Yamala Arjuna Bhañjana

This account is from the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 14. The infant Kṛshṇa was bound by Yaśodā to a wooden mortar (ulūkhala) as a punishment. He touched a great tree growing before the house, and it fell. A shining divine man came out of the fallen tree. He was Nalakūbara, a son of Kubera, who had been cursed by Devala Muni to take the form of a tree.

The account then tells why Nalakūbara was cursed and what became of the apsarā Rambhā, who was cursed with him.

Yaśodā binds Kṛshṇa to the mortar

On that day Yaśodā had gone to the river Yamunā to bathe, and the house was left unwatched. The infant Kṛshṇa was glad to find himself alone in a house full of the produce of their cattle. He smiled at the chance for his līlā (divine play). He ate and drank everything he saw: all the curds, milk, ghee, buttermilk and the butter he loved. Then he tried to wipe his mouth with a cloth.

Yaśodā came back from her bath. Every pot was emptied and broken, and the dairy food was eaten or spilled on the floor. She asked the other children there, “Tell me the truth. Who did this terrible thing?” They answered at once, “Kṛshṇa did all of it. Not a drop was given to us. This is true.”

When she heard this, Yaśodā’s eyes turned red with anger, like two red lotuses in bloom. She took up a rod (bettamu) and ran after the child.

Śiva and the devas meditate on his feet in dhyāna (deep meditation) and still cannot reach him. That Govinda is beyond the reach of yogīs. Yet now he ran from his mother. Yaśodā chased him back and forth. She was soaked in sweat, and her throat, jaw and lips dried up from the effort. At last she stopped where she stood, worn out. Purushottama, the Master of the universe, saw his mother so tired. He wanted to give her the joy of catching him, so he smiled and stood quietly before her.

Yaśodā took his hand and led him inside, to the front of the house. She tied him with a cloth to a large wooden mortar, and she struck him (a mother’s punishment). Having bound him, she went back inside to see to the household. Śrī Hari, the Master of all worlds, simply stood there at the foot of the tree, bound.

The tree falls and Nalakūbara comes out

As soon as Śrī Kṛshṇa touched the great tree before the house, it crashed to the ground with a terrible roar. The text calls it a tree as big as a mountain (parvata-mātra). From the fallen tree a divine man appeared, dressed in shining ornaments and pītāmbara (yellow silk). He rose and bowed to Śrī Kṛshṇa, Jagannātha, with both palms joined. A shining chariot appeared for him, and he rode in it to his own loka.

The radiant child smiled, and his white glow spread.

Yaśodā heard the great crash and ran out in fear. She saw the fallen tree. Trembling, she ran to the dark and beautiful (śyāmasundara) child, who was now crying, and lifted him up. The noise had brought all the gopālas and gopikās of Gokula running to Nanda’s house. They looked at the infant and wept. They comforted him, and then they gently scolded Yaśodā:

“O queen of Gokula! O Prajeśvarī! A son was born to you in your old age, after so many years. All the wealth, jewels and treasures people gather are only for their children. Now it is clear to us that you lack proper wisdom. What use is any food your son has not eaten? O hard-hearted one! Because some milk goods were lost, you tied this little child to a tree and went about your housework. And see, by some divine event the tree has fallen. Though the tree fell, your son lives. That is only your good fortune. O foolish one! If this child had died, what use would all your things be?”

The brāhmaṇas and the vandi-jana (bards) who had gathered then blessed the child. One brāhmaṇa recited the Śrī Hari-sahasranāma over the infant as a śānti rite (a rite for peace). Then everyone went home.

Nanda’s eyes were red with anger at his wife, and he spoke firmly to her: “I am leaving this very day on a journey to the tīrthas, with the child tied to my neck. Or else you must leave this house. What use have I of you? A stepped well (cēdu) is less useful than a descent-well (digudubāvi). A lake is worth a hundred descent-wells. A yajña is better than a hundred lakes. A son is better than a hundred yajñas. Tapas and service to great people earn puṇya that brings happiness in the next life. But a son brings happiness in this life and in the next.” After saying this, Nanda grew calm and stayed in his home. Yaśodā and Rohiṇī went back to their household work.

Why Nalakūbara was cursed by Devala Muni

Nārada Muni asked, “O Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa! Who was the splendidly dressed divine being who came out of the tree in Gokula? And why had he taken the form of a tree?”

Nārāyaṇa Muni told the account. Nalakūbara, the son of Kubera, had gone to the Nandana garden to play, with the apsarā Rambhā. By a lake in a beautiful flower garden, near a large banyan tree in a quiet and fragrant spot, they made a bed of flowers. They decorated it with pastes of sandalwood, aguru and kasturī, and with jewelled lamps. Dressed in garlands of flowers and silk, they took part in the full range of kāma-śāstra (the science of love): the eight forms of śṛṅgāra, the six kinds of cumbana (kisses), the three kinds of āliṅgana (embraces), and the play of nakhakshata (nail marks) and dantakshata (bite marks). Then they went from land into the water, and from the water back to land, playing freely.

At that moment the great ṛshi Devala Muni arrived at the same spot, with many disciples, and saw the scene. Nalakūbara was drunk with desire. He saw the muni coming, but showed no respect at all. He did not rise, did not bow and did not say a word. Devala Muni was furious, and he spoke the śāpa (a curse): “O you who have done pāpa (sin)! Go and take the form of a tree in Gokula. You will bear this śāpa there. The moment Śrī Kṛshṇa touches you, the śāpa will end and you will return to your own loka.”

Devala then turned to Rambhā, who had joined eagerly in the drunken play. He said, “And you, be born as a human woman.” The text says she would become the beautiful queen of Janamejaya. Through the saṃyoga (union) of Indra and her own death, she would be freed from the śāpa and return to her divine state. After saying this, Devala Muni went back to his āśrama, and Kubera’s son went home.

Rambhā, the queen of Janamejaya

Rambhā was born in Bhāratavarsha, in the house of King Sucandra. She was a daughter of great beauty, with a form like Lakshmī herself. Sucandra dressed his daughter richly and gave her in kanyādāna (the giving of a bride) to King Janamejaya, with all the auspicious rites and gifts. She became Janamejaya’s chief queen, and he enjoyed her company in many quiet places.

Once King Janamejaya began an aśvamedha yajña and entered the period of dīkshā (the ritual vow). Indra used the yajña horse as his excuse and hid in the palace. At the time of pūjā, the queen thought the horse was unusually beautiful and went alone to see it. Indra saw her alone, came out beside the horse and took her by force, though she protested and resisted. Afterwards he fell unconscious on the spot from the result of his act, and did not know day from night. The queen would not go on living after being defiled by another man. By her own yoga power she let go of her prāṇas (life breaths), an act called prāṇa-tyāga. Indra later felt shame for what he had done and feared the king. He fled back to svarga.

The king was told that his dear queen had died. He grieved deeply, again and again. When the yajña was finished, he gave rich dakshiṇā (gifts) to the brāhmaṇas. Rambhā had put down the human body and returned to svarga.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 14