---

---

gopāla: A name for the divine baby Krishna. Literally, shepherd of the cows ("go").

devakī: Krishna's birth mother.

nandana: Ananda means bliss, here meaning that Gopala is the "bliss of his mother Devaki" (or Yashoda).

yashodā: Krishna's adoptive mother.

---

"How can the Lord of Lords appear as such a sweet, beguiling child and cause so many problems for His gentle mother, Yashoda? Mischief, naughtiness, cuteness—Gopala wrote the book. But it says in the scriptures that the saints and sages of old would have traded their deep peace and serenity in a heartbeat for just one moment of Yashoda's troubles!"  ~ Jai Uttal


"... and we would sing for Maharajji. He's a Ram guy you know, he's Hanuman, so his mantra is Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram, so we used to sing that, and Hanuman Chalisa. But we sang anything we knew. Gopala... he loved Gopala Gopala Devakinandana Gopala — he became like a baby, and he'd roll around, he was unbelievable, he loved everything..."  ~ Krishna Das


"At one point somebody came to Krishna's mother and said, 'Yashoda, your little boy, Govinda, has been eating mud!' Yashoda said, 'That's terrible! Come here, Govinda – open your mouth and let me see.' Govinda opened his mouth, and Yasoda looked in... and there inside his mouth she saw the entire universe, all the galaxies, and all the stars, and all the planets..."  ~ Ram Dass


"We find in our mothers the epitome of selfless love. A mother protects and nurtures her helpless child with all of her being. This love is one of the great archetypal relationships, and in Hinduism, this motif is found especially in the image of the baby Krishna, or Gopal, lying in the lap of his mother, Yashoda. Here it is not God or Goddess who is seen as the nurturing mother, but God who agrees to play the helpless child. He is utterly dependent on the love of the devotee who takes on the motherly role."  ~ Krishna Dharma

---

---