Radhanath Swami Maharaj elucidates that one of the primary reasons for the Lord’s appearance was to establish the Yuga dharma of chanting the Lord’s holy names.
And the Lord embarked on this mission even before His birth. When Lord Gauranga was to appear in this world, it was a total lunar eclipse & all the residents of Sri Navadvipa dham had gathered near the Ganges & were engaged in loudly chanting the holy names of Krishna –
“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”
Thus the Lord ensured that everyone, irrespective of whether they were theist or atheist, bhakta or shakta, all were engaged in chanting the holy names of Lord Hari. This was just the beginning, because in the future, it would be evident that the Lord had advented Himself especially to engage everybody in chanting His own holy names.
Generally when a small child cries, he is pacified by milk or toys or the parents take the child in their laps & pacify him. Radhanath Swami Maharaj, however, explains that little Nimai was not to be pacified in this way. When Nimai would cry, He would be given milk to drink or toys to play. But Nimai would continue to cry more loudly. Since these ladies were all devotees, they would ultimately clap their hands & chant the names of Lord Hari. Hearing this, Nimai would stop crying & cast a beautiful smile on all of them – melting their hearts. This was His favorite pastime and thus right from His birth, He was engaging everyone in chanting the holy names of Krishna. The neighborhood ladies would also love to enjoy this pastime with Nimai. They would wait for Him to cry and would then wait to clap their hands and chant.
However one day, in spite of chanting by the ladies, Nimai would not stop crying. They were bewildered – why was He not smiling as usual? When they enquired from Him as to why he was still crying, little Nimai replied that it was Ekadashi and there was a wonderful preparation that was made in the house of Hiranya and Jagadish Pandit. Nimai added that he wanted to taste the preparation. Sacimata told Nimai that it was impossible to provide Him with those preparations. However this news soon reached Hiranya & Jagadish pandit, who were surprised to know that Nimai could know what was prepared in their house to be offered to Lord Visnu. They got all the preparations for His pleasure & gave it to Him. After eating their preparations, Nimai was pacified & was very happy. Hiranya & Jagadish pandit realized that this child was none other than the Lord of their hearts, Lord Krishna. But they did not reveal this to anyone.
– Radhanath Swami
