When Kṛṣṇa
was a baby, one day He was walking in the courtyard, capturing the finger of
His father, and because He could not walk steadily He appeared to be almost
falling down. While Nanda Mahārāja was giving protection to His transcendental
son in this way, all of a sudden there were drops of tears in his eyes, and he
became overwhelmed with joy. Let us all offer our respectful obeisances unto
the lotus feet of King Nanda!
Childhood age, childish dress, movements by the child, sweet words spoken by the child, nice smiling and various forms of childish play are considered provocations for increasing parental love for Kṛṣṇa.
The childhood ages of Kṛṣṇa are divided into three periods: the beginning of kaumāra age, the middle of kaumāra age and the end of kaumāra age.
During the beginning and middle of the kaumāra age, Kṛṣṇa’s thighs are fatty, and the inner part of His eyes are whitish. There are signs of teeth coming out, and He is very mild and gentle.
He is described as follows: “When Kṛṣṇa had only three or four teeth coming out of His gums, His thighs were fatty, His body was very, very short, and He began to enhance the parental love of Nanda Mahārāja and mother Yaśodā with the activities of His childish body.
He was sometimes stepping with His legs again and again, sometimes crying, sometimes smiling, sometimes sucking His thumb and sometimes lying down flat. These are some of the different activities of the child Kṛṣṇa.
When Kṛṣṇa was lying down flat, sometimes sucking the toes of His feet, sometimes throwing His legs upward, sometimes crying and sometimes smiling, mother Yaśodā, seeing her son in such pastimes, did not show any sign of restricting Him, but rather began to watch her child with eagerness, enjoying these childhood pastimes.”
In the beginning of Kṛṣṇa’s kaumāra age, the nails of tigers were set in a golden necklace about His neck. There was protective tilaka on His forehead, black mascara around His eyes and silk thread around His waist. These are the descriptions of Kṛṣṇa’s dress at the beginning of the kaumāra age.
When Nanda Mahārāja saw the beauty of child Kṛṣṇa, with tiger nails on His chest, a complexion like the new-grown tamāla tree, beautifully decorated tilaka made with cow’s urine, arm decorations of nice silk thread, and silk clothes tied around His waist—when Nanda Mahārāja saw his child like this, he never became satiated by the child’s beauty.
In the middle kaumāra age, the upper portion of Kṛṣṇa’s hair falls around His eyes. Sometimes He is covered with cloth around the lower part of His body, and sometimes He is completely naked. Sometimes He tries to walk, taking step by step, and sometimes He talks very sweetly, in broken language.
These are some of the symptoms of His middle kaumāra age. He is thus described when mother Yaśodā once saw Him in His middle kaumāra age: His scattered hairs were touching His eyebrows, and His eyes were restless, but He could not express His feelings with proper words; still, when He was talking, His talk was so nice and sweet to hear.
When mother Yaśodā looked at His little ears and saw Him naked, trying to run very quickly with His little legs, she was merged into the ocean of nectar. Kṛṣṇa’s ornaments at this age are a pearl hanging from the septum of His nose, butter on His lotuslike palms, and some small bells hanging from His waist. It is stated that when mother Yaśodā saw that the child was moving, ringing the bells on His waist, smiling at her with a pearl between His nostrils and with butter on His hands, she became wonderfully pleased to see her little child in that fashion.
[Nectar of Devotion – Chapter 43 Parenthood]
