Bhagavatam - Tenth Skandha , Chapter 8

" He will be known as Krishna!"

(This son of yours has many forms and names according to his attributes and activities. I know them all, others may not)

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Garga's visit to Gokul ; " He will be known as Krishna!"

 Suka Deva continues the narration .

'Unable to contain his anxiety about his children in Gokul Vasudev encourages Gargamuni, the priest of Yadu Dynasty to go to Gokul and meet Maharaj Nanda .

Maharaj Nanda received Gargamuni with all honors.”Oh Holy One, please tell us what we can do for you, though you have no wants. A visit by holy people like you is indeed a great blessing. The science of astrology, the movements of stars and planets and its relationship to human being is not understood by ordinary people and you have compiled such knowledge. You are the best person to perform the Vedic naming ceremonies for my two children.”

Gargamuni said, “Oh Nanda whole world knows me as the Yadus priest .So If I perform such ceremonies for your sons, they will be suspected to be children of Devaki. Kamsa is a sinful man. The eighth child Devaki could not have been a girl. Considering the message of the eighth child that the one to kill him is already born elsewhere , Kamsa may consider your child as the child of Devaki and may harm the child, and that is not good “.

Maharaj Nanda said, “, Oh Holy one! I consider the Vedic rites as essential. Please perform the Vedic rites in the Goshala, the cowshed without the knowledge of Kamsa. This may be performed without knowledge of anybody else including my relatives”.

Having thus been persuaded to do what he wished to do anyway, Gargamuni performs the 'namakarana', the naming ceremony for the two children in a solitary place.

Speaking of the elder boy Gargamuni says, “This child, the son of Rohini, pleases all people, and will be known as ‘Rama'. Because of his extraordinary strength he will also be known as ‘Bala'. As he unites two families he will also be known as Sankarshana ”.

“The younger boy appeared in every millennium. He had assumed three different colors white, Red and yellow in his earlier appearances. And now he appeared in Black color. Hence he will be known as Krishna, the black one. This child was born of Vasudev some time ago, hence in knowledgeable circles he will also be known as “Vaasudeva”, the son of Vasudev”.

“This son of yours has many forms and names according to his attributes and activities. I know them all, but ordinary persons may not know. He will be most auspicious for all of you and will act auspiciously as the cowherd boy of the Gokul. By his grace you will overcome all difficulties. Earlier honest people, who were being troubled by anarchy, were protected by this child. All people attached to Krishna are very fortunate. Oh! Nanda! this child of your is equal to Narayana ( naraayana samo gunaihi ! ) . Just raise this child with great attention and caution.”

Suka Deva continues.

'After being told by Gargamuni about the Krishna, Maharaj Nanda was pleased and considered himself full of all good fortune'.

As time passed both the brothers Rama & Krishna began to crawl on the grounds of Vraja on their hands and knees and enjoyed their childhood play. Within the household of Nanda, the cowherd ladies would enjoy the pastimes of Krishna and Balaram

When the boys had grown up enough to entertain the Gopis by their play, enchanted by their pranks, the Gopis even forget their work. Merrily watching the boys in their tug of war with calves, pulling their tails and being dragged about, then disengaging them from such pranks and the Gopis were lost in the smiles of the boys .The mothers had the constant dilemma of attending to household chores or looking after the boys protecting them from cows, fires, cats, knives, birds a., thorns etc.

Soon the boys out grew the stage of crawling and started standing on their own feet and walking and running. Krishna and Balaram along with their friends would play all sorts of pranks and the Gopis were finally left with no choice but to complain to Yashoda.

“oh mother! he comes and releases the calves before milking time. If anyone scolds him he merely laughs. Then he makes arrangements for thieving of all milk products and consumes all milk and curds he gets that way. When he does not consume, he breaks the container. If does not get anything he goes away in anger. When he cannot reach the contents, he makes arrangements to reach the same and makes holes in the pots, kept in slings, allowing the milk and curd to drain out fully. If questioned about his misconduct he gives impudent replies. Now look at him he is such a picture of innocence."

The only response of Yashoda was to laugh away the whole thing. She could not bring herself to scold Krishna by any means.

One day Krishna was playing in the company of Balaram and other boys. They told Mother Yashoda that Krishna ate mud. Mother Yashoda picked up Krishna being concerned about his welfare. With fear and anxiety looking into his mouth Yashoda asked Krishna “You restless boy, why have you eaten mud at a solitary place? Your friends say so and your elder brother too confirms this “. Krishna promptly replied “Mother, I have not eaten dirt. They are all falsely complaining against me .If you think they have spoken truth then directly see in my mouth”.

Yashoda then told Krishna ‘if that is so, open your mouth “

Thus challenged Krishna opened his mouth like any child would.

Mother Yashoda saw the whole universe within the wide open mouth with moving and non moving entities , the sky, the mountains, the islands , oceans on the surface of the earth with , wind , fire , moon and stars and even herself !‘ .

Seeing all this Yashoda was lost wondering if this is a dream or an illusion. Scared as she was at the unusual sight, she decided to surrender to the Supreme God as her ultimate shelter. She understood everything philosophically.Soon her maternal affection took over. Forgetting that Krishna had shown the whole universe in his mouth she pulled Krishna into her lap taking him to be an ordinary child feeling increased affection for her son.

Maharaj Parikshit asks Suka Deva, “Oh Brahman! what auspicious activities were performed by Nanda and Yashoda to have the Lord himself as the son . Vasudev and Devaki , the real father and mother of the Lord could not enjoy the magnificent child hood activities of Krishna , which are even now sung by sages , and listening to which people attain liberation”.

Suka Deva replied , ‘ when ordered by Brahma to appear in the Yadu line along with the supreme being , Drona the best of Vasus and his wife Dhara prayed that they be born before the Lord's arrival and be allowed to look after the Lord himself. Lord Brahma said so be it! Thus they were born as Nanda and Yashoda.'

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(She saw the whole universe within his wide open mouth with allmoving and non moving entities , the sky, the mountains, the islands ,the oceans on the surface of the earth with wind , fire , moon and stars !‘)