In plain words
On this I will relate an incident from the Kṛṣṇa Avatāra. One day Kṛṣṇa came to Yaśodā: ‘Mother! Today I am going out with the cows. All My friends are calling Me, very cheerfully, to come. I too am going to join My friends and watch over the cows,’ He pleaded. The mother drew her son close: ‘My child! The forests are full of thorns, snakes, insects and bushes, my dear. If you are to go into such a forest, you must wear sandals. As of today I have not set about having sandals stitched. After two or three more days I will put fine sandals on your feet and send you out with the cows, Gopāla! Today, give it up, my dear!’ she asked. At once Kṛṣṇa asked, ‘What did you say My name was?’ Yaśodā said, ‘My child! Your name is Gopāla, isn't it?’ ‘They called Me Gopāla precisely because I am the one who tends the cows. The one who tends is the leader, isn't he! The cows I tend follow Me. So whatever path I, who am the leader, take, those who follow Me will follow that same path. So, since the feet of the cows that follow Me have no protection, I too must go without protection, Mother!’ He said. ‘If I wear sandals and walk in front, the cows too will waste time over putting on sandals. So I will never step into that kind of leadership. I do not need sandals. If I too live in just this way, as the cows in My care live, I can earn the honour fit for My leadership,’ He argued with His mother. That is, because God too came down to the human level to act in keeping with men, and took that very path, men attained that divinity to some extent, and the gopīs and gopālas of that time made their births fulfilled. Today too, when we press God's decrees into our citta and set about following those very decrees, it gives those who follow us the chance to attain leadership in the future. At home, when we set about cleaning up just so as to plant a few plants, water them and tend them well, we fear that someone or other might come along and think, ‘Why, he is doing a petty servant's work!’, and so, out of pride, today we give up even our own housework.