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--- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "shreecan@xxxx" <shreecan@xxxx> 
wrote:
> As far as my modest mind knows, Yasodha Piratti does not realise 
(at all> times ,except for few occasions) that Sri Krishna, Her son, 
is Para Brahmam> and Lord of all..
> 
> If that is the case, Her pasam towards her child should be equal to 
any> other mother who has affection to her child. Then how is it that 
Yasodha> Piratti's Bhakthi is considered esteem than any other's..

                      ****************

Dear member,

Yours is a very good and thoughtful question. Please permit me to 
suggest an answer. I hope you will find it useful if not wholly 
adequate.

Yasodha was not Krishna's natural mother. She was His foster-mother. 
And yet Yasodha's love, her bhakti, for the child-Krishna was no less 
than Devaki's. From the beautiful 'pAsuram-s' of Peria-AzhwAr, 
(like 'neerAttam', 'kaapidal', "poochootal" etc. which I'm sure you 
are quite familiar with), one can easily gauge the depth and 
intensity of Yasodha's maternal feelings. Reading them makes one 
really wonder how such love could take root within a foster-mother's 
heart for a child that was not of her own womb, not of "her own flesh 
and blood", so to say.

Normally, in the ordinary world we all know, the love of a foster-
mother or a step-mother is always somewhat less than that of a 
natural mother. (Step-mothers, in fact, in most children's fairy 
tales, are rather unkind, if not cruel to their children). But 
Yasodha's love for Krishna was a unique, incomparable exception. Her 
heart simply welled up with mother's love every time, every moment 
she set eyes upon her beloved Krishna. She breathed Krishna, she 
dreamed Krishna, she lived Krishna....

Yasoda's love was so unique that Krishna soon took on his foster-
mother's name. He was known first as Yasoda's darling son, even 
before people came to know him as Nandagopalan Jr.! People even 
momentarily forgot that He was actually Devaki's natural-born son! It 
is also the reason why even we today -- if only we paused to dwell a 
bit upon the fact -- we all find it far easier to remember Krishna 
as "yasOdha-bAla" than "devaki-putra"! In the very first stanza of 
the TiruppAvai, if you notice, AndAl makes special reference 
to "yasOdai illan-singam" -- "Yasoda's little lion-cub". To the best 
of my knowledge, there is, however, hardly any mention at all of 
Devaki in the 30 wonderful stanzas of ANdAl! Curious, amazing, isn't 
it?!

It is keeping in mind Yasoda's unique foster-motherhood that we use 
today that old Tamil quip about foster-mothers -- we say the love of 
a "vallarthat~thAi" is sometimes more intense than that of 
the "petrath~thAi".

And it is because of Yasoda, again, that today every natural-mother --
 i.e. every mother who has experienced that ineffable joy there is in 
cradling her infant -- every such mother truly understands what is 
meant when it's said (as the AzhwAr himself said) that motherhood 
might well be a mystic pathway to God -- a "bhakti-mArga" in its own 
right...

Trust you will find the above answer useful.

Thanks and regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan     





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