52. ingu illai enREnO dhadhipANdanaip pOlE

The name Dhadhipanda means one who has a large yogurt pot. Each day, Dhadhipanda would take a large pot of yogurt and go about selling it. In the evening, he would come back with the empty pot and rest outside his home.

One day, Krishna was sitting in his mother Yashoda's lap and drinking milk. Suddenly she remembered leaving milk on the stove and she left Krishna and ran inside to take the milk before it got overheated. Krishna became angry at that and threw a stone on a pot containing ghee. When Yashoda returned, she saw the broken ghee pot while Krishna sat innocently nearby. She became angry at Him and called out to Him while brandishing a small stick. Krishna began to run crying and Yashoda started to run behind Him.

While running to escape His mother, Krishna saw Dhadhipanda and his pot. So, he told him "O Dhadhipanda! My mother is angry with me and she is going to hit me. Please hide me in your pot and tell her that you did not see me". So, Dhadhipanda hid Krishna in his pot. When Yashoda came there and asked if he had seen Krishna and if He was hiding there, he lied "He is not here".

Believing him, Yashoda left. Krishna then called out from inside the pot "O Dhadhipanda! I am not able to breathe inside here. Please let me out". Dhadhipanda was graced at that time by the Lord and he realized that Sri Krishna was the supreme. So, he told Krishna "O Krishna! Only if You promise to give me moksha, will I let you out". After a short argument Krishna agreed to it Not satisfied, Dhadhipanda also asked for moksha for his pot and Krishna acquiesced. As promised, Krishna gave moksha to both Dhadhipanda and his pot.

No one can say, upon whom the Lord's grace would fall. In the previous varththai, one saw that His grace fell on Prahlada who told that He was everywhere; in this varththai, it is seen that He gave moksha to Dhadhipanda who said that He was not there (near him).

Thirukkolur Ammal is asking "Did I say a lie (that He was not present nearby) for His sake, like Dhadhipanda did?"