“Maiyya, Don’t Tie Me Up!” The Sweet Leelas of Shyamsundar
Pad Explanation - Mati baandhe mohin maiyya, maiyya maiyya maiyya (Yugal Ras, Pad No. 36)
One day, the gopis came in groups, one after another, and began complaining about Kanhaiya from morning till evening, saying:
"Maiyya, your Kanhaiya is like this, he is like that. He did this and that."
Once or twice Mother Yashoda scolded them, calling them liars. But when the complaints continued throughout the day, she felt there must be something to it. "How could this be?" she wondered. "Today I will tie him up."
With anger in her eyes, Maiya caught hold of both of Kanhaiya's hands and set out to bind Him. At this, Thakur Ji began to cry.
Seeing this, Kunti was struck with wonder -
gopyādade tvayi kṛtāgasi dāma tāvad
yā te daśāśru-kalilāñjana-sambhrama-akṣam (Bhāgavat)
Shyamsundar cries out in fear of His mother's stick and of being tied up. His body is trembling.
Bhīrapi yad bibheti - He of whom even Fear itself is afraid is Himself crying, terrified of being bound by Mother. Tears are flowing from His eyes.
Kunti said, "Maharaj! Who would not lose their senses seeing such a pastime? How could anyone believe that this is God? Yashoda is truly blessed."
So Thakur Ji, crying to His mother, says-
mati bāndhe mohiṃ maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā. mākhana cora kahata mohi maiyā, jhūṭhī gūjarī maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā.
"Maiya, don't tie me up. Just think for yourself - why would your Lala steal butter? Anyone may have the habit of stealing, but, Maiya, you know that -"
lākhana dhenu hamāre maiyā, manana dūdha de maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā.
"Maiya, we have countless cows, and every one of them gives plenty of milk. There is so much milk, curd, and butter in our house that there are only four of us to eat it." Nand, Yashoda, Krishna, and Balram - all four together - could not possibly finish so much.
Five thousand years ago, Nanda Baba was a very renowned king, and for men of such standing, selling milk and curd was considered improper - a sin. So Mother Yashoda would distribute it every day among the servants who plastered the floors with cow dung, milked the cows, gave them fodder and water, and so on, as well as among the poor.
Kanhaiya said, "Why would someone whose house has so much milk, curd, and butter go and steal butter? Yet everyone has given me the name 'Butter Thief!' What a great wonder this is!"
dūdha dahī mākhana to maiyā, mo ghara etika maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā. māṅgi māṅgi lai jāvaiṃ maiyā, gobara vārī maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā. etika gaiyana jāke maiyā, cora kahata tehi maiyā maiyā maiyā maiyā.
"Mother, shall I tell you what the real matter is?
"One day, I was going along with my sakhās when I met the mother-in-law of the very gopi who has come here today. She complained, 'O God! I have got such a daughter-in-law - she steals in her very own house.' She keeps stealing and eating butter, and whenever her mother-in-law scolds her, she puts the blame on me."
yākī sāsa kahati rahī maiyā, bahu cora mama maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā. dāṭai sāsa jabai yehi maiyā, āvai tohi ḍhiga maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā.
"And Maiya, she doesn't just call me a butter-thief - she also calls me a chitta-chor (thief of hearts). Tell me, Maiya, I don't even know what chitta is. And where does this chitta live?"
That is, "I am so innocent and simple."
ika dina kahati rahī yaha maiyā, mana mohyo kyoṃ maiyā, maiyā merī maiyā.
"So I asked her, 'What is this thing you call the chitta, which you say I have stolen? What is this chitta, and where does it live? In which house is it? Is it some kind of animal?'
jaba pūchī mana kehi kaha maiyā, hansana lagī taba maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā. puni puni deta urahano maiyā, tū saca mānati maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā.
(So she began to laugh.) Thakur Ji was in a very sorry state, so Kripalu (Maharaj Ji) felt compassion and suddenly appeared right there.
He said to Maiyya, "Lala is telling the truth."
How is this true?
It is true because everything the gopis are saying is made up. In their hearts, day and night, they remain utterly restless and cry out to Shyamsundar: "Come today and eat my butter." But they have a mother-in-law and a husband, along with the constraints of social propriety and modesty. So they cannot go to Yashoda's house and say this openly. They think about it in their hearts. After all, how could Shyamsundar enter their homes? If He were to say, "I am hungry, feed me some butter," their mothers-in-law would scold them. So Shyamsundar steals the butter and eats it—and this is exactly what the gopi desires too: that He should come, steal it, and eat it. Whatever she says is made up. Her real goal is the darshan of Shyamsundar and to serve Him.
That is why Shri Maharaj Ji says, "Lala is absolutely right. All these gopis are saints, and it is they who trouble Shyamsundar."
lāla kṛpālu sāṃcu kaha maiyā, ḍāṭi bhagā de maiyā, maiyā maiyā maiyā.
"Lal Kripalu speaks the truth, mother; scold them and drive them away, mother, mother, mother."
In this very context, Shri Maharaj Ji narrates an incident.
Long ago, a queen named Basanti ruled in Madhya Pradesh. She had her own state and insisted that Maharaj Ji come there for ten to twelve days of lectures. It was summer; there was very little electricity, and one day even the generator broke down. Maharaj Ji said, "Basanti, get a fan." Despite telling the servants, the fan did not arrive for five minutes. So Maharaj Ji said affectionately, "Chudail- you call yourself a queen, and there isn't even a fan in your house!"
Maharaj Ji would affectionately call women 'chudail' (witch) and men 'gadha' (donkey) At that time, one of the queen's relatives, who was himself a king, was also sitting there. He was astonished. This was such a renowned queen - a queen who, if any commoner caused trouble, would have them thrown alive into the Narmada.
Ten days later, Maharaj Ji left for Jabalpur.
A few days later, the same relative came to the queen and said, "Bhabhi Ji, a Jagadguru had come to your place the other day. I heard with my own ears that he called you a 'chudail.' I felt very bad about it. I'm amazed that you sat quietly and listened to it."
The queen said nothing. The relative went and sat down in the drawing room. Just then, the queen told her four servants, "Give him fifty slaps with slippers!"
Out of fear of the queen, the servants began beating him. The poor relative panicked and could not understand what his crime was.
Then the queen said, "Look - he is my Guru Ji. Guru and God are one. He called me 'chudail' out of love, so who are you to say anything about it? Why are you troubled by it? Now go home, and don't come to my house again."
In the same way, Maharaj Ji says to Mother Yashoda:
"Maiya, scold and drive away all these gopis with such humiliation that they never come to your house again"
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