View source for This list is in order of superior importance, and thus we can see that Mother Yasoda and Maharaj Nanda are considered to be the supermost of all elderly personalities

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[[Category:List]]
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[[Category:Supermost]]
[[Category:Elder]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 43 - Parenthood]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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Following is a list of respectful personalities who enjoy parental affection toward Kṛṣṇa: 1) Mother Yaśodā, the Queen of Braja, 2) Mahārāj Nanda, the King of Braja, 3) Mother Rohiṇī, the mother of Balarāma, 4) all the elderly gopīs whose sons were taken away by Lord Brahmā, 5) Devakī, the wife of Vasudeva, 6) the other fifteen wives of Vasudeva, 7) Kuntī, the mother of Arjuna, 8) Vasudeva, the real father of Kṛṣṇa, and 9) Sāndīpani Muni, Kṛṣṇa's teacher. All these are considered respectable elderly personalities with parental love for Kṛṣṇa. This list is in order of superior importance, and thus we can see that Mother Yaśodā and Mahārāj Nanda are considered to be the supermost of all elderly personalities.
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[[Vanisource:NOD 43 (1970)|Nectar of Devotion, 43]]
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In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, [[Vanisource:SB 10.8.45|Tenth Canto, 8th Chapter, 35th verse]], it is stated by Śukadeva Gosvāmī that Mother Yaśodā accepted Lord Kṛṣṇa as her son, although He is accepted in the Vedas as the King of heaven, in the Upaniṣads as the impersonal Brahman and in philosophy as the supreme male. By the yogīs He is accepted as the supersoul and by the devotees as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Once Mother Yaśodā addressed one of her friends in this way: "Nanda Mahārāj, the leader of the cowherdsmen, worshiped Lord Viṣṇu along with me, and as a result of this worshiping Kṛṣṇa has been saved from the clutches of Pūtanā and other demons. The twin arjuna trees were, of course, broken due to a strong wind, and although Kṛṣṇa appeared to have lifted Govardhan Hill along with Balarāma, I think that Nanda Mahārāj actually held the mountain. Otherwise how could it have been possible for a little boy to lift such a great hill?" This is another example of ecstasy in parental love. This kind of parental love is generated in a devotee out of his conviction, in love, that he himself is superior to Kṛṣṇa and that without being taken care of by such devotee Kṛṣṇa could not possibly live. One devotee therefore prayed to the parents of Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows: "Let me take shelter of the elderly parental devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They are always anxious to serve Kṛṣṇa and to maintain Him, and they are always so kind to Him. Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto them for being so kind to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the parent of the whole universe!"

There is a similar prayer by a brāhmaṇa who says, "Let others worship the Vedas and the Upaniṣads, and let others worship the Mahābhārata if they are afraid of material existence and want to become liberated from that condition. But as far as I am concerned, I wish only to worship Mahārāj Nanda because the supreme absolute Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is crawling in his courtyard as his own child."

Following is a list of respectful personalities who enjoy parental affection toward Kṛṣṇa: 1) Mother Yaśodā, the Queen of Braja, 2) Mahārāj Nanda, the King of Braja, 3) Mother Rohiṇī, the mother of Balarāma, 4) all the elderly gopīs whose sons were taken away by Lord Brahmā, 5) Devakī, the wife of Vasudeva, 6) the other fifteen wives of Vasudeva, 7) Kuntī, the mother of Arjuna, 8) Vasudeva, the real father of Kṛṣṇa, and 9) Sāndīpani Muni, Kṛṣṇa's teacher. All these are considered respectable elderly personalities with parental love for Kṛṣṇa. This list is in order of superior importance, and thus we can see that Mother Yaśodā and Mahārāj Nanda are considered to be the supermost of all elderly personalities.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, [[Vanisource:SB 10.9.3|Tenth Canto, 9th Chapter, 2nd verse]], Śukadeva Gosvāmī gives Mahārāj Parīkṣit a description of the form and beauty of Mother Yaśodā. He says, "My dear King, the wide hips of Mother Yaśodā were surrounded by silk and linen clothes, and her breasts were flowing with milk because of her affection. When she was churning butter and tightly holding the rope, the bangles on her hands and the earrings on her ears were moving, and from the nice decoration in her hair the flowers were slackening and falling down. Due to her excessive labor, there were drops of perspiration on her face."

There is another description of Mother Yaśodā in a devotee's prayer: "Let me be given protection by Mother Yaśodā, whose curly hairs are bound with thread, whose hair is very brightly beautified by the vermilion placed in the part, and whose bodily frame derides all her ornaments. Her eyes are always engaged in seeing the face of Kṛṣṇa, and thus they are always filled with tears. She has a complexion like the bluish lotus flower, which is enhanced in beauty by her dressing herself with many colorful garments. Let her merciful glance fall on all of us so that we may be protected from the clutches of māyā and smoothly progress in our devotional service!"

There is the following description of Mother Yaśodā's affection for Kṛṣṇa: After rising early in the morning, Mother Yaśodā first of all offered her breast milk to Kṛṣṇa, and then she began to chant various mantras for His protection. Then she would decorate His forehead very nicely and bind His arms with protective talismans. By all of these activities, it is definitely understood that she is the emblem of all maternal affection for Kṛṣṇa.

The description of Nanda Mahārāj's bodily features is as follows. The hairs on his head are generally black, but some of them are grey. His garments are of greenish color, like the new-grown leaves of a banyan tree. His belly is fatty, his complexion is exactly like the full moon, and he has a beautiful moustache. When Kṛṣṇa was a baby, one day He was walking in the courtyard, capturing the finger of His father, and because He could not walk steadily He appeared to be almost falling down. While Nanda Mahārāj was giving protection to His transcendental son in this way, all of a sudden there were drops of tears in his eyes, and he became overwhelmed with joy. Let us all offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of King Nanda!

Childhood age, childish dress, movements by the child, sweet words spoken by the child, nice smiling and various forms of childish play are considered provocations for increasing the parental love for Kṛṣṇa. The childhood ages of Kṛṣṇa are divided into three periods: the beginning of kaumāra age, the middle of kaumāra age, and the end of kaumāra age. During the beginning and middle of the kaumāra age, Kṛṣṇa's thighs are fatty, and the inner part of His eyes are whitish. There are signs of teeth coming out, and He is very mild and gentle. He is described as follows: "When Kṛṣṇa had only three or four teeth coming out of His gums, His thighs were fatty, His body was very, very short, and He began to enhance the parental love of Nanda Mahārāj and Mother Yaśodā with the activities of His childish body. He was sometimes stepping with His legs again and again, sometimes crying, sometimes smiling, sometimes sucking His thumb and sometimes lying down flat. These are some of the different activities of the child Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was lying down flat, sometimes sucking the toes of His feet, sometimes throwing His legs upwards, sometimes crying and sometimes smiling, Mother Yaśodā, seeing her son in such pastimes, did not show any sign of restricting Him, but rather began to watch her child with eagerness, enjoying these childhood pastimes." In the beginning of Kṛṣṇa's kaumāra age, there were the nails of tigers set in a golden necklace about His neck. There was protective tilaka on His forehead, black mascara around His eyes and silk thread around His waist. These are the descriptions of Kṛṣṇa's dress at the beginning of the kaumāra age.
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