________________
him that once Radharani also turned into a flute. Let me tell you a small, lovely story about Kanhaiya, when Radharani turned into a flute. Surdas has written this wonderful story.
When Kanhaiya went to graze cattle for the first time it was the month of Kartik and the day of Bhratri dwitiya. It was slightly cold in the morning so his mother covered Lalla with a black shawl so that her loving child would not catch a chill. Lalla went away. When he returned home his mother was waiting for him. He had lost his shawl and had returned home without it. Vyaaji writes,
Tangururajaschurit kuntal vadhavrah vanya prasoon ruchirek
chana charu haasam.
Her son returned completely covered with dust from the cows' feet. The mother picked up the child and wiped his face with the border of her cloth. Suddenly she noticed and asked, "Lalla, where is your shawl?" Kanhaiya pondered, "If I say it is lost then she won't ever allow me to go again. She will say that if I cannot take care of my clothes then how shall I tend the cows?" So he said, "Mother, what can I say? Actually, it has been stolen!" His mother said, "Come on, you are the bejewelled crown of the raiders. Who can steal your shawl? You are lying!" Kanhaiya said, "Mother, I am really not lying. Why do you not listen to the complete story?" Seeing that his mother did not believe him he made another excuse, "When I saw that the shawl had gone I thought someone had stolen it but when I enquired around I came to know something else, which had really happened." He says,
Main kamari ki khoj karan hit sabko poochh lai
maiya mori sabkho poochh lai
ek kahat kaahha tori kamari Yamunaa mein jaat bahee
maiyaa moree Yamunaa mein jaat bahee.
"When I enquired around someone said my shawl was washed away in the river Yamuna."
His mother said, "What! For a small ball you jumped into the Kalidah (the lake in the Yamuna where the hooded serpent Kalia lived)? How am I supposed to believe that the shawl got swept away and you could not get it back?" Kanhaiya said, "Mother, why do you not listen to the complete story? That is what I am telling you. I learned that my shawl was being swept away and was going towards the Yamuna when I came to know that that was just a rumour, and nothing of this kind had happened!""Then what happened?" She asked,
167
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
