One day, five or six nights before the completion of the year, Kṛṣṇa, tending the calves, entered the forest along with Balarāma.

COMMENTARY

The sun had risen up high in the sky (divā rūddhaṁ).

 

|| 10.13.7 ||

tatheti pāyayitvārbhā vatsān ārudhya śādvale

muktvā śikyāni bubhujuḥ samaṁ bhagavatā mudā

TRANSLATION

Accepting Lord Kṛṣṇa’s proposal, the cowherd boys allowed the calves to drink water from the river and then tied them to trees where there was green, tender grass. Then the boys opened their baskets of food and began eating with Kṛṣṇa in great transcendental pleasure.

COMMENTARY

The boys tied the calves to trees in a field full of tender green grass (śādvale). This means the calves were led to the field but because of greed for that grass, they would not go anywhere else.

 

|| 10.13.8 ||

kṛṣṇasya viṣvak puru-rāji-maṇḍalair abhyānanāḥ phulla-dṛśo vrajārbhakāḥ

sahopaviṣṭā vipine virejuś chadā yathāmbhoruha-karṇikāyāḥ

TRANSLATION

Like the whorl of a lotus flower surrounded by its petals and leaves, Kṛṣṇa sat in the center, encircled by lines of His friends, who all looked very beautiful. Every one of them was trying to look forward toward Kṛṣṇa, thinking that Kṛṣṇa might look toward him. In this way they all enjoyed their lunch in the forest.

COMMENTARY

This verse describes the arrangement for the picnic. Kṛṣṇa sat in the center, encircled by lines of His friends. All the boys sat looking toward the center (abhyānanā) where Kṛṣṇa was sitting. It was due to love that all the cowherd boys wanted to face Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa fulfilled their desire by employing His sarva saṅkalpatā śakti to make His face and limbs appear in all directions at once. Thus each boy thought, “I am sitting in front directly facing Kṛṣṇa. But the other boys are sitting at a distance with their backs or sides to Kṛṣṇa.”

 

This pastime illustrates a Bhagavad-gītā verse (13.14): sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat sarvato ’kṣi-śiro-mukham, sarvataḥ śrutimal loke, “Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.”

 

Sahopaviṣṭa means the cowherd boys sat with no spaces between them. They sat in rows around Kṛṣṇa like the whorl of a lotus flower surrounded by its petals.

 

|| 10.13.9 ||

kecit puṣpair dalaiḥ kecit pallavair aṅkuraiḥ phalaiḥ

śigbhis tvagbhir dṛṣadbhiś ca bubhujuḥ kṛta-bhājanāḥ

TRANSLATION

Among the cowherd boys, some placed their lunch on flowers, some on leaves, fruits, or bunches of leaves, some actually in their baskets, some on the bark of trees and some on rocks. This is what the children imagined to be their plates as they ate their lunch.

COMMENTARY

For fun each boy made his lunch plate out of a different material such as flowers or leaves.

 

|| 10.13.10 ||

sarve mitho darśayantaḥ sva-sva-bhojya-ruciṁ pṛthak

hasanto hāsayantaś cā-bhyavajahruḥ saheśvarāḥ

TRANSLATION

All the cowherd boys enjoyed their lunch with Kṛṣṇa, showing one another the different tastes of the different varieties of preparations they had brought from home. Tasting one another’s preparations, they began to laugh and make one another laugh.

COMMENTARY

The boys would taste a little of the different items brought from their homes and then call out to their friends: “O sakhā, Kṛṣṇa! Śrīdāmā! Subala! See how tasty my food is!” Kṛṣṇa and the boys would then taste one another’s food and laugh. This is the meaning ruciṁ darśayantah.

 

Without being seen by anyone one clever boy stuffed some jasmine flowers inside a samosā and said, “O friends, please taste this nice samosā!” Believing his statement, a boy took the samosā and ate it. When he started making faces due to the bitter taste, the giver laughed and the receiver laughed too. “Ca” indicates that afterwards the giver would get playfully beaten and run away.

