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Kartik Maas 2023: The sacred month of Kartik has begun from 28th October 2023. This auspicious month is also known as Damodar Month. This name got its significance from Lord Krishna’s Damodar Lila, a transcendental pastime where Yashoda Maiya ties him to an Okhal. It is believed that remembering this delightful pastime of the lord and offering a ghee lamp to Lord Damodar during the Kartik month is highly auspicious and rewarding. The Damodar lila is in the 9th Chapter of the 10th Canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam. Check out the glorious pastime of Lord Krishna as Yashoda Damodar and also the benefits of reciting this glorious lila. 

Kartik Maas 2023: Damodar Lila Story Of Lord Krishna 

Mother Yashoda once turned over the task of churning butter herself, observing that her maidservant was working on other domestic tasks. She sang of her son Krishna's beautiful childhood pastimes and enjoyed thinking of him while she churned butter. Lord Krishna showed up there at that moment and was hungry. Instead of churning the butter, he wanted Yashoda Maiya to feed Him first.

With her infant nestled on her lap, Mother Yashoda began to feed him. Mother Yashoda smiled at the beauty of her son Krishna as he was sucking the milk. The milk on the stove started to boil all of a sudden. Immediately after setting Krishna aside, Yashoda Maiya ran to the stove to stop the milk from spilling. Krishna was left in that way by his mother, and his scarlet lips and eyes betrayed His intense anger and then broke it with a stone right away. With fake tears in his eyes, Krishna began to consume butter in an enclosed area. Mother Yashoda, meantime, straightened the overflowing milk pan and went back to the churning spot. She noticed the cracked pot that had contained the churned butter. She realised that it was done by Lord Krishna. He fled this spot after smashing the pot out of dread of being punished. Following a thorough search, she discovered her son seated on a large wooden grinding mortar that was stored upside down. He was feeding the monkeys butter that he was collecting from a pot that hung on a swing from the ceiling.

She observed Krishna, aware of his mischievous behaviour, looking this way and that out of worry for her. Observing her kid so engrossed, she very quietly came up behind him. But as soon as Krishna noticed that she was approaching him while holding a stick, he started to run away in terror. Mother Yashoda pursued him relentlessly in an attempt to capture Lord Krishna.  Somehow, she managed to go to her mischievous child and catch Him. Krishna was on the verge of tears when Yashoda Maiya caught him. Mother Yashoda could see that Krishna was unduly worried, and she wished to calm his concerns for his sake. She considered tying Krishna to a wooden grinding mortar as a kind of punishment for him. However, she discovered that the rope she was using was two inches too short when she attempted to bind him. Even after adding more ropes that she had collected from the house, she discovered the same shortfall. She completed connecting all the ropes in her house in this manner, but when she tied the last knot, she discovered the rope was still two inches short.

Damodar Lila is one of the delightful pastimes of Lord Krishna. (Image Source: ISKCON Banglore)

Although the other Yashoda was grinning, she was shocked. How was it taking place? She was fatigued from trying to confine her son.  Then, realising how hard his mother had worked, Lord Krishna consented to be restrained by ropes out of compassion for her. Playing the role of a human child in Yashoda's home, Krishna (Damodara) was engaging in His own chosen pastimes.  

Mother Yashoda took on household responsibilities after tying her son up. When Krishna looked up at the wooden mortar at that moment, he saw two trees in front of him that were called arjuna trees. "Mother Yashoda first left without feeding Me sufficient milk, so I broke the pot of yoghurt and distributed the stock butter in charity to the monkeys," thought Lord Sri Krishna, the great wellspring of pleasure. She has now restrained me to a wooden mortar. Thus, I'm going to do something even more naughty than previously. He then had the idea to chop down the two extremely tall arjuna trees. The pair of arjuna trees have a background. The trees were born as Lord Kuvera's human sons in past lifetimes, and their names were Nalakuvara and Manigriva. Thankfully, they were caught up in the Lord's vision. The great sage Narada had cursed them in past lifetimes so that they could see Lord Krishna. Hence, Lord Krishna also liberated the two beings through this transcendental lila while also surrendering to the love of his beloved mother. 

ALSO READ: Kartik Maas 2023: What To Eat And What Not To Eat During The Holy Month Of Kartik

Kartik Maas 2023: Benefits Of Reading Damodar Lila During Kartik Maas 

Damodara is a very unique month. During the holy month of Kartik, on the day of Deepavali, Damodara Leela took place. It is believed that listening to the Damodar Lila and performing deep daan to Lord Damodar grants immense good fortune to the devotees.