Text 30
hastāgrāhye racayati vidhiṁ pīṭhakolūkhalādyaiś
chidraṁ hy antar-nihita-vayunaḥ śikya-bhāṇḍeṣu tad-vit
dhvāntāgāre dhṛta-maṇi-gaṇaṁ svāṅgam artha-pradīpaṁ
kāle gopyo yarhi gṛha-kṛtyeṣu suvyagra-cittāḥ
hasta-agrāhye — when the destination is out of the reach of His hands; racayati — He arranges to make; vidhim — a means; pīṭhaka — by wooden planks piled together; ulūkhala-ādyaiḥ — and by overturning the stone mortar for grinding spices; chidram — a hole; hi — indeed; antaḥ-nihita — about the contents of the pot; vayunaḥ — with such knowledge; śikya — hanging by a swing; bhāṇḍeṣu — in the pots; tat-vit — expert in that knowledge, or in full knowledge; dhvānta-āgāre — in a very dark room; dhṛta-maṇi-gaṇam — because of being decorated with valuable jewels; sva-aṅgam — His own body; artha-pradīpam — is the light required for seeing in darkness; kāle — after that, in due course of time; gopyaḥ — the elderly gopīs; yarhi — as soon as; gṛha-kṛtyeṣu — in discharging household affairs; su-vyagra-cittāḥ — are busily engaged.
“When the milk and curd are kept high on a swing hanging from the ceiling and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma cannot reach it, They arrange to reach it by piling up various planks and turning upside down the mortar for grinding spices. Being quite aware of the contents of a pot, They poke holes in it. While the elderly gopīs go about their household affairs, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma sometimes go into a dark room, brightening the place with the valuable jewels and ornaments on Their bodies and taking advantage of this light by stealing.
Formerly, in every household, yogurt and butter were kept for use in emergencies. But Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would pile up planks so that They could reach the pots and would then pick holes in the pots with Their hands so that the contents would leak out and They could drink it. This was another means for stealing butter and milk. When the butter and milk were kept in a dark room, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would go there and make the place bright with the valuable jewels on Their bodies. On the whole, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma engaged in stealing butter and milk from the neighborhood houses in many ways.