Krishna Showing That Cute Face

“When mother Yashoda thought to chastise her boy after hearing all the complaints, she saw His pitiable face, and smiling, she did not chastise Him.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 8)

People tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen. Let everything play out on its own, you thought. No need to stress at the moment. Everything is in the future. There will be people to help. Your involvement will be minimal. The mother is there, after all.

Of course the experience of being first-time parents is never easy. Especially in the modern day, the likelihood is that you have to go it alone. Family members live elsewhere. Friends have their own lives to manage. This new child is solely your responsibility, twenty-four hours a day, into the foreseeable future.

As the father, the primary issue of concern is crying. You can’t really enjoy the association of your child, since there is always this lingering fear that they will become upset at any moment. Then you have to take the steps to troubleshoot the issue. It’s like having a support job in the IT department of a company that requires its systems be up and running constantly, with no downtime. At any moment you can get a call that a server is down. You have to be ready to diagnose the problem and put in a fix quickly.

As much as the crying upsets you, there is always something that quickly erases any negative emotions. The baby shows this cute smile as soon as they see you. They could have been crying moments prior. Likely for no reason, just not feeling totally comfortable, they voiced their displeasure in a manner designed to penetrate through walls. This is God’s way. He allowed the baby to communicate in such a manner that others would be able to hear their pleas for help.

The child cannot verbally communicate yet, but the smiling seems to convey a very clear message.

“Oh, hey Dad. How are you doing? What crying? Who, me? No, I was just hanging out here, having a good time. Sorry that I tumbled off the play-mat and into an area that is restricted. It’s just me exploring. Anyway, how are you doing? I’m so happy to see you.”

It is interesting to note that similar behavior is shown by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna. When He appears in the sacred land of Vrindavana as the child of mother Yashoda and Nanda Maharaja, He plays the role of naughty child. His violation of choice is stealing butter. Sneaking into the homes of the neighbors with His friends, Krishna dips His lotus-like hands into areas they shouldn’t go. Straight from the pots and into His mouth. He scatters away quickly if there is a chance that He will get caught.

In the times that He is apprehended, the mothers of the homes into which He intrudes have a quick change of heart. They first complain to Yashoda about her child’s behavior, but then they later ask that Krishna not be punished. Seeing that cute face is worth the slight agitation of their stock of butter reducing.

That smiling face is to be enjoyed by every single person. This is one of the reasons Krishna has His name. He is all-attractive. In any transcendental form in which He appears, there is something to which to be attracted. That childhood form is adorable, and meditation on it is not restricted to only those born in Vedic culture or living in a specific area of the world. The pastimes are kept safely in sacred texts like the Shrimad Bhagavatam, and the position of Krishna with respect to other living entities is explained in summary in works like the Bhagavad-gita. In every respect God is attractive, and thus every person has a way to connect with Him. The same attractiveness is in the sounds that represent Him; thus so effective is the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Baby whole responsibility new,

Coming to you as father too.

Worried that baby to cry,

Then in troubleshooting to try.

But making it worthwhile the smiling face,

Like Krishna memory of stealing to erase.

After from the gopis butter taking,

Beautiful pastime for ages making.