Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What are some of the things that He did when He was a little boy? Some tricks or some?
Prabhupāda: Sometimes He would play with snakes. One day, when He was crawling in the courtyard . . . Indian house . . . as, just like here is compound outside, in Indian house there is courtyard inside. So He was crawling in the yard, and a snake came. A snake. And He began to play with the snake. The snake will do like this, and crawling, and He would see it, he would strike.
In this way the snake was playing and the mother became so much afraid. They cannot touch. If the snake bites . . . so they simply saw that the child is playing with the snake, and after some time the snake went away. And they took up the child, "Oh, God has saved this child; otherwise He would have been killed. Such a venomous, big snake."
Govinda dāsī: It was a big snake? Very big? And was it Śeṣa?
Prabhupāda: That is another thing. It may be understood that He was Śeṣa, but that was the incident. And another incident is that when He was just walking . . . so it is the system that small children, they are decorated with ornaments here, here, bangle, so many ornaments, here. So one thief saw that . . . he stole away the child. So he was seeking some secret place, lonely place, so that he can rob out.
In this way seeking, seeking, he traveled, and at last he came just in front of the house, and he dropped the child, that "Somebody may see that I have taken this child. Then I'll be beaten, I will be caught." So out of fear he fled away. And the guardians, ladies, they were very much anxious, "Who has taken the child? He was with ornaments." But they saw that the child is there. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed for some time on the shoulder of the thief.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Were they liberated souls? The thief?
Prabhupāda: At least, after Caitanya Mahāprabhu's getting on their shoulders, (laughs) they must have been liberated.