Verse Text
yathā –
pādaiś caturbhir bhavatā vṛṣasya
guptasya gopendra tathābhyavardhi |
svairaṁ carann eva yathā trilokyām
adharma-sparśāṇi haṭhāj jaghāsa ||127||
Translation
An example: O king of the cowherd men! The bull of dharma with four legs under Your protection has flourished to such an extent that, going everywhere in the three worlds, it has forcefully gobbled up the grass of irreligion.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This and next verse are joking statements of Nārada. Examples of performing dharma and engaging others in dharma are given in the reverse order. The present verse is an example of engaging others in dharma. Gopendra is a pun. The normal meaning is king of the cowherd men. But gopa can also mean protector of the earth since go means earth and pa means protector. Thus gopendra means the best of protectors of the earth, or the best of kings. Amara-kośa says gopo bhūpa: gopa means king.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
When Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, there was no irreligion. In this connection, Nārada Muni once addressed Kṛṣṇa jokingly, “My dear Lord of the cowherd boys, Your bulls [bulls are the representation of religion], while eating grass from the pasturing ground and moving on their four legs, have certainly eaten up all the grass of irreligion!” In other words, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, religious principles were so well cared for that hardly any irreligious activities could be found.