Yes you can bind God by a rope around his belly!

"Namam Isvaram Sac-cid-ananda rupam.. Lasad kundalam gokule braja maanam.."

This song I quote above is part of Damodarashtakam- a poetic compilation of eight verses in glorification of Lord Krishna. This song captures the story of baby Krishna, who is caught stealing butter and feeding them to the monkeys. His mother Yashoda catches him red-handed and chases him around trying to catch him. After repeated attempts she finally manages to catch him and tie him to a wooden mortar with the help of ropes which are used to bind cows, as punishment for all his mischief.

This is my favourite story. I love the fact that how God, whom we generally worship with awe and reverence can be bound by ropes used for cows. Can anything or any force stop God? Yes! But there is only one thing which can stop him, Your love!

This particular story took place during the month of Kartik - a month as per the vedic calendar which also includes the festival of Diwali. This month of Kartik is very auspicious to the vaishnavas, and some of them intensify their daily worship.

In the temples of Vrindavan and ISKCON all over the world, twice a day, we offer lamps to the deities of Lord Krsna. Unlike other aartis though, here the lamps are not offered by the Pujaris/priests. They are offered by one and all. They are small diyas which are lit and given to everyone and you can directly offer it to the deities by waving it in front of them in usual arati style.

Mornings it takes place at 7.30-8 and evenings also around 7.20pm. I always try my best to make it to the evenings sessions. And the Damodarashtakam song is sung by the devotees in the most melodious tunes, most times in Raag Bhairavi, accompanied by instruments, lights dimmed and hundreds of people offering lamps.

In Mayapur, my favourite place as mentioned before, even locals throng the temple and you see the big temple only lit by lamps carried by the thousands.

This festival and story was also very dear to my Dad, and during his final days, I read out the story to him from the Krsna book as he listened through his semi-conscious state.

--------------------Thank You------------------------