Canto 47

The Paramathma’s mischief as a child is the subject in the slokams of Canto 47. Like any child, the Paramathma vies for the attention of His mother and her love in an incessant manner. As any mother would, Yashoda has other chores to perform. As any mother would,  Yashoda gets upset when the results of her hard work are spilt all over the floor.  She embarks on disciplining the Paramathma so He stays out of mischief.  Yashoda’s love for the Paramathma and her efforts in raising Him are all similar to what any mother would have done.  Yashoda does not know that she is blessed in a way no other mother could be.  The Paramathma does not spare her from the travails of childish mischief that every mother is subjected to. 

Sri Bhattadri points out that the Paramathma who had the entire universe under His control had to subject Himself to being disciplined by His mother. The Paramathma is tied up to keep Him quiet.  The Parmathma as the only ruler of the universe does not want to appear different from others at any time.  Yet he quietly goes about making the required structural changes to ensure that the adharma is kept at bay.

The Paramathma reveals Himself to every one of us every moment of our lives.  There are only a few of us that choose to see His Hand.  The ability to see His Hand both in sukham and in dukham needs to be developed.  Even if we are able to see His Hand in everything, few of us are able to accept the setbacks in life.   If we are able to develop an evenhanded approach,  and accept “success” and “failure” with the same tenacity,  we will be with the Paramathma without any disruption in the flow of devotion.