Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Yaśodā would churn yoghurt here. Once, during the last part of the night, baby Kṛṣṇa was sleeping on His bed. The previous day, Yaśodā-maiyā had sent all of her servants and maidservants to their respective homes for the occasion of Dīpāvalī. In the morning, she churned the yoghurt herself, so she would be able to feed fresh butter to Kṛṣṇa. As she was churning, she absorbed herself in singing about Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in a high and melodious voice. Kṛṣna awoke and, feeling hungry, climbed out of His bed and began to search for His mother. Crying and stumbling along with great difficulty, He somehow managed to reach Mother Yaśodā, who affectionately placed Him on her lap and began to breast-feed Him.
When she was only midway through feeding Him, the milk on the fire nearby began to boil over. Mother Yaśodā forcefully put Kṛṣṇa on the floor and went to take care of the milk. Baby Kṛṣṇa had not yet drunk to His satisfaction and He began to quiver in uncontrollable anger. Taking up a stone pestle, He punched a hole in the churning pot and liquid yoghurt flowed all over the floor. Kṛṣṇa trampled through the stream of yoghurt before walking into the house and climbing upon an upside-down mortar. Taking butter from a hanging pot, He ate some Himself and then began to feed some to the monkeys and crows. Upon returning from the nearby stove, Yaśodā-maiyā saw signs of her child’s activities and began to smile. She crept up behind Kṛṣṇa, but just as she went to catch Him He caught sight of her, jumped off the mortar and fled. But Mother Yaśodā ran faster than Kṛṣṇa and caught hold of Him from behind. To punish Him, she tied Him to the mortar and then busied herself with her household duties.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.18) states:
visrasta-kabara-srajaḥ
dṛṣṭvā pariśramaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ
kṛpayā ’sīt sva-bandhane
Kṛṣṇa and His sakhās began to drag the grinding mortar, and by so doing, touched and delivered Kuvera’s sons, who had been cursed in a previous life to become trees. This pastime is described in detail in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Tenth Canto, Chapters Nine and Ten).
Mother Yaśodā had tied Kṛṣṇa to the mortar right here in Nanda-bhavana, and the place where Nalakuvera and Maṇigrīva were delivered lies just outside.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This is where Yashoda Mayi churned yogurt in order to make butter and ghee. The word ‘dadhi’ and also ‘dahi’ means yogurt and ‘manthana’ means ‘churning’. This place was Yashoda’s kitchen area near to the goshala where there was a well for water, a fire for cooking and boiling milk, a yogurt churning pot, as well as grinding mortar. This was the place where the Damodara-lila took place when Yashoda Mayi bound Krishna with a rope.
