing was a game of love, and devotees still smile when they remember it. That is why he is lovingly called "Makhan Chor", the butter thief.

But we children can learn two good things from this story. First, when you get something nice, share it with your friends, just as Kanha did. Second, ask before you take something, and if you make a mistake, tell the truth.