Kanha ke Munh mein Duniya — the story of Yashoda seeing the universe in Krishna's mouth, in Hindi

The story

Yashoda Maiyya ne dekha Kanha ke munh mein saara brahamand

Nearly every mother has prised a small mouth open to check what went in. Yashoda does exactly that in this story and sees the stars — and what your child quietly learns is that the people we love hold far more than we can see.

Naani says

कान्हा — छोटा-सा शरारती बच्चा, बड़ी-बड़ी आँखें, और सिर पर मोर का पंख।

Kanha — a small, mischievous child, big round eyes, and a peacock feather on his head.

Gokul again, on a morning full of birdsong and the smell of makhan. Yashoda Maiya is churning butter in the courtyard while Kanha — big eyes, peacock feather, trouble written all over him — plays with his friends under the big tree nearby. Then he picks something up off the ground, and his friends gasp. One of them sprints back to Maiya, out of breath: Maiya, Kanha ne mitti kha li! The butter slips from her hands. Mud will give my Kanha a stomach ache. Naani turns to your child here with the most answerable question in the whole collection — should you eat mud, haan ya na?

Naani says

वह हाँफ रहा था, और उसने कहा — मैया, कान्हा ने मिट्टी खा ली!

He was out of breath, and he said — Maiya, Kanha has eaten mud.

Maiya walks to the tree. Kanha sees her coming and whips his hands behind his back. She asks gently: Kanha, tell me the truth, did you eat mud? He rolls his round eyes. Nahi Maiya, I didn't eat anything. Achha? Then open your mouth and show me. Kanha stops for a moment. Maiya's heart thumps. And slowly, he opens his mouth.

Naani says

कान्हा ने गोल-गोल आँखें घुमाईं और बोला, नहीं मैया, मैंने कुछ नहीं खाया। अच्छा?

Kanha rolled his round eyes and said, no Maiya, I didn't eat anything. Oh really?

She looks in. No mud anywhere. But — inside that small mouth, tiny stars begin to twinkle. Then the whole sky, moon and sun; tall mountains, running rivers, deep forests. Then Gokul itself, the village cows — and Yashoda Maiya, looking back at herself. Her eyes go wide. The entire world is inside her child's mouth. Then Kanha snaps it shut and grins his naughtiest grin, Maiya blinks, and there is only her little boy standing in front of her with the same sweet smile.

Naani says

उस छोटे मुँह के अंदर, धीरे-धीरे, नन्हे-नन्हे तारे जगमगा उठे।

Inside that small mouth, slowly, tiny stars began to twinkle.

What she does next is the heart of the story. She lifts him up and holds him to her chest. My small Kanha, who plays in my courtyard every day — there was all that inside him, and I never knew. And then she smiles, because however big the world is, to her he is just her son, who gets hungry, who wants makhan, who likes his mother's lap best of all. Evening comes, the crickets start, she feeds him butter and sings a lori, and Kanha falls asleep in her arms. Naani ends by telling your child that there is a whole lovely world inside them too.

The value this story teaches

Small children assume they know the people around them completely: Mummy is Mummy, Dadi is Dadi. Discovering that someone familiar holds more than you can see is the root of both wonder and empathy — and at this age, faith is exactly that wonder, felt in the lap of someone ordinary.

The story keeps it in a courtyard. A friend runs up breathless — Maiya, Kanha ne mitti kha li. Kanha hides his hands and says nahi Maiya; she asks him to open his mouth. Inside: stars, sun and moon, mountains, rivers, Gokul, and Yashoda herself looking back. He snaps it shut and grins. She lifts him up, and he is simply her hungry son again.