 

|| 10.13.11 ||

bibhrad veṇuṁ jaṭhara-paṭayoḥ śṛṅga-vetre ca kakṣe

vāme pāṇau masṛṇa-kavalaṁ tat-phalāny aṅgulīṣu

tiṣṭhan madhye sva-parisuhṛdo hāsayan narmabhiḥ svaiḥ

svarge loke miṣati bubhuje yajña-bhug bāla-keliḥ

TRANSLATION

Kṛṣṇa is yajña-bhuk—that is, He eats only offerings of yajña—but to exhibit His childhood pastimes, He now sat with His flute tucked between His waist and His tight cloth on His right side and with His horn bugle and cow-driving stick on His left. Holding in His hand a very nice preparation of yogurt and rice, with pieces of suitable fruit between His fingers, He sat like the whorl of a lotus flower, looking forward toward all His friends, personally joking with them and creating jubilant laughter among them as He ate. At that time, the denizens of heaven were watching, struck with wonder at how the Personality of Godhead, who eats only in yajña, was now eating with His friends in the forest.

COMMENTARY

This verse describes the outstanding qualities of Kṛṣṇa eating with His friends. Kṛṣṇa sat with His flute tucked between His waist and His tight cloth on His right side, and His horn and cow-driving stick on His left. In His left hand Kṛṣṇa held a big lump of yogurt rice. In between His fingers Kṛṣṇa held small pieces of lemon and amla pickle to mix with the rice. Or the words can mean that Kṛṣṇa held a lump of rice in His left hand, and then took small amounts with His right hand in order to eat. The cowherd boys sat in a circle facing Kṛṣṇa and chattered as they ate.

 

Kṛṣṇa addressed a buzzing bumblebee, “O bee, why are you flying near My face? Go to Madhumaṇgala who is just before you and get a drink.” Madhumaṇgala replied, “Hey sakhā! Do You want the bee to bite me? Hey bee, are you not afraid of killing a brāhmaṇa?” Another boy exclaimed, “Look at that band of wild monkeys! Though they are hungry and watching us, the boys are eating peacefully. Hey monkeys! Approach stealthily so they don’t see you and then steal their food.”

 

Kṛṣṇa’s sarva saṅkalpa śakti and līlā-śakti then fulfilled His wish: “O Lord! If You want some obstacle during this lunch for some amusement, then we will go and bring Brahmā.”

 

The celestial residents watched in astonishment at how Kṛṣṇa, who eats only oblations of ghee purified by mantra and offered in sacrifice (yajña bhuk), was now playing like an ordinary child (bāla keli). Kṛṣṇa was scolding or praising His friends, and giving and taking half eaten food with them in the forest.

 

|| 10.13.12 ||

bhārataivaṁ vatsa-peṣu bhuñjāneṣv acyutātmasu

vatsās tv antar-vane dūraṁ viviśus tṛṇa-lobhitāḥ

TRANSLATION

O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, while the cowherd boys, who knew nothing within the core of their hearts but Kṛṣṇa, were thus engaged in eating their lunch in the forest, the calves went far away, deep into the forest, being allured by green grass.

 

|| 10.13.13 ||

tān dṛṣṭvā bhaya-santrastān ūce kṛṣṇo ’sya bhī-bhayam

mitrāṇy āśān mā viramate-hāneṣye vatsakān aham

TRANSLATION

When Kṛṣṇa saw that His friends the cowherd boys were frightened, He, the fierce controller even of fear itself, said, just to mitigate their fear, “My dear friends, do not stop eating. I shall bring your calves back to this spot by personally going after them Myself.”

COMMENTARY

When Kṛṣṇa saw that the cowherd boys were frightened over losing sight of their calves, He, who gives fear to fear personified (asya bhībhayam), spoke affectionately, “O friends, do not stop eating (asanat). I shall go and personally bring your calves back to this spot.”

 

|| 10.13.14 ||

ity uktvādri-darī-kuñja-gahvareṣv ātma-vatsakān

vicinvan bhagavān kṛṣṇaḥ sapāṇi-kavalo yayau

TRANSLATION

“Let Me go and search for the calves,” Kṛṣṇa said. “Don’t disturb your enjoyment.” Then, carrying His yogurt and rice in His hand, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, immediately went out to search for the calves of His friends. To please His friends, He began searching in all the mountains, mountain caves, bushes and narrow passages.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa went out of the search for the calves while holding a lump of yogurt rice in His hand (sa pāṇi kavala) to eat.

 

|| 10.13.15 ||

ambhojanma-janis tad-antara-gato māyārbhakasyeśitur

draṣṭuṁ mañju mahitvam anyad api tad-vatsān ito vatsapān

nītvānyatra kurūdvahāntaradadhāt khe ’vasthito yaḥ purā

dṛṣṭvāghāsura-mokṣaṇaṁ prabhavataḥ prāptaḥ paraṁ vismayam

TRANSLATION

O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Brahmā, who resides in the higher planetary system in the sky, had observed the activities of the most powerful Kṛṣṇa in killing and delivering Aghāsura, and he was astonished. Now that same Brahmā wanted to show some of his own power and see the power of Kṛṣṇa, who was engaged in His childhood pastimes, playing as if with ordinary cowherd boys. Therefore, in Kṛṣṇa’s absence, Brahmā took all the boys and calves to another place. Thus he became entangled, for in the very near future he would see how powerful Kṛṣṇa was.

COMMENTARY

Brahmā is addressed as “ambho janma jani” one who is born from the lotus. This indicates that Brahmā, though a living being, has a material birth. The hint is here given that Brahmā was so deluded by the material energy that he wanted to test Kṛṣṇa, who is the very source of mahāmāyā. One should not claim that Brahmā’s power of illusion could actually exert influence over omniscient Kṛṣṇa and His dear cowherd boys, because a later verse says “vatsan pulinam aninya” (as before Kṛṣṇa took the calves to the river bank). Kṛṣṇa’s līlā-śakti allowed Pūtanā to bewilder Yaśodā and Kṛṣṇa in order to produce vismaya rasa (astonishment) in the Lord’s transcendental pastimes. Pūtanā could have never caused such bewilderment on her own. Brahmā’s power of illusion put the boys to sleep, but this was allowed only for the purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. In actuality the cowherd boys were put to sleep by Kṛṣṇa’s yogamāyā potency. This can be understood from the later statement: kṛṣṇa māyā hatatmanam, “the cowherd boys were bewildered by Kṛṣṇa’s māyā.”

 

One should not claim that after being bewildered by Kṛṣṇa the boys were taken somewhere else by Brahmā, because Brahmā later said, “These boys are not sleeping by my māyā. Where did they come from?”

 

Śukadeva says after this that Brahmā could not understand which boys were produced by Kṛṣṇa and which were created by the external energy. Śukadeva would not describe the real cowherd boys as being created by the external energy. It is proper to say that Brahmā had stolen some other forms of boys created by the external energy. After seeing the killing of Aghāsura, Brahmā wanted to see more of Kṛṣṇa’s powers, and therefore came to this spot (tad antargataḥ). Brahmā removed the cowherd boys and calves from the bank of the Yamunā, hid them elsewhere (itaḥ) and then disappeared. The boys and calves that Brahmā stole were created by māyā. Since that māyā arises from the Lord’s māyā, one could say that everything was under the Lord’s māyā. Bewildered by the Lord’s energy, Brahmā stole the calves and boys created by māyā in order to see Kṛṣṇa’s powers. Brahmā was thinking, “When I steal the boys and calves will Kṛṣṇa show some power and another wonderful pastime? Will He search and find the cows Himself or come to me and pray to get them back? Or will He not be able to understand anything?” Such thoughts were possible only because Brahmā was bewildered by the Lord’s energy. Thus when Brahmā desired to steal the boys and calves, yogamāyā hid the real boys and calves and mahāmāyā instantly produced exact replicas for Brahmā to steal.

 

Prabhavata means from Kṛṣṇa. Being astonished upon seeing Kṛṣṇa’s deliverance of Aghāsura, Brahmā came there.

 

|| 10.13.16 ||

tato vatsān adṛṣṭvaitya puline ’pi ca vatsapān

ubhāv api vane kṛṣṇo vicikāya samantataḥ

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, when Kṛṣṇa was unable to find the calves, He returned to the bank of the river, but there He was also unable to see the cowherd boys. Thus He began to search for both the calves and the boys, as if He could not understand what had happened.

COMMENTARY

The phrase “not seeing the calves, Kṛṣṇa returned,” means it was an appearance of not seeing them, for Kṛṣṇa knew exactly where they were. Kṛṣṇa did this to make Brahmā believe that he could bewilder anyone including Bhāgavan. Then Kṛṣṇa began looking for the boys and calves. Playing the part of a distressed actor, Kṛṣṇa appeared to be looking for them. Later in verse sixty-one it says, “Brahmā saw Kṛṣṇa, the actor (nāṭyam) in the form of a cowherdboy.”

 

|| 10.13.17 ||

kvāpy adṛṣṭvāntar-vipine vatsān pālāṁś ca viśva-vit

sarvaṁ vidhi-kṛtaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ sahasāvajagāma ha

TRANSLATION

When Kṛṣṇa was unable to find the calves and their caretakers, the cowherd boys, anywhere in the forest, He could suddenly understand that this was the work of Lord Brahmā.

COMMENTARY

This verse shows why Kṛṣṇa began searching further. Though Kṛṣṇa is omniscient, He did not see the calves in any fields nor did He see the boys on the banks of the Yamunā, so He began searching for them. Did Kṛṣṇa understand the theft at the time of stealing, after the theft or after looking for some time? Without having to think, Kṛṣṇa understood immediately (sahasa) at the time of the theft that Brahmā had done it.

 

|| 10.13.18 ||

tataḥ kṛṣṇo mudaṁ kartuṁ tan-mātṝṇāṁ ca kasya ca

ubhayāyitam ātmānaṁ cakre viśva-kṛd īśvaraḥ

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, just to create pleasure both for Brahmā and for the mothers of the calves and cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa, the creator of the entire cosmic manifestation, expanded Himself as calves and boys.

COMMENTARY

While Brahmā, believing that he had bewildered Kṛṣṇa, was being mystified by the Lord’s energy, Kṛṣṇa along with His calves and boyfriends returned home and began performing His usual pastimes such as eating, as if they were never bewildered by Brahmā. This is not at all astonishing. In order to show His ability to bewilder everyone including Balarāma; to fulfill the desires of the gopas and gopīs to have Kṛṣṇa as their own son; to bewilder Brahmā and throw him into the ocean of dismay; to show Brahmā thousands of forms of Vāsudeva, the object of his devotion, after having taught him the Bhāgavatam, Kṛṣṇa took the form of all the calves and boys.

 

To give bliss to Lord Brahmā (ka) and the mothers, Kṛṣṇa expanded (ubhayāyitam) Himself into both the calves and boys. Kṛṣṇa could do this because He is the master of the mahat-tattva and the creator of the entire cosmic manifestation (viśvakṛt īśvara).

 

|| 10.13.19 ||

yāvad vatsapa-vatsakālpaka-vapur yāvat karāṅghry-ādikaṁ

yāvad yaṣṭi-viṣāṇa-veṇu-dala-śig yāvad vibhūṣāmbaram

yāvac chīla-guṇābhidhākṛti-vayo yāvad vihārādikaṁ

sarvaṁ viṣṇumayaṁ giro ’ṅga-vad ajaḥ sarva-svarūpo babhau

TRANSLATION

By His Vāsudeva feature, Kṛṣṇa simultaneously expanded Himself into the exact number of missing cowherd boys and calves, with their exact bodily features, their particular types of hands, legs and other limbs, their sticks, bugles and flutes, their lunch bags, their particular types of dress and ornaments placed in various ways, their names, ages and forms, and their special activities and characteristics. By expanding Himself in this way, beautiful Kṛṣṇa proved the statement samagra-jagad viṣṇumayam: “Lord Viṣṇu is all-pervading.”

COMMENTARY

This is a more elaborate description of the expanded forms of the calves and boys. It is in the singular because it is describing the class (jati). The expanded cowherd boys had very small bodies just like the original boys (yāvat). They remembered their previous activities and how they acted (vihārādikam) in relation to their parents. Kṛṣṇa is addressed as ajaḥ unborn, but it also stands for ajanya, an unfavorable portent to be feared (by Brahmā). Kṛṣṇa is the original form of all the forms (sarva svarūpa), and He is the embodied form of the statement sarvaṁ viṣṇumayam jagat, the whole universe is Viṣṇu.

 

|| 10.13.20 ||

svayam ātmātma-govatsān prativāryātma-vatsapaiḥ

krīḍann ātma-vihāraiś ca sarvātmā prāviśad vrajam

TRANSLATION

Now expanding Himself so as to appear as all the calves and cowherd boys, all of them as they were, and at the same time appear as their leader, Kṛṣṇa entered Vrajabhūmi, the land of His father, Nanda Mahārāja, just as He usually did while enjoying their company.

COMMENTARY

Five verses describe how Kṛṣṇa continued His usual program of enjoying pastimes in the morning, noon, and evening in the village exactly as before. How did Kṛṣṇa, the soul of all (sarvātma), enter Vraja? He entered as svayam ātmā, as Himself (the subject), and brought back the calves (the object), who were also Himself (ātma govatsān), along with the cowherd boys (the means), who were Himself (ātma vatsapaiḥ), and played with other boys who were Himself.

 

The boys would sit on the same bank of the river and eat, the calves would herd in the green meadows, and Kṛṣṇa would wander from forest to forest searching for the calves. In this way, one moment extended for a whole year with Kṛṣṇa acting as everyone. Yet it was unnoticed by all. Kṛṣṇa, the boys and their calves wandered everyday in Vraja enjoying different pastimes untouched by the rain, wind or sun. By the power of Kṛṣṇa’s acintya-śakti even Baladeva could not detect the difference. After his illusion was ended, Brahmā saw that same Kṛṣṇa with a stick and a lump of yogurt rice in His hand. Brahmā then offered prayers in all humility.

 

|| 10.13.21 ||

tat-tad-vatsān pṛthaṅ nītvā tat-tad-goṣṭhe niveśya saḥ

tat-tad-ātmābhavad rājaṁs tat-tat-sadma praviṣṭavān

TRANSLATION

O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Kṛṣṇa, who had divided Himself as different calves and also as different cowherd boys, entered different cow sheds as the calves and then different homes as different boys.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa, playing the role of each calf and cowherd boy (tat tad ātma), herded each calf into its respective cow shed. In His expanded forms as Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā, Subala and other boys, Kṛṣṇa entered their respective houses.

 

|| 10.13.22 ||

tan-mātaro veṇu-rava-tvarotthitā

utthāpya dorbhiḥ parirabhya nirbharam

sneha-snuta-stanya-payaḥ-sudhāsavaṁ

matvā paraṁ brahma sutān apāyayan

TRANSLATION

The mothers of the boys, upon hearing the sounds of the flutes and bugles being played by their sons, immediately rose from their household tasks, lifted their boys onto their laps, embraced them with both arms and began to feed them with their breast milk, which flowed forth because of extreme love specifically for Kṛṣṇa. Actually Kṛṣṇa is everything, but at that time, expressing extreme love and affection, they took special pleasure in feeding Kṛṣṇa, the ParaBrahman, and Kṛṣṇa drank the milk from His respective mothers as if it were a nectarean beverage.

COMMENTARY

“O will we ever be like mother Yaśodā and have Kṛṣṇa as our child?” This verse describes how Kṛṣṇa fulfilled this desire of the elderly gopīs without their knowledge. Treating the Kṛṣṇa expansions just like their sons, the mothers put them on their laps and fed their breast milk to them. The word “uduhya” is sometimes found in place of utthāpya. The mothers held their children more affectionately than before, and due to this increased affection more milk flowed (nirbharam: excessively) from their breasts than before.

 

Kṛṣṇa, the Parabraḥman, drank the milk from His respective mothers as if it were the sweetest nectar because that milk was filled with their intense motherly affection. The word sudhāsavaṁ indicates that to Kṛṣṇa their breast milk tasted like nectar (sudha), and since it was saturated with their prema it had the intoxicating effect of wine (asavam) so it filled Kṛṣṇa with joy. The elderly gopīs’ inner ambition was to have Kṛṣṇa as their son, so the Lord fulfilled it in this pastime of bewildering Brahmā. Thus for one year Kṛṣṇa enjoyed the special transcendental pleasure created by yogamāyā between all the mothers and Himself. That is why Brahmā said, “In great pleasure they drank the nectar (payaḥ-sudhāsavam) from their mothers’ breasts.”

 

|| 10.13.23 ||

tato nṛponmardana-majja-lepanā-laṅkāra-rakṣā-tilakāśanādibhiḥ

saṁlālitaḥ svācaritaiḥ praharṣayan sāyaṁ gato yāma-yamena mādhavaḥ

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, as required according to the scheduled round of His pastimes, Kṛṣṇa returned in the evening, entered the house of each of the cowherd boys, and engaged exactly like the former boys, thus enlivening their mothers with transcendental pleasure. The mothers took care of the boys by massaging them with oil, bathing them, smearing their bodies with sandalwood pulp, decorating them with ornaments, chanting protective mantras, decorating their bodies with tilaka and giving them food. In this way, the mothers served Kṛṣṇa personally.

 

COMMENTARY

According to the scheduled round (yāma yamena) of His pastimes, Kṛṣṇa returned in the evening, and entered the house of each cowherd boy. The word Mādhava refers to Kṛṣṇa and His expansions as cowherd boys. The mothers took care of the boys by massaging fragrant oil on their bodies (unmardana), bathing them (majja), smearing their bodies with sandalwood pulp, ornamenting them, chanting protective mantras, decorating their bodies with tilaka and feeding them sumptuously.

 

|| 10.13.24 ||

gāvas tato goṣṭham upetya satvaraṁ huṅkāra-ghoṣaiḥ parihūta-saṅgatān

svakān svakān vatsatarān apāyayan muhur lihantyaḥ sravad audhasaṁ payaḥ

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, all the cows entered their different sheds and began mooing loudly, calling for their respective calves. When the calves arrived, the mothers began licking the calves’ bodies again and again and profusely feeding them with the milk flowing from their milk bags.

COMMENTARY

The bewilderment of the cows was similar to that of the mothers. First the cows entered their sheds and began mooing loudly to call for their respective calves. When the calves arrived, the mothers began continuously licking their bodies and feeding them with a constant flow of milk from their milk bags. This hints that their affection was more than before.

 

|| 10.13.25 ||

go-gopīnāṁ mātṛtāsminn āsīt snehardhikāṁ vinā

purovad āsv api hares tokatā māyayā vinā

TRANSLATION

Previously, from the very beginning, the gopīs had motherly affection for Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, their affection for Kṛṣṇa exceeded even their affection for their own sons. In displaying their affection, they had thus distinguished between Kṛṣṇa and their sons, but now that distinction disappeared.

COMMENTARY

From the very beginning, the gopīs and cows has more motherly affection for Kṛṣṇa than their own off-spring. But now that Kṛṣṇa had become their sons and calves, their love for their sons and calves became equal to what they previously had for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s affection as a child toward the mothers was the same as before, but from the commencement of the brahma-vimohana-līlā, Kṛṣṇa became their sons in actuality (māyayā vinā). It may be objected that Kṛṣṇa in the form of the cowherd boys should have had the same affection for their mothers as their actual sons, since a previous verse stated that Kṛṣṇa took up exactly the character, dress, form and age as each cowherd boy.

 

Though Kṛṣṇa is the supreme independent controller, and everyone from Brahmā to even His personal expansions is dependent on Him, He is dependent on prema and controlled by prema. Prema is not dependent on Him. Kṛṣṇa cannot control or restrict prema.

 

Śrīdhara Swami says, “This irregularity is difficult to prevent in Kṛṣṇa.” Such uncontrollable prema was in the hearts of the mothers towards Kṛṣṇa in the form of their sons. Thus Kṛṣṇa in the form of their sons forgot His powers as God. Since He assumed the role of their sons, He remained dependent on them, like a commander next to the king. One should not say that such dependence on love is a fault; rather it is Kṛṣṇa’s ornament. As the living entity’s dependence on māyā is the cause of his sorrow, so Kṛṣṇa’s dependence on prema is the cause of ever-increasing bliss. This is the realization of the great devotees.

 

|| 10.13.26 ||

vrajaukasāṁ sva-tokeṣu sneha-vally ābdam anvaham

śanair niḥsīma vavṛdhe yathā kṛṣṇe tv apūrvavat

TRANSLATION

Although the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi, the cowherd men and cowherd women, previously had more affection for Kṛṣṇa than for their own children, now, for one year, their affection for their own sons continuously increased, for Kṛṣṇa had now become their sons. There was no limit to the increment of their affection for their sons, who were now Kṛṣṇa. Every day they found new inspiration for loving their children as much as they loved Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENTARY

Previously the Vrajavāsīs had more love for Kṛṣṇa than for their own children. Now for one year the affection of the mothers for their sons, who were actually Kṛṣṇa, grew like a creeper more and more. Their affection for Kṛṣṇa became every increasingly fresh. Here, the word Kṛṣṇa should be understood to be repeated again, though it is mentioned only once in the verse.

 

Why did the mothers’ love for Kṛṣṇa increase even more? Because Kṛṣṇa is the aṁśi, the original possessor of all power and beauty, and His expansions as the cowherd boys are aṁśa in relation to His beauty and other qualities. Therefore, the sentence could read as follows. “As much as they had love for Kṛṣṇa previously (yatha Kṛṣṇa vavṛdhe), their love for their sons increased to that degree (sva tokeṣu vavṛdhe). But their love for Kṛṣṇa personally now increased even more (krsne tu apūrvavat vavṛdhe). Or the sentence can read: “As much as their love for their sons increased (yatha sva tokeṣu vavṛdhe), so their love for Kṛṣṇa increased even more (kṛṣṇa tu apūrvavat vavṛdhe). In this interpretation the word Kṛṣṇa does not need repetition.

 

|| 10.13.27 ||

ittham ātmātmanātmānaṁ vatsa-pāla-miṣeṇa saḥ

pālayan vatsapo varṣaṁ cikrīḍe vana-goṣṭhayoḥ

TRANSLATION

In this way, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, having Himself become the cowherd boys and groups of calves, maintained Himself by Himself. Thus He continued His pastimes, both in Vṛndāvana and in the forest, for one year.

COMMENTARY

Thus Kṛṣṇa Himself (ātma) became the cowherd boys and calves (vatsa pāla miṣeṇa), and sustained Himself by Himself. Thus Kṛṣṇa continued His pastimes for one year, both in the forest and in the fields.

 

|| 10.13.28 ||

ekadā cārayan vatsān sa-rāmo vanam āviśat

pañca-ṣāsu tri-yāmāsu hāyanāpūraṇīṣv ajaḥ

TRANSLATION