Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.9.8
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ulūkhala-aṅghreḥ
—
of the upside-down mortar
Compound: ulūkhala (mortar) + aṅghri (foot, base). The very mortar that will, after Yaśodā's rope binds Him, drag through the trees in verse 22. The chapter's central prop introduced here, casually.
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markāya
—
unto a monkey
Dative singular. The Lord distributes His own to the lowliest. Gauḍīya emblem: prasāda flows down to creatures conventionally beneath consideration — and the Lord prefers their company to that of kings.
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haiyaṅgavam
—
butter and milk preparations
The chapter's favorite word, repeated from verse 6. Kṛṣṇa is haiyaṅgava-priya — the Lord whom fresh butter delights. Vraja's theology is edible.
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caurya-viśaṅkita
—
anxiously looking around because of stealing
Compound: caurya (theft) + viśaṅkita (apprehensive). The Supreme has put on caurya-bhāva — the mood of the thief. He is not anxious in fact; He has elected the role for the play.
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śanaiḥ
—
very slowly, cautiously
Indeclinable: slowly, quietly. Yaśodā stalking her own son — the role-inversion of all role-inversions. The Supreme Lord approached from behind, on tiptoe, by His own mother.
Mother Yaśodā was able to trace Kṛṣṇa by following His butter-smeared footprints. She saw that Kṛṣṇa was stealing butter, and thus she smiled. Meanwhile, the crows also entered the room and came out in fear. Thus mother Yaśodā found Kṛṣṇa stealing butter and very anxiously looking here and there.
From the footprints smeared with yogurt, the sound of his jingling bells, and the noises in the other room, Yasoda could guess that Krsna was in the room eating butter. Surmising that, her face broke into a smile. A few second later, she decided to go into the room. But by that time Krsna had left by the back door and gone into the yard. He sat with crossed legs on top of an overturned mortar for fear of crows and other animals. The verse describes from this point. Having stolen the pot hanging from the ceiling, he had brought it there. He was afraid of being beaten by his mother for having stolen the butter, and therefore he was looking around in fear (caurya visankiteksanam niriksya) looking for a path of escape. Seeing him from inside the room by craning her neck, she then very softly approached from the back so that he could not see here, without making noise from her footsteps, in order to catch him in her hands.
From fear of crows and other animals he sat in svāstika asana on an overturned mortar. After going into the storeroom and eating some butter he took the pot which had been hanging from a rope (indicating his cleverness) and went behind the house by the back door to a solitary spot to fool his mother. His mother approached from behind so he would not see her.
He was sitting carefully on top of overturned mortar and was feeding the monkeys. The singular (markāya) is used to represent the class of monkeys. She approached from behind so he could not see her.
- Today, relate to Kṛṣṇa not as a distant Absolute but as the personal Lord who delights in being approached intimately — chant His name with that mood.
- Notice where you crave control and 'never being caught' in your work; offer one small lapse openly to Kṛṣṇa instead of hiding it from yourself.
- Feed someone unrepayable today — share food with a child, an animal, or a stranger — in remembrance of bāla-Kṛṣṇa freely distributing to the monkeys.
A young prince, having raided the royal kitchen, perches on an overturned mortar and shares the spoils with the palace monkeys — glancing nervously over his shoulder. The image breaks every theology textbook: the Owner of all sneaks His own butter, then plays the role of the fearful thief. He has dressed Himself in caurya-bhāva so His mother may approach Him from behind.
The Bhāgavatam preserves a whole register of bāla-Kṛṣṇa stealing butter from the gopīs' homes — climbing on shoulders, breaking pots, distributing the spoils to the calves and monkeys. The gopīs complain to Yaśodā, but each complaint is a love-letter dressed as a grievance (SB 10.8).
Gauḍīyas read these līlās as the Lord stealing not butter but hearts — the literal theft is the symptom of a deeper one. Caitanya in Purī would weep at hearing them, identifying as a gopī whose butter He had taken.
Caitanya-caritāmṛta records Mahāprabhu collapsing into rapture at the mere mention of Kṛṣṇa stealing butter. Svarūpa Dāmodara would chant verses about caurya-līlā and Mahāprabhu's body would tremble, hair stand, tears flow.
The Six Gosvāmīs systematized these līlās as the highest object of meditation for the developed bhakta. Vraja's 'theft' is the Lord's own way of pulling near.
My note
Source: vedabase.io