If the effort is continual and intense the Lord becomes more and more attracted- Damodar Lila

No matter how much ever rope Mother Yashoda brought, the rope was always two fingers too short. That was rather remarkable feature of this pastime. Because logically speaking if the rope gets longer and longer, the distance lacking should get shorter and shorter. But it never did. It was always two fingers too short. Krishna was not becoming bigger and bigger also. He was the same size. He didn't increase. Very mysteriously somehow the rope was always two fingers too short.

It explains that two things are lacking - two fingers short. One is the endeavour of the devotee and the other is the mercy of the Lord. So if the devotee does not make effort then Krishna is not inclined to show His mercy. The more effort one shows the more mercy Krishna shows. And in prema, very explicitly the Lord comes under the control of the devotee. Not so evident in sadhana bhakti. So the effort is necessary. Not necessarily that one becomes tired, but one puts intense efforts to always please the Lord. The nature of prema is that it is very intense that one is always trying to please the Lord somehow or other. And that becomes attractive to the Lord. If one is lax then the Lord is less inclined. Even if it is initial bhakti or accidental bhakti the Lord is somewhat attracted. But if it is continual and intense the Lord is more and more attracted. One of the 6 qualities of bhakti mentioned in the Nectar of Devotion is that it is krishna akarsini. If one puts forth the effort and one is on the high level of prema, the Lord gets very attracted and falls under the control of the devotee. Therefore He will give His mercy, He will comply with the desire of the devotee. He will agree to do what the devotee wants. In this case, Mother Yasoda's desire was to tie up Krishna. Therefore he agreed to do so. If it is some other issue the Lord will agree to do what the devotee wants. We can see a very great willingness of the Lord to please the devotee.

This is all of course taking place within the past times of the Lord in which the Lord identifies Himself, in this case as a child. In doing so, He is obligated to play the role of a child completely. And part of that is that He is under the control of his parents!

Excerpt from the lecture on SB 10.9.18, October 27th, 2019, ISKCON Chennai